Ask Maria: What’s the Best Floor Tile for my Small Entry?
‘I have searched for a first floor entryway tile many months now. Under pressure to make a decision, I chose a 12″ x 24″ beige tile. I am not liking it and would prefer to make another selection , however, I am still stumped. Luckily, fate intervened and our tile installer will not be able to do the job until August. I cannot return the tile but would be willing to donate it to Habitat for Humanity if I can come up with something more appealing.’
‘Here are photos of the hickory stairway, the stairway with the old black and white checkerboard tile (above), and the beige tile set up at the foot of the stairway (below). Any suggestions on what will look better with the hickory stairway?
By the way, I have not yet bought furniture nor has the condo been painted. I have had the two bathrooms renovated according to your Timeless and Classic guidelines with much success!’
So first, I have a question for you, my lovely reader.
Barbara mentioned she searched for ‘months’ to find a tile, however, I did one little search online for ‘Best tile for small entry’ and came up with dozens and dozens of blog posts with all kinds of GASP, even-I-was-surprised ‘Timeless options’.
Even if she ended up coming home with something more ‘trendy’ as I would call it, almost anything would be better than what she did find (And Barb, please don’t be offended, we have ALL done this) tile is hard as I have said many times, here & here.
So I’d love to hear from you.
What are you searching, that you’d still end up coming home with generic 12″ x 24″ tile? Or did you not search, instead just walked into the tile store and came home with something that seemed ‘neutral?’ Please post your thoughts below.
I posted this question on Instagram today and received this comment from a follower:
First, there is nothing wrong with repeating what she originally had. A black and white checkerboard floor is still a timeless choice. What she was reacting to about the original tile she had, was the really bad installation with the tiny 2″ strip running long the most visual part of the entry tile.
This would have been better. Smaller tile, installed on the diagonal (below).
Read more: What Everyone Should Know About Porcelain Tile
Via Loombrand
Here’s another good option for a small entryway. Also great for a mudroom, we specify this often in my eDesign department for new builds and renovations.
Something similar to the black and white small-scale tile in my main bathroom would also be a good option:
Here’s another beautifully styled entry with perfect, timeless tile.
design by the spaceologists | photo by paul massey | via living etc
You could even do a trendy tile as long as you keep it black and white. Then you’re not married to a colour scheme forever.
Trendy tile that is my least favourite, is anything that gets pointy looking with triangles, like this one:
It’s just personal preference but I believe it might have something to do with how humans react to pointy vs. round. I wrote about that here.
Over to you my lovelies, I’d love to hear how you get so stumped even though there’s so much good inspiration online? Is it just too much? Let me know!
PS. Are you following along on my series on Instagram or Tik tok? The next one is ’10 Ways to Screw up your Renovation.’
Also, I have received many requests for my curated list of wood flooring, engineered, LVP and wood look tile that I specify to my eDesign clients. It’s now available for $49 here.
Related posts:
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Is your Black Accent Tile Perfect or Perfectly Nice?
A 10 Year Review of Accent Tile; Should you Install the Current Trend?
The post Ask Maria: What’s the Best Floor Tile for my Small Entry? appeared first on Maria Killam | Timeless Colour.