KITCHEN FLOOR TILES - TREND ALERT

HUGE COLLECTION OF DESIGNER TILES INCLUDING KITCHEN FLOOR, LARGE FORMAT & WOOD PORCELAIN TILES

Surface identifies three key trends that will influence your choice in kitchen floor tiles this season.
      
1. Open-plan living
2. Large format tiles
3. Wood porcelain tiles

What do you do in your kitchen? Is it simply a room where you cook or has it become a hybrid living space with multiple purposes?

Open-plan living
The trend for open-plan living means the kitchen is now a place to socialise and hang out with friends and family, as well as a place to cook. Knocking two rooms together – the smaller unseen kitchen with the larger sitting room or dining room – has given rise to a new set of problems. A room with several functions means sofas and TVs take precedence over the kitchen area. The kitchen now needs to sit in harmony with the rest of the open-plan living space.

Kitchen Floor Tiles
Unifying the space visually with one continuous material is the simplest way to bring harmony to an open-plan scheme, it also maximises the sense of space. Until recently, kitchen floor tiles were selected to slot into a relatively small area with little consideration for the rest of the interior design scheme. Open-plan living has turned this process on its head.

Large format tiles
Using one material on the floor makes your choice of kitchen floor tiles crucial to the overall design scheme. The key trend of the moment is large-format tiles, such as 60 x 60cm or 1m x 1m or even larger. To create that sense of space you need to lay a floor that is seamless i.e. has as few grout joints as possible. The larger the tile, the fewer joints you will see. Also vital to the overall look is the grout colour. When trying to create an endless floor, match the grout as closely to the tile as possible. In this type of scheme the floor should be a beautiful back-drop to your open-plan living space.

To view large format tiles select one of the following ranges: Buxy, Kerlite, I Bianchi, Dechirer.

Wood porcelain tiles
For those that want a softer, more natural effect the most important trend is high-quality Italian porcelain wood floors; all the beauty of natural wood with none of the maintenance issues or performance flaws. Recent years have finally seen the emergence of some of the finest wood simulated floors which have already been used by many of London’s top interior designers. Created in realistic plank formats, the tiles range from a light ‘limed’ effect, to a warm wenge. Coupled with underfloor heating the overall effect is a timeless elegance that’s warm under foot.

View Norway, Ekkons or Teknowood for the best porcelain wood floors.

Key Requirement: Underfloor heating
A well designed interior is not a purely visual experience. Stepping out of bed and wandering into the open-plan kitchen for a cup tea should be a joyous experience that makes you smile as your feet touch the warm tiles not an uncomfortable tip-toe. As open-plan living grows in importance and tiles are used throughout the living area, the necessity to include underfloor heating in your design spec increases. It keeps the space at a constant, ambient temperature and ensures you go on enjoying your new space every day for years to come.

Please contact one of our sales consultants to discuss your underfloor heating requirements.