Yearly Archives: 2019

Renovating your bathroom can prove to be a huge project if you don’t know what you’re looking for, yet it’s the ideal room to take a risk and show off your personality. A great place to start is with the tiles, as once chosen, you’ll be able to visualise the stunning backdrop to your dream bathroom.

Let’s have a look at this year’s most popular tile trends to make it less of a mind-boggling task.

Pictured: Statuario

It’s that time of year when we’ve had our holidays abroad and now have been thrown back to reality. Recreating the beautiful interiors closer to home will give a daily reminder of the tranquil lifestyle away, which may well help with the post-holiday blues!

In the Mediterranean, you’ll see an abundance of warm and textured local materials. Natural stone, such as terracotta or marble tiles will often be the first choice in their interior design. Whether this works in your dream home though may depend on many factors – let’s look into the pros and cons of using stone tiles in the modern home.

Are you upgrading your floors and sifting through your list of options? Hard floors, such as tiles or laminates have become increasing popular in recent times, boasting qualities such as durability, low maintenance and ease of cleaning. But one of the main drawbacks that keeps popping up is the coldness. After all, who wants to step out of bed or from a lovely warm bath onto piercing chilled floor tiles? Not I!

Keep those frostbites at bay and turn your floors into a large, comfortable radiator with the wonderful invention of underfloor heating.

New things are always a cause of excitement and bound to create a buzz. We were eager to see the beautiful new additions to the mosaic collection – new in from Original Style. We all picked our favourites and there was indeed something for everyone.

Mosaic tiles can bring colour and texture to your room, adding an eye-catching display for a feature wall or floor. Let us introduce you to the new intricate designs which use a combination of materials all held together on the reverse side, the majority by a mesh backing.

A porcelain tile could be described as a glorified ceramic. Both materials start out as clay, but the difference lies in the manufacturing process where porcelain is fired at a far higher temperature and with greater pressure. It is also made from a more refined and purified clay, resulting in a superior tile which is stronger, with a harder and more water-resistant surface.

You may need help deciding if a porcelain tile is right for your project. As with all things, they have both their pros and cons which we will look into here.

Starting with the good, the trusty porcelain tile is an excellent flooring choice. It is highly durable and resistant to most heavy impact stresses, making it suitable for high-traffic areas, much more so than the standard ceramic tile. Porcelain

Not all tiles were created equal, as with all things, the various materials will not come without their pros and cons. In our last informative blog, we looked into the differences between ceramic, porcelain and stone tiles, let’s compare and have a look at the good, the bad and the ugly, firstly concentrating on the trusty ceramic tile.

Easy to install

Ceramic tiles are probably the most versatile and widely used type of tile. Are you one who looks for the easy option? Here’s some music to your ears: ceramic tiles are the easiest to cut and lay. Compared to other materials, ceramics are relatively lightweight. They will not exceed weight limits on most traditional tiling substrates like skimmed plaster and plasterboard so are a fool-proof option to use on the walls.

Cement look for your walls & floors

If you were to ask what was a popular and fashionable tile trend at the moment, we would say that cement-look tiles are all the rage. The industrial look is particularly suited for open-plan living where a neutral backdrop and seamless finish is often desirable.

Normally, if anyone mentions cement, the word ‘elegance’ does not necessarily spring to mind. However, Porcelanosa have brought out the ‘Bottega’ tile range, which may change your opinion.

The low-down on tiles

Are you enthusiastic to transform your living space into the home of your dreams, but don’t know where to start? Do you have your keen eye on the many beautiful tiles out there, but you don’t know your ceramics from your cobblestone? Fear not, let us help you choose the tile that’s right for you… and may it be a lasting relationship!

Ceramics

If someone asked you to name a tile, most likely the first thing you’d think of is a good old ceramic tile. They’ve been around for thousands of years (so have stood the test of time) and they’re very much on trend - you’ll see them everywhere, every day.

The Winchester Tile Company have never been one to shirk away from a challenge! Their 'Artisan' wall tile collection already featured field tiles, half tiles, brick tiles and a series of mouldings and insets. All 18 colours in the range are available in the various size formats.

The mellow tones and subtle sheen of the Artisan collection have proved to be a big hit with our customers. Now Winchester Tiles have brought out a new mini-range within the collection with a highly decorative element in four designs: Bicton, Kew, Rosemoor and Wisley.