How to choose the right tiles??
Style
When building your home, before you start,
think about the overall style of your home. For example, a modern or a
minimalist style would be very different that of a contemporary or traditional
or rustic. Hence it is very important to
identify the overall style of the house.
Once decided on the above, one needs to
decide on the overall style of the area or the room they are selecting the
tiles for. With the help of digital
print technology today, tiles can simulate the look and feel of natural
materials such as wood, marble and other natural stones.
Budget
- The foremost consideration needs to be the
budget. You need to calculate the exact quantity of tiles that will be needed
for the area and factor in 10% extra in your budget for wastage.
Tile
Size - The thumb-rule when deciding the size per
tile is to select smaller tiles for small residential areas such as kitchens,
bathrooms and toilets. This ensures
minimum wastage. Larger tiles should be
selected for larger areas such as the living room, dining room, bedroom etc.
Larger tiles lead to lesser joint lines and impart a feeling of
spaciousness.
Note
- Using floor tiles on the walls may provide a
better degree of cohesiveness but wall tiles cannot be used on the floor as
they are not made to withstand traffic.
Colour
- Depending on the area the colour scheme needs to
be decided upon. For example a kitchen
might have a more vibrant feel whereas a bathroom might have a more serene
one.
Grout
- It is important to choose the right colour
grout. A contrasting grout will
emphasise the lines and design whereas a complementary colour as the tile will
give a more subtle look.
Natural
Light - A gloss tile will suit a dark space as it
will reflect more tile. A lighter colour
will also reflect more light.
Finish
– Glossy tiles have an attractive glaze to them and
result in reflecting a lot of light.
However, they tend to be slippery when wet and hence should not be used
in the bathroom or kitchen floors. Matte finish tiles can be used in such areas
as they are slip resistant to an extent.
(Note: For safety choose tiles with a coefficient of friction value of
more than 0.6). Laptop finish or
semi-matte tiles have a higher shine than matte finish tiles and are usually
non slip in nature.