Selecting the right tiles for your living room can make all the difference in creating a stylish, inviting space that reflects your style. With so many options available today in terms of colors, patterns, textures, and materials, it may feel overwhelming to decide which tiles are the best fit.
This comprehensive guide covers all the key factors to consider when choosing tiles for your living room. Follow our tips and you’ll end up with a showstopping tile design you’ll love coming home to.
How to Select the Tiles for Your Living Room
Your living room is likely one of the most-used spaces in your home. It’s where you relax after work, gather with friends, enjoy family movie nights, and potentially even host formal dinners or celebrations. Given the multi-purpose nature of most living rooms, it’s important this space feels warm, welcoming, and able to adapt to anything.
The right floor and wall tiles can completely transform the look, feel, and function of your living room. Tiles make a significant visual impact and also need to stand up well to foot traffic. By picking tiles purposefully designed for living rooms, you can create an inviting, stylish space tailored to your needs.
Choosing new tiles for your living room likely means investing significant time and money into a redesign. To end up fully satisfied with your final look, it’s essential to educate yourself on the key factors to consider with living room tiles. We’ll walk you through these key considerations step-by-step in this guide.
By the end, you’ll feel confident to move forward and select the perfect tiles to help you create your dream living room.
Let’s get started!
Key Factors to Consider With Living Room Tiles
Many elements go into choosing the best tiles to complement your living room’s unique style and needs. Consider all the below factors as you move through the selection process:
Atmosphere
The vibe or atmosphere you want your living room to exude likely informs many of your initial tile choices. As you start browsing tile options, keep the overall living room atmosphere you envision in your mind.
Some examples of popular living room atmospheres that impact tile selections include:
- Warm and cozy: Richer tones like terracotta or natural stone, abundant textures
- Sleek and modern: Glossy porcelain or ceramic, solid colors, streamlined shapes
- Vintage farmhouse: Handmade encaustic cement tiles, muted tones, traditional patterns
- Boho chic: Eclectic mixes of colors, patterns and textures
Whatever atmospherics you’re going for, look for tiles that will work cohesively to create this feeling in your finished living room. Samples can help you envision how everything comes together.
Size and Shape
Living room sizes span the spectrum from intimate reading nooks to voluminous open-concept spaces. The dimensions of your living room dictate suitable tile sizes and formats to a certain degree.
1. Size
Larger living rooms can handle bigger tile sizes without appearing awkward or overwhelming. Popular options include 12 x 24-inch rectangles or large format squares 18 inches across or bigger. The expansive look of bigger tiles helps maintain that feeling of openness.
Smaller living rooms often benefit from a mosaic look, with each tile piece measuring 4 inches or below on each side. Abundant grout lines break up the tile surface visually, imparting a sense of intricacy perfect for cozier rooms.
2. Shape
Tile shape presents abundant options these days, including:
- Squares
- Rectangles
- Hexagons
- Diamonds
- Subway (3 x 6-inch rectangles)
- Octagons
- Penny round
In smaller living rooms, smaller tile pieces, multi-sided shapes like hexagons, and directional layouts like subways draw the eye around the room. These elements introduce movement and depth, helping rooms feel larger than they are.
For bigger living rooms, larger tiles, bigger rectangles, simple squares, or diamonds often suit the proportions well. Bolder solid colors make a strong statement.
Layering a few thoughtfully contrasting tile shapes can make the design pop while working harmoniously. Just take care not to go overboard into chaotic or dizzying territory.
3. Color and Pattern
The colors and patterns present in your floor and wall tile earn their place as foundational living room style elements. Choose hues and designs that support your goals for ambiance and overall room feeling.
How to select Tile Color
Take cues from any existing furniture, rugs, and wall paint you plan to keep in the living room refresh. Select tile colors that coordinate attractively. If you need inspiration, turn to nature: earth tones drawn from stones, landscapes, and natural materials make versatile, welcoming color foundations.
Some examples of versatile living room tile colors:
- Warm beiges
- Rich browns
- Burnt orange
- Forest green
- Natural gray
In smaller rooms, lighter tiles tend to impart an airier, more expansive look. Darker tiles and colors make a bold style statement but can weigh down modest rooms.
How to select Tile Pattern
Tile patterns present unlimited possibilities today, from subtle tone-on-tone looks to vivid or boldly geometric designs. Patterned tile works wonderfully as an accent wall or focal point. Keep the busiest patterns to one wall or section so they don’t overwhelm you.
Some top patterned tile ideas include:
- Moroccan Fishscale
- Traditional Basketweave
- Weathered Subway Brick
- Marrakesh Color Block *Geometric Diamond
When mixing patterns across floors and walls, vary the scale and combinate colors thoughtfully for interest without going overboard on busyness.
4. Layout
How you arrange the tiles on the floor and walls makes a significant visual difference in your finished living room. Certain layouts and grids work better with particular tile shapes and room dimensions.
Some tile layout possibilities to consider:
- Stacked: Offset rows give a sense of depth
- Brick: Offset tiles look woven together
- Subway: Elongated bricks laid in directional rows
- Herringbone: Angled rows impart energy and movement
- Hexagonal: Interlocking six-sided tiles, organic look
In smaller rooms, avoid making the floor too busy with intricate tile layouts, as this can make the space feel choppy. Larger tile pieces laid in a simpler grid often work best.
Use wall tile patterns and layouts to introduce captivating complexity you can appreciate from comfortable seating. Get creative with herringbones, mosaics, and color blocking.
Design Inspiration
If you feel overwhelmed facing so many tile possibilities for your living room, finding inspirational photos of designs you love can clarify the right direction. Here we’ll overview some stunning, yet livable, living room tile ideas to spark creativity:
- Eclectic Pattern Accent – A vivid Moroccan fish scale tile pattern makes a daring style statement as an accent behind this living room sofa. Notice how the bright blue and green tones get picked up in the throw pillows and other details.
- Herringbone Wood-Look Tile – For organic warmth, these wood-look planks get laid in a geometrically angled herringbone pattern. The dynamic layout suits the airy proportions of this living room perfectly.
- Diamond Geo Pattern – These sandy terra cotta tiles laid in a mesmerizing diamond pattern evoke the textures of the American Southwest. Abundant desert sunlight streams through large arched windows in this charming space.
Tips for Choosing the Right Tiles
With so many options for colors, patterns, textures, and formats, it helps to have a systematic method for narrowing down to the best tiles for your particular living room. Here are some suggested tips:
- Gather inspiration from magazines, blogs, or Houzz photos of living rooms with tiles you love. What specifically draws you to those designs? Isolate the elements that appeal to you.
- Order tile samples in the colors and patterns you’re considering. Seeing and touching tile samples makes it exponentially easier to envision the final look.
- Use Best Tile’s online “Envision Your Space” tool to input room dimensions and experiment digitally applying different tiles to the floors and walls. Seeing the options in a realistic 3D environment allows easy editing and perfecting.
- Construct a mood board collage with paint swatches, rug ideas, furniture photos, and fabric snippets. Make sure your tile choices complement the complete living room vision.
- Don’t underestimate the power of professional help. Schedule a design consultation with a tile showroom specialist to troubleshoot layouts, combinations, or sizing questions in the context of your actual space.
Conclusion
The essential first step toward selecting the perfect tiles is to clarify for yourself what atmosphere, feeling, and functionality you want your living room to achieve. Determine whether you want to impart an airy openness or enveloping coziness.
By thoughtfully assessing factors like tile size, shape, color, pattern, and layout of your living room’s existing dimensions and architectural style, you can create a perfectly curated tile design. Refer frequently to photos of living rooms with tile treatments you love to stay on track with a look that excites you.
Don’t hesitate to order samples and experiment with tile configuration tools. The more hands-on you get in the selection process, the better your final vision will emerge. Before you know it, you’ll be relaxing into the living room of your dreams accented beautifully by your personalized tile touches.
