Published August 11, 2005

When it comes to home flooring, cozy carpet was once the material of choice, then came elegant hardwood floors, but today tile, once coldly relegated to kitchens in most American houses, is emerging as the hottest trend, and it isn’t just limited to flooring.
“The industry is actually booming because manufacturers are taking tile to different dimensions,” says Itzik Shabo, owner of Shabo Tile and Stone in Petaluma, who’s also a licensed tile contractor. “There’s glass tile, metal tile and even tile that looks like hardwood floor.”

Today’s tiles have evolved far beyond those old familiar earth-tone squares, and they now offer homeowners a universe of choice in color, texture and shape. A home can become a canvas for creativity as people find they can create unique and eye-catching works of art by incorporating mosaics, various textures and designs. These days tiling goes beyond walls, floors and countertops, to include fireplaces, fountains, swimming pools, and wherever else takes your fancy.

“There’s just about no end to the possibilities out there and more coming out all the time,” Shabo says. Slava Radoslavov, owner of Styles Tile and Stone in Sonoma agrees. “More and more people are using tile. In the last years it was mostly stone but now there’s a hunger for color or another dimension or texture to refresh the stone,” she says.

According to Radoslavov, people in Sonoma people mostly use tile or stone that reminds them of a European look in order to reproduce what they’ve seen in Tuscany, or parts of France or Spain. “People travel a lot and then they come back they want ‘old world European,’” she explains.

Radoslavov says of the most popular tile materials in her showroom currently is glass. Some glass tiles can look like glinting mounted gemstones, while others are slick and elegant with fine muted colors. The latest ecologically-sound tiles made from recycled discarded glass from manufacturers like Oceanside Glasstile are also very popular.

Another trend is the look of bringing an outdoor spa into the bathroom, incorporating natural materials such as pebbles used as tile and installed on mesh. Another trend is to use tile to create a fantastic outdoor kitchen.

Indoor kitchens can also benefit from a tile-inspired facelift. I recently painted my kitchen walls muted yellow, the cabinets soft white, and searched for a ceramic tile that would evoke the decorative tiles I’d seen in Seville, Spain. I envisioned a vibrant tiled border and backsplash. After checking out the imported Tunisian and Moroccan tiles available locally, I settled on Mexican handpainted Talavera tile purchased through the Tierra y Fuego website (tierrayfuego.com).

The fun came in choosing the combination of main tiles and contrasting border tiles and in designing the backsplash pattern. With the help of Ost Marble and Tile of Santa Rosa, we designed and installed a backsplash using Talavera tiles in a cobalt blue, yellow and terracotta pattern, set on the diagonal and bordered with a white background tile, which was then edged with a thin bar ceramic tile in cobalt blue from Styles Tile and Stone.
Grout color is a personal option and in some cases experts say it’s better to match tile and grout. But in this case we used a white grout because it looked sharp and made the design really stand out. The disadvantage with white grout is you must seal it every six months, however, the new sealers with pen-like applicators, especially made for small areas, make the job a snap. The finished effect gives a brilliant splash of color and a warm rustic feel to the kitchen.

One advantage of using tile, especially as flooring, is that the material is very durable. For example, porcelain tile is dense and hard to damage. Even if it chips the color goes all the way through and so the chip won’t be noticeable.

Most tile is resistant to stains, dirt, and odor, which could be blessing to pet owners whose major lament invariably involves Kitty or Pooch versus Carpet. In fact, one local homeowner we heard about has just had a garage tiled exclusively for his dogs.
Also, homeowners with allergies find that tile doesn't harbor dust and other irritants, or contain chemicals that could trigger allergic reactions.

Of course, a disadvantage for those folk used to fuzzy floors is that tile can be chilly to the feet. However, there are systems on the market that use radiant mats glued under the tile, which work on a programmable thermostat to keep the floor warm. Alternately, area throw rugs can bring added texture and warmth and mute echoey floors.

If you don’t know where to begin, the showroom experts can help. “All the materials available give people an opportunity for creativity,” says Radoslavov. “It’s a really great time to do something with tile.”