Wall and floor tiles - things you need to know

Use the right wall and floor tiles indoors and you have a low-maintenance interior that will look good for a long time to come.

Whatever look you want - industrial chic, dark drama, rustic or Scandi effects, a traditional or contemporary vibe - a vast choice awaits when you explore indoor porcelain tiles. Alongside plain, clouded and textured options, oak wood-effect floor tiles are particularly popular. Plank-shaped, with realistic wood appearance, these offer a warm, organic feel in rooms where you might prefer the practicality of porcelain. Patterned bathroom floor tiles are a way to inject character into a design, and there’s no reason to restrict them to the bathroom. Hallways and kitchens are ideal places to inject character through pattern, whether as a complete floor, or in border detailing. If you veer towards white walls and fittings, consider patterned floor tiles as a feature to balance the minimalism. If minimalism is your thing, though, extra-large tiles deliver. Their larger dimensions mean a smoother expanse of flooring, with fewer grouting lines interrupting the flow. This can also make them easier to clean, and laying takes less time because they cover the area more quickly. Take a look at the options with our large interior floor tiles.

Wall tiles are a practical choice wherever a wall needs frequent cleaning. A porcelain splashback is a great opportunity to draw that unused area of wall behind the taps or cooking hob into a design by giving it an injection of colour or pattern. Because you want to be able to wipe it clean easily, you might want to choose a gloss finish and steer away from tiles with a busy texture. Or why not go big? Designing your own porcelain shower walls gives you the chance to make a real statement in one of the most important rooms in the house. (Our DesignClad panels are an ideal choice because their low porosity reduces the incidence of mould and makes cleaning easy.) With so many colours and styles, you have the option to choose a sumptuous marble appearance, warm wood-effect, metallic gleam or cool neutral walls, perhaps in large format tiles for a minimalist vibe.

Using gloss wall tiles can make a small space appear larger. Light reflects off the tiles to give an open, airy feel. For this reason, gloss is often the choice for spaces with low amounts of natural light. The gloss finish maximises the amount of light that bounces back and forth around the space. It’s worth remembering that spots of limescale left by hard water are more likely to show up on gloss tiles, so if you’ll feel the need to clean those off frequently, you might prefer a matt finish and colour where they won’t show up so much.

This is often an area of confusion, as porcelain and ceramic tiles appear very similar. Porcelain tiles are manufactured with much higher pressure and temperature than ceramic and are, therefore, denser and more robust.

And don’t forget the styling choices afforded by tile grout. Using grout that matches your tiles creates a clean, colour-blocked feel. Alternatively, contrasting grout—white with black tiles, for example—makes the grouting lines a design feature of their own, emphasising the geometry of the tiles. To be successful, this demands a really professional, accurate finish but, done well, the contrasting colours will make colours pop and create a real feature of your walls or floors. At London Stone, we stock a range of large indoor porcelain wall and floor tiles as well as porcelain wall cladding.

We don't sell natural stone flooring, but here are a few helpful tips on what you need to think about.

Think about finish. In natural stone, there’s little to beat the beauty of Jura Limestone, for example, with its distinctive markings and soft appearance. For interiors, it's available in different finishes - usually honed or brushed. It's always worth considering the finish on your flooring as it will create slightly different effects. And don't forget to ask about how easy it is to clean. In case you're wondering, finish is one of the reasons why it's not good to use outdoor tiles indoors.

Think about quality. The same stone may come from several different countries. For example, Brazilian slate is superior quality. Much denser than a lot of slate on the market from India and China, it won’t damage easily and splits to a flatter surface and richer colour.

Outdoors, sealing can be optional, but it's always recommended for sawn stone paving. Interior natural stone is sawn and, however dense the stone you choose, it should always be sealed to protect it from becoming permanently stained with household spills.

If you’re looking for exterior natural stone or porcelain paving to complement your interior tiles, take a look at our wide range of paving options. And if you have any questions, perhaps because you want to create an Indoor Outdoor flow from living space to patio, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Post updated: August 2024