Large Format Tiles – How to Use Them Wisely

Large format tiles are becoming more trendy and growing in popularity. Smaller houses can easily look cluttered and busy. It is for this reason that more people have started using larger tiles to create a spacious feel. Large format tiles are easier to clean than smaller tiles. Grout lines are harder to clean so with fewer grout lines and more tile, they are easier to maintain.

Why we recommend Large Format Tiles

If you have a small bedroom, kitchen or living room, large format tiles will open the space, making it seem larger. This helps avoid the checker board look that you get with most smaller sized tiles. Larger tiles mean fewer grout lines making the space feel less divided as it would with smaller tiles.

When trying to expand a small room visually with large format tiles there are a few things to keep in mind. Pattern of the tile, size of the tile and colour of the grout are factors to be considered in this process.

The pattern on the large tile is very important. If you wish to make a small room appear larger choose a plain tile with no extravagant patterns. Keep it simple and keep it clean if you want to expand the room visually.

Tips to take into consideration

1. Room size

When it comes to large format tiles be careful not to use too large a tile in a small room as it may look overdone. It is much like wearing over-sized clothing, it looks unbalanced and unfitting. There is no formula to working out the right tile size for the room, making it a trial and error scenario. If you dry lay your tiles and there are too many awkward cuts, you should consider down scaling the tile size.

2. Overall colour effect

When picking grout colour, be sure to keep the colour of your tiles in mind. Try choose a colour that does not contrast the tile too much. This will define the tiles more and break the space up, defeating the objective of creating a visually larger room.

3. Installation of Large Format Tiles

Although large format tiles are undeniably gorgeous and bring an elegant feel to your home, there a few downsides. Installation can be challenging due to the weight of the larger tile, making it harder to handle in installation. Keep this in mind when deciding the size of your tile and who will be tiling. Lippage can also be an issue when installing larger tiles as edges are not level and uneven for example.

When deciding the size of your tile, make sure you look at different aspects to capture the full beauty of large format tiles.