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Is This Tile Trend the New Neon Sign?

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Danielle BlundellExecutive Director of Home at Apartment Therapy
Danielle BlundellExecutive Director of Home at Apartment Therapy
As Apartment Therapy's Executive Home Director, I head up our decorating, trends, and designer coverage. I studied Media Studies at UVa and Journalism at Columbia and have worked in media for more than a decade. I love homes, heels, the history of art, and hockey — but not necessarily in that order.
updated Jun 10, 2019
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Credit: Diana Paulson

We are very much still in the age of the neon sign — maybe you have a tiny, USB-powered style on your desk, a custom design above your bed, or have managed to work one into your gallery wall. Don’t worry — I’m not here to tell you that these are going the way of the dinosaurs yet. I mean, world’s youngest billionaire, Kylie Jenner, had a bunch in her recently Architectural Digest-published space, so you’re good. But I think our fascination with spelling it out in neon, which really began in commercial spaces like stores and restaurants, is about to take a turn to the tile aisle. Yep, people are starting to spell out phrases, inspirational mantras, and even names in tile on their floors and walls.

Of course, this tile trend will never be as pervasive as neon signs are. Because tiles, while not permanent, are definitely more of a commitment in time and effort to install. And if you’re laying down tile, you’re definitely planning to live with it for a bit. But happy to report that this is a Joanna Gaines-approved trecuttnd, people, if this bathroom project she designed for Magnolia Design and Construction is any indicator.

Most of these applications tend to be in bathrooms, probably because that’s the wettest and most logical place to use tile in most homes. I love this little beach-inspired bathroom and its cheeky “No Diving” motto. You can go straight letters or frame it out with a decorative tile border as shown here.

These messages can look super complex to install. But if you have DIY chops, you could probably go at this yourself in penny rounds or small hex, which tend to be what people use. All you have to do is pop out the white tiles and pop in the accent colors to form those letters. And if you want an easier way to get the look, Cutting Edge Stencils actually makes a hex tile stencil to help you figure out which tile rounds you need to paint to form your desired phrase’s letters.

For a more stylized look, you can add a second color of tile to the mix to create a shadow effect. I think this image is from a restaurant, but you could easily take your phrase of choice and block it out in another pair of colors for your home. I think you get even more bang for your buck with this, because the two tones help pop the type.

But it’s not just happening on floors. I mean, hello, barber shop staircase! I could totally see someone doing something similar to this on their stair risers in a house, and it being bananas. The trick is parsing out the phrase just right to get it to work with your total number of stairs.

And it doesn’t have to just be a block font either. You can definitely create a script look by pumping up the width of your letters by a few extra tiles across. How cute would this be in an entry or mudroom near the door? Frame it in a rectangle, and you’ve got yourself a permanent welcome mat that can be wiped down easily.

So penny for your thoughts (had to!), would you give this trend a try? Or is there no phrase you like enough that you’d want to look at day in and day out?