6 Budget-Friendly Tile Trends for a High-End Look

If you’re ready to take your bathroom or kitchen from functional to fabulous, experimenting with tile is an effective way to elevate the look of your room. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to spend a fortune on custom or expensive tiles to create a high-end look. 

Instead, you can transform your space with ordinary tiles — if you know what you’re doing. Or, take advantage of experienced tile installers in Vaughan or across the GTA to upgrade the look of your space quickly and affordably. 

Budget-Friendly Tile Trends to Consider

Whether renovating the bathroom or kitchen, you can install tile to transform your room without breaking the bank. Here are the top six budget-friendly tile trends worth considering.

Experiment with Patterns

You can turn your space into something extraordinary just by using traditional tile shapes. The secret? Patterning. For instance, you can take ordinary subway tiles and instead of just putting them horizontally, create a visually appealing pattern. Patterning a simple tile is a cost-effective way to give the space personality. 

Some popular tile patterns include: 

• Herringbone is excellent for homeowners with contemporary style preferences. 
• Installing tiles vertically or diagonally is elegant and perfect for a classic finish. However, keep in mind that vertical tiles make a small bathroom feel taller and more spacious. 
• The most versatile pattern for every style preference is the running bond look — this resembles the look of bricks.
• For a fresh modern look, offsetting vertical or horizontal tiles is yet another way to bring life to your space.
• Going for a basket-weave look is a popular traditional look that can be made contemporary if homeowners introduce a pop of colour.

Get creative with the way you place tiles; it can transform both the look of the tile and the space. 

Have Fun with Tile Shapes

To truly customise and add character to your space, it’s always trendy to experiment with tile shapes. Mixing and matching different tile shapes — like subway and square tiles — can expand your patterning options. Homeowners can add visual interest by using shapes to create a focus wall, pattern, border, or to fill a niche. Additionally, homeowners can use tile shapes to create a tile rug if they’re renovating their floors.

Stretch to the Ceiling

To add height to a small bathroom or make your kitchen look more luxurious, take simple tiles like square or subway tiles all the way to the ceiling. Although the added tile will increase your overall tile cost, the trade off is a truly high-end look. It’s also functional as it makes clean-up a breeze. For a rustic look, weave in textured tiles; alternatively, add some colour for a contemporary look.

A Pop of Colour

Homeowners who want their tiles to do more than just be a neutral backdrop would benefit from a pop of colour. Although white tiles tend to be the most cost effective, coloured tiles – like mosaics you see on all the home renovation shows these days – are not that much more in terms of cost. This allows homeowners to easily integrate coloured tiles into their patterns or designs to create visual interest.

Large Format Tiles

If you want to turn your bathroom into an at-home spa, look no further than large format porcelain stone-look tiles. Utilising large format stone or marble-look tiles mimics a tranquil spa environment. You’ll also want to minimise grout lines when using large format tiles, so your best bet is to hire a licensed tile installer to do the job right and help you achieve a blissful bathroom experience. 

Get the Right Finish

With so many tile options on the market, you may be surprised to learn that inexpensive tiles can have superb finishes. Finding affordable tiles with a high-end finish is the key to creating a luxurious look. In addition, knowing the difference between gloss and matte finishes will help you decide which is best for your project.

• Gloss: Glossy tiles can make your space feel brighter and larger, making glossy tiles an excellent option for bathrooms. These tiles are also easier to clean, especially since they’re more slippery than matte finishes. However, the gloss highlights any imperfections on the tile, which can require more frequent cleaning.
• Matte: Matte tiles don’t show grime the same way gloss does, but when they are dirty, they are a lot tougher to clean. Matte tiles also have better grip, making them excellent for bathroom floors. 

Get the High-End Look for Less

Most homeowners dream of having a high-end bathroom or kitchen, but their budget simply doesn’t allow for it. The good news is that you can get that posh look for less! There are many budget-friendly tile trends, such as using economical matte subway tile in a basket weave pattern to elevate the look of your space. 

The bottom line is that with so many tile brands and varieties on the market, homeowners have a wide variety of choices available to them in order to create a high-end look within their ideal budget. 

If you want the high-end look but are unsure which tile trend will transform your space, give the Brothers Flooring a call today for a free, no-risk consultation. With over 20 years in the business as tile installers in Vaughan and across the GTA, we know which tile trends create the high-end look our clients want, for less.