A Beginner's Guide to Tile Selection

Re-designing a house is a delightful experience that not only brings joy but also the promise of something new and exciting! However, it requires a lot of patience and hours of planning. Right from ideation to execution, it is a lengthy process involving putting our imagination on a piece of paper and then into actual design. While there are experts to assist you, it’s never easy to make decisions when it comes to designing your home, especially when it comes to making the right choice for the one part of your house that you set your feet on every single day, and that endures with utmost resilience every single activity that you perform day in, day out; your Floors! No doubt that your floors are an integral aspect of your home and careful and weighted decisions need to be made when choosing the right kind. The type of flooring you select lays the ground work for the rest of your home. Here are some key guidelines to help you make the right decision:

Nature of your Space

At BFT, you can rest assured that we have a floor or tile collection to  suit every client type and their specific requirements. We offer all types of floors, right from customized to luxury, as well as budget-friendly options.

Holiday homes – creating the perfect escape

Holiday homes are a place of relaxation so the design elements need to reflect that to provide a stress-free environment. Right from the living room to the bedroom, the area of the space is quite large and gives you the freedom to experiment with shapes, colours and textures in varied forms. A larger space gives you the chance to explore light to dark coloured floors and busier patterns that provide a dramatic appeal.   

Our HeritageTM tiles make for the perfect addition to any holiday home as these statement floors get accentuated in larger spaces and truly act as a piece of art that brightens up any room and gives it a focal point!

Big city dreams and the small home conundrum

People flock to big cities like Mumbai to fulfill their larger than life aspirations, one of them being the desire to own their very own abode in a metropolitan city. While they may very well earn bragging rights to owning real estate in the big city, this luxury comes at a price…a smaller carpet area! However, the good news is that this challenge can be overcome by choosing flooring that gives the illusion of a larger space.

Lighter shades such as blue, teal, and earthy tones give a more open, airy, and uplifting vibe than darker shades that absorb light making a room feel smaller than it is.

When working with patterns, always remember that highly patterned tiles will dominate and visually ramp up how busy the room is, so opt for plain or subtly patterned tiles. When you lay your flooring in a modest sized bedroom the best pattern to adopt is a standard grid with patterns that are more spread out, such as the Petal or Persian Flower from BFT’s HeritageTM collection. 

Another option is using patterned borders running vertically along the length of the room, or a single eye-catching border surrounding plain tiles laid across the floor. A key here is to ensure your grout lines are filled with the same or similar colour as the tile, making it almost unnoticeable, thereby achieve the desired impact of a seamless looking floor.

Besides patterns that can help to make a room look visually larger, the size of the tile can also make a big difference. Large-format tiles have fewer grout lines and help a room look bigger, more open and less busy. Our large Terrazzo tile – Magnum would work beautifully in creating a feeling of expanse in a not so large space.

Narrow Rooms or Corridors

Every space, according to its size, can look broader or narrower depending on the flooring used. While broader rooms offer the flexibility to explore more complex patterns, narrow spaces on the other hand should have rather simple designs, preventing the space from looking messy or chaotic.

These spaces can be highlighted best with Terrazzo applications. The Cast-in-Situ application from BFT appears seamless, free-flowing and has an unmatched artistic appeal that makes it a favorite amongst many! There are endless design & colour possibilities to choose from making it a great choice for narrow areas! 

Children’s rooms – capturing the spirit of your little angels

Children’s rooms are probably one of the best spaces to experiment, giving you the opportunity to explore whimsical and unconventional design ideas and create something that inspires and encourages creativity.

If you’ve chanced upon BFT’s Macaron collection, you know this would be our first choice for a kid’s room. Don’t get the wrong idea, we’re not asking you to sugar up your kids with this delicious French treat 😉. The sensual curves of a macaron, however, were the inspiration behind this tile collection. It can be randomly placed or laid out in a repetitive pattern for a playful look. Their extra-large size in fact even helps to make smaller spaces look larger.

What better way to celebrate a kid’s natural curiosity about living creatures that to incorporate animal motifs. These have become a natural choice for children’s spaces, as they are extremely eye-catching, promote an active imagination and are the perfect backdrop to a room designed for adventurers and dreamers!

Theme of the space

Chic and contemporary

The variety of materials and designs available in tile flooring means that it’s easier than ever to make your space stylish and unique while sticking to a specific theme.  

If you’re looking for a modern floor design, hexagon shapes are super trendy and will always look striking no matter where they are applied. They are the perfect balance between understated and impactful. The hexagon shape adds a fresh geometry to floors and walls, and a wide range of colors, textures and patterns add life to every project!

If industrial or casual chic is your style, then Micro cement is the way to go. With micro cement, the best part is that the job can be done on an existing floor saving you time and money. IPS Flooring lends simplicity, style and charm to a house. These styles may seem basic in appearance, but they bring along a sense of panache and are sure to bring out the finesse of your décor.

Classic and Traditional

If you’re a traditionalist at heart, you’re sure to get attracted towards more classic designs that possess an eternal timelessness.  Bold colours and traditional motifs define this flooring style.

For a long time now, we’ve been carrying on a love affair with Terrazzo. The old world appeal exhibited by this material that has come a long way from its origins in Mumbai’s Art Deco period is treasured by art lovers and enthusiasts everywhere, and hence it’s no surprise that this is a go-to choice for those looking to add a marked gracefulness and quaint charm within their homes.

Budgetary considerations

Before you get started on your flooring project, it pays to do a little research on the different kinds of flooring and learn about their costs and benefits.

People are often skeptical about using plain tiles. It doesn’t add anything aesthetically to a space. But when working on a budget and, if the right patterns are chosen in combination, plain tiles can definitely make for a beautiful and impactful floor. These plain tiles are called UnitintaTM Tiles at BFT and they are made using almost no stone or marble chips, giving them a distinctive look and an uncharacterized appeal. UnitintaTM Tiles can be used in combination with HeritageTM tiles or any other pattern from the BFT range to create a stunning floor on a budget!

Taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, BFT has recently launched “Pocket Friendly Floors”, priced at Rs. 100/- per sq.ft., to provide some relief to home owners, wherein a combination of UnitintaTM Tiles and Pattern Tiles is used to create attractive flooring options! Clients can customize their own floor according to their taste & requirements of the space.

There are so many floor designs and materials to choose from that at times it seems extremely hard to decide on what would work best for your project. The great news is that every style and budget can be met with the multiple floorings options and customization services provided by flooring companies to assist you in the tile selection process!

For more information, you can mail us on info@bharatfloorings.com

MUMBAI – HEAD OFFICE

Bharat Floorings & Tiles (Mumbai) Pvt. Ltd

32, Mumbai Samachar Marg, Ground Floor, Next to Stock Exchange, Fort, Mumbai - 400 023

Tel: 91 (22) 4057 4400/23/44

E-mail: info@bharatfloorings.com

For more details visit us at – www.bharatfloorings.com.

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