So you cannot forget the magnificent Italian marble flooring of the hotel where you have stayed during your last business tour?
And you want to bring back the same opulent effect to your own home, but short on a budget! Well, there is a cheaper way of achieving that plush and glossy look; use the ceramic tiles in your house and feel the difference.
Flooring is one of the major aspects of interior decoration. But since recently, the commonest flooring option available to most of the Westerners was that of the same boring hardwood flooring.
But the picture has changed drastically since the arrival of ceramic tiles in multiple designs, shapes, and sizes. In fact, they are on the cutting edge of design and technology. The media has played a vital role in building up this current enthusiasm.
The discussions in various lifestyle magazines and better living television shows helped stir up people’s curiosity about the use of tiles in the home décor.
Thus the current trends in the home décor have seen a soaring involvement of decorative tiles particularly in the refurbishment sector within the domestic market.
Why is it hot?
Just ask any architect or an interior decorator and they will invariably recommend the use of ceramic tiles at your home. But you can ask what makes it such a hot favorite among the experts?
It is precisely the practical value of this product that is making it everybody’s choice in the present home décor scenario.
Its sustainable properties make it most hygienic, and durable; it does not allow moistures to set onto it, and as such the germs and bacteria are prevented to grow inside it.
Above all, the ceramic tiles are extremely easy to maintain. The ceramic tiles are characterized by low-porosity features. This prevents dirt from accumulating on the surface of the tile as easily as it occurs with other materials. The ceramic tiles are fire-retardant too.
The latest trends in usage
In general, the ceramic tiles have been able to maintain a consistent market performance. In addition to the role played by media, the increasing usage of ceramic tiles can be attributed to the continued growth of conservatories and en-suites.
The tiles are finding their increased usages in such areas as the bathrooms and cloakrooms where hardwood flooring is difficult to maintain.
Apart from that, the current trends show that the ceramic tiles are finding their rightful places in the ventilated façade systems. The ceramic tiles based on latest high-tech porcelain technology are being used in these systems. They are claimed to reduce noise by 10-20%.
Not only that; the energy costs have also been turned down by 25-35%. Today’s ceramic tiles in a variety of shapes and sizes are produced by using rectification techniques.
The tiles are sized by using water jet technology. Thus today’s tiles come with uniform sizes and smooth edges. All these states of the art features have made it possible to apply the tiles to a ventilated facade.
Then today’s large format tiles also increase the versatility of their usages. As opposed to the yesteryears standard 12 square size tiles, today you can get the ceramic tiles in variety of sizes and shapes, and that makes it possible to use them as and anywhere you want.
The trends in design
Today’s trendy ceramic tiles come in variety of texture, shades and color. The artisan techniques enhance the natural look of ceramic tiles.
If you want a marble look at your home, it is possible to create with the appropriate tiles; similarly, it is possible to achieve natural veining of granite or hardwood, throughout the body of the tile. Today it is even possible to incorporate the features of textiles and leather in the tiles.
The future
The use of underfloor heating in conservatories is expected to give a further boost to the ceramic tiles market. As such the use of tiles should not be restricted to the bathrooms or cloakrooms only but expected to spread all throughout the house giving full comforts even in the winters.
Alongside the commercial sectors like hotels, the ceramic tiles will continue to experience huge growth in the domestic sectors as well.
