Tiled Living Rooms & Bedrooms from Novoceram Inspiration Gallery

The idea of a tiled living room might seem too cold, too modern, or too dorm-like, but ever since our last trip to Europe (when we visited this amazing tiled apartment) we've been all for bringing tile out of the bathroom. In the right type of space, it can be a really rich addition, and it has some definite benefits.

Tile floors and walls provide a huge range of color choices, they're easy to clean, and you can even get them in patterns that mimic wallpaper or wood. Their durability is also a bit of a drawback—unless you want to do some serious renovating, tile doesn't offer the flexibility of wallpaper or paintable wood.

These photos from French ceramic tile company Novoceram indicate the range of colors and styles that European tile-makers are exploring. You can buy tile in anything from toile to teak, but we're most attracted by the simple, timeless styles—gray or neutral flooring would be the way we'd go, and we'd add a few rugs for a more layered look.

What about you? Would you ever tile your living room or bedroom?

Comments (9)

umm, we have tile EVERYWHERE in Florida.

but i do enjoy looking at picture 9.

in our tropical weather, mostly humid and hot, tiled floors make it easy to mop and clean up.
wallpapers don't last as long in this weather as well, but hardly anybody does tiled feature walls now.

I live in Australia and tile throughout the house is not uncommon.

Some of the benefits of tile from my experience of growing up in a tiled house.

- Combined with good insulation & good design they're cool in summer and warm in winter. We used a small single fireplace to heat the entire 5 bedroom study family home and the tiles radiated heat from the fireplace all throughout the house. Our house was consistently 10 degrees celsius cooler inside in summer (we also used 3 layers of curtains on every window in summer and winter), and a good 10-20 degrees celsius warmer in winter.

- Easier to clean. I've always found carpets hideously dusty no matter how clean you are, and wooden floorboards never feel clean to me because dust gets trapped between the boards.

- Harder for clumsy children to ruin (unlike wooden floors or carpets)

- Safe for asthmatics (less dust trapped everywhere).

- Less noise than floor boards, you get less 'settling' sounds of an evening or when the temperature changes.

My parents used the same tile throughout the house, except the bathroom which had blue tiles on the floor and white tiles on the wall to maximise on the natural light coming from the skylight.

We used a few small rugs in various parts of the house (like next to the bed, or infront of the fireplace) but apart from that the entire house was tiled.

Not to mention the fun things you can do on tile as a child.... Skid around with socks on. Make a toboggan out of a piece of cardboard, tie a rope to it and get your older sister or brother to drag you around the house on it... play marbles! And no one cares if you paint/draw on the floor/walls, because you can just wipe it off :)

I'm from Florida, too, and this is nothing new to me either...I kinda got tired of it and now enjoy carpeting or wood beneath my feet. I especially got wigged out when I saw residents at our Florida condo taking a hose inside and just washing the whole house out right out the back patio doors...that's just not right.

Unless the tiles are very large white marble, this is a big NO for me.

Is it weird that of all the design elements, I fixated on the vintage (retro) bedside alarm clock? Hulk Want.

If you buy a home and there's tile already there, okay. But if you are thinking about putting tile in your family room consider the fact that tile leaves you with a "cold" look. Yes, it's practical, but it's not going to be a comfy, cozy room. Just something to think about.

I really enjoy tile. I think it reminds me warm places like Florida and the Dominican Republic. I currently live in the NorthEast and would love to step into my home and feel like I am somewhere warm and tropical. Tile floor does not remind me of cold. I had the opportunity to wash the floors of an apartment in DR with a hose and a broom. It made cleaning fun and the house felt so much cleaner.