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When it comes to the world of tile, how do you know what to suggest to your client? Should you go with a decorative tile or wood tile? To help guide you in the right way to propose tile to your client, we’ve put together a guide. Below you’ll find how to choose tile for your clients in any easy-to-get way.
Know Where The Tile Will Be Placed
The first thing to do to choose tile for clients is to keep in mind which area you’ll be placing your tile. Will it be in the kitchen or bathroom or some other region? In identifying the area, you’ll then be able to move into more fun, specific questions.
If you’re placing the tile in the kitchen…
When it comes to selecting tile for your client’s kitchen, you’ll want to know if it’s for the backsplash or floor. In knowing this, you will better be able to select the tile. If you’re decorating with tile for your backsplash, you’ll want to seek tiles that are stain-resistant and easy-to-maintain. Ceramic and porcelain tiles work well for this. While you can, of course, use natural stone, this type will require more upkeep since it’s prone to staining and needs sealing/resealing. For floors, the thing to keep in mind is something called the PEI Rating. This dictates how strong or how fragile a tile is. Since kitchens are high traffic areas, make sure that the rating is higher on the tile you choose for this.
If you’re placing tile in the bathroom…
Similarly to the kitchen, first you need to know where the tile will be placed for your client. If it’s backsplash, you’ll have a little more flexibility in which type to use since unlike the kitchen, staining is less of an issue (no pasta sauce here!). That means you can use seemingly any type of tile; ceramic, porcelain, stone, or glass. Additionally, when it comes to the floors, especially in the shower, you’ll want something that has a high PEI rating and great traction. This means you may want something with a natural texture here.
With the warmer weather coming up, there may be a want for pool tile or patio floor tile, in that case, feel free to consult our outdoor tile guide for everything you need to know in how to choose tile there.
Keep In Mind Color Choices
After you decide where you’re placing your tile and the type of tile that will be used there, you’ll want to figure out for your client what colors will work best for their design.
White Tile
White tile is the ultimate classic. You can’t go wrong with creating a design using white tile. Whether you choose something like a white subway tile or a more unique shape like arabesque shape, it just automatically lightens a space up. If your client is more traditional or just wants simplicity, this is the best color to suggest. What’s more, white tile always creates a sense of expansiveness in any space.
Dark Tile
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are darker tone tiles like black and gray. These are ideal for clients that crave something that will tone down their space. Maybe you’ve both agreed to add a lot of color and want to create a sense of depth with tile. Using black or gray tile will be the key to achieving that.
Mirror Tile
And last on this list is mirror tile. While not a color, per se, it’s silvery reflection is one that will create a captivating space. What’s more, this tile type is easy to clean, durable, and will make any small space look far larger than it is!
Decide On The Right Sizes
The next thing to do when deciding which tile to use for your clients is to run down the list of sizes. There is a large variety of sizing in tiles, which works in your project’s benefit.
Large Format Porcelain Tiles
The first type to discuss is large format porcelain tiles. These can be sized 12×24, 24×24, and larger. The beauty of this type is that it’s able to cover a large amount of area with fewer grout lines. So, if your client craves a space that has a more modern, smooth feel to it, this may be the way to go.
Small Scale Mosaics
The other type is small scale mosaics. These are made from a myriad of materials; glass, porcelain, ceramic. That means variety is the name of the game with these. The beauty of the mosaics is you can use them on floors or walls (though, it is advisable not to use glass on floors). They have more grout lines which means that if you’re looking for a shower floor tile for your client, this may be your best bet.
Trends or Timeless: A Decision
Finally, we arrive at the ultimate decision when you choose tile for clients: To go timeless or to stay on-trend. The decision here ultimately comes down to the wants of your client. Do they have money to redesign the space in a few years when a trend moves on? Or are they on a tight budget and want to have something they can do, and forget about? Knowing where your client is with money and finances will be the deciding factor for this.
In the event that they do have the flexibility for adapting the space to fluctuating trends, then we highly suggest you review our 2020 Tile Trends article for some serious inspiration.
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