Live Large. Find Your Personal Tile Style.

Living large tends to be thought of as going big, being grandiose, over-the-top. In fact, it has a far more personal meaning. Living large is the ability to infuse your own style and taste throughout your home. It’s about having the vision, and enjoying the journey, to create tiled rooms, walls and floors, that turn everyday living areas into beautifully appointed spaces. By living large, you’re making it your own. 

How tiles can personalise your space. 

Not everyone has their own, inner interior designer. But what we do have is a sense of self, with things that we find interesting, meaningful or important. And it resonates both discreetly and overtly in the colours and textures that reflect in our home environment. Living spaces are created to be shared – with family and friends – as an extension of our personalities. Ever heard of the energy in a room? That’s what you’re after.

Apart from choices of furniture, soft furnishings and lighting, one of the first things to consider is purpose. Every living space should have a reason for being that makes it part of a place we call home. A generous space to come together. A quiet corner in which to find refuge. Walls and floors that impart a sense of energy, a joie de vivre. Or subtler combinations that help to induce calm and relaxation.

For millennia, ceramic tiles have been stylistic adornments as well as practical solutions to home decorating. Whether you were seriously well-to-do, or a thrifty DIY sort, both the impressive and expressive styles of homemaking have been re-interpreted through the centuries. Of all interior – and exterior – design, the use of tiles, whether for floors, walls or the pop of a décor feature, continues to move with the times.

How to choose your best tile combination.

Let’s be honest. It’s daunting. Imagining a new space is a one thing. Making it happen is the tricky part. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few pointers to help you really enjoy the process:

1. Stay calm – Seriously. Refining and improving your home should be an adventure. You may even learn a little more about yourself as you explore colours, designs and textures. Perhaps it’s time to go bold. Or keep to a well-explored comfort zone. Start collecting ideas and design references. Take the time to re-imagine them in your space.
2. Start with samples – Find contrasting colours and textures of tiles. Or even slight variations on a colour theme that you’re not quite decided on. When you bring an actual tile sample into the space, you can imagine it so much clearer. It’s either spot on, almost right, or totally wrong. Don’t despair. Refer back to point 1. Stay calm. And carry on.
3. Think of tiles as your anchor – There’s a look that you’re going for. The tiles could be a prominent part of that look. Wood-look tiles, for instance, already command a natural ambience. Screed-look tiles lean towards city-slick sophistication. Large format, minimalist tile designs create a background setting for the bits of ‘drama’ you intend to install here and there as eye-candy focal points. How your tiled floors and walls hold your space together is important to the balance of your personally envisaged space.
4. Also, consider tiles as accessories – There’s a pillar in the living room that you’d love to do away with, but it’s structurally important. So, what to do? Make it sing! Instead of bemoaning the poorly placed disruption, create a décor or mosaic feature that gives it renewed aesthetic purpose for what you’re trying to create. Bring it back into your overall design look and feel. Tiles of all sorts have a versatility of colour and texture that will have you enjoying hours and hours of design adventure.
5. Go for first prize – Ensuring a tightly controlled budget for your living space project is vital. It makes it all realistic. But don’t let that decide your creative approach. A new-look living space is a long-term decision. If you’re going to live large, you need to go large. Explore beyond. And then, yes, bring it back into an achievable budget. If anything, it may help to refine and simplify your chosen look. Less is so often more.

Let’s look at some inspirational Johnson Tiles spaces.

Take a look through these lifestyle examples. You may like the natural feel of wood-look tiles. Or prefer a more solid stone-like feel. Perhaps you’re going for that modern, urban appeal.

A quick word of caution. Don’t be too ‘pigeon-holed’ by looks or categories of tiles. And don’t be afraid of mixing things up.

One more thing – be mindful of the living space, or spaces, you’re redesigning. It comes back to purpose we discussed right at the beginning:

1. Is it an open-plan of lounge, dining and kitchen area? It doesn’t all have to look the same. You can block-design specific areas that have specific purposes. All you really want to achieve is that feeling of design that contrasts or complements well.
2. Alternatively, you may have dedicated rooms for lounging, dining or just hanging out together. You may want to take a slightly different approach to ensure your choice of tile design works for an enclosed living space.

Let’s start with some wood-look tiles.

 

You can feel the softening of what is essentially of a modern wall and window design. The shades and grains of the floor tiles seem to anchor the entire space. And you can just imagine the subtle options that colour ranges offer as well.

 

 

The parquet look has become quite the thing. Except, in a tile, you don’t have the scuffing and upkeep of actual parquet flooring. It’s retro chic without the hassle.

 

Larger wood-like slats are also a nostalgic throwback. Yet they are perfectly comfortable in a contemporary setting. See how even the slightest variations in colour can bring you closer to the look you’re after.

 

The same holds true for this slatted tile, with even subtler tints to compare. Generally, the deeper tones of brown suggest ‘new’ wood, while the lighter and ashen shades impart the feeling of older wood.

 

And what might this be? A wood-look floor on a wall? Well, yes and no. What you have here is a cabin-like interior that creates a softer, cosier environment. The grain design in the face of the tile is the real deal!

 

Now see how a similar tile design, with true-to-life wood knots and grains, works equally well as a living room floor space.

Next, some striking examples of stone designed tiles.

 

Strictly speaking, we might consider this more of a wood look. But take a closer look. There’s a wonderful texture of almost petrified wood that suggests a combined stone-like feel. And it works! Perfectly.

 

Nothing says rustic quite like the contrast of wood and stone. The effect is calming. It draws you into a comfortable, relaxed living space to enjoy together.

 

Here we have the stone version of retro. Like the wooden parquet, the slasto look is a timeless classic. Rich textures of rockface bring the great outdoors right into your living room.

Now, let’s add a couple of décor suggestions into the mix.

 

This elongated rectangular décor design allows you to play freely with the patterned laying of the tiles. Simple straight lines, or lattice work, can create a completely different look and energy. Then consider alternative colours for even more playful possibilities.

 

 

 

The geometric dimensions of colour here pull you in. You’re drawn into all sorts of depths, angles and illusive shapes. It has movement. It has flare. Just perfect for an equally lively space.

The joy of exploring with Johnson Tiles. 

Before you rush off to find your perfect tile collection, Johnson Tiles is a very good place to start.

1. Reliability – Johnson Tiles are stocked by South Africa’s leading retailers. Wherever you’re shopping for style, quality and value, you’ll find the long-trusted name of Johnson Tiles.
2. Range – Start where you’ll find the broadest range of styles and colour variations. The more options you have to hand under one roof, the better. Find your complete look.
3. Stock – If it’s on the shelves, it’s readily available. Johnson Tiles manufactures right here in South Africa.
4. Peace of mind – Johnson Tiles was established way back in 1901. But we don’t see that as being older. Instead, we continue to become more stylish, trendier, adding more value, with the reassurance of everything you can expect in a quality product. And certainly, a great deal more fun to start your newly designed project. 

The perfect finish, with TAL.

The Johnson Tiles commitment to quality is uncompromising. Which is why we recommend TAL to get your project completed using only the best in adhesives, grouting, sealants and application accessories. Wherever you find Johnson Tiles, look for TAL to get the job done. Perfectly.