Visit Italy, and you’ll find yourself admiring cathedrals and cafés alike showcasing decorative tiled floors, or tiled walls beautiful enough to act as art installations. Here in the US, however, we tend to restrict our use of tile to our most hardworking rooms—kitchens and baths—where we rely on their utility. But why shouldn’t we install ceramic tile all over our homes? The same characteristics that make tile an easy choice for backsplashes and tub surrounds lend themselves just as well to floors and walls of any room. Ceramic tile is durable, resistant to aging and abrasions, doesn’t need to be polished, and can even withstand extreme sunlight and frost. (Can your hardwood floors say that?) Plus, its long lifespan equals a lower environmental impact than other surface materials. If the utilitarian look we associate with tile is what’s been holding us back, it’s time to let go of that notion; new technologies mean that tile glazes, textures, and applications are more innovative than ever. To get a closer look at what’s been happening in the world of ceramic tile, we turned to the Ceramics of Italy, the trade association representing makers of Italian ceramic tile and sanitaryware, for the top tile trends the industry is tracking this year.
Here’s what they had to say: