House owners easily accept ceramic tile, porcelain tile, and stone tile in the kitchen and bathroom. With its durability and zero-maintenance nature, ceramic tile was practically made for kitchens. And tile lends itself well to bathrooms since tile performs better than most other flooring materials in high-moisture environments. Tile, too, works great in entryways and mudrooms, because it cleans up so easily.
Bedrooms, however, are not the place most people think of using ceramic tile since these are spaces where warmth and softness are preferred. Tile is often viewed as a hard, cold, even sterile building material, and many people find it antithetical to the nature of a bedroom.
But there are reasons to rethink this:
Radiant heating. Ceramic tile is the perfect surface for installing electric heating mats to make a floor that oozes warmth underfoot.
New tile styles. New types of tile, especially porcelains, can create an amazingly warm and friendly tone in a bedroom. Some porcelain tiles, for example, can masterfully mimic the look of wood, cork, or bamboo.
Ceramic Tiles vs. Porcelain Tiles vs. Stone Tiles
Considerable confusion exists over what constitutes "ceramic" tile. Technically, the term refers to any type of tile made from clay shaped into thin tiles. By this definition, porcelains and terra cotta can be seen as types of ceramic tile, although there are some people who insist on viewing them as separate types of building materials. But ceramic tile manufacturers do not particularly distinguish between different types of tile, offering traditional ceramic tile, terra cotta, porcelains, and even natural stone tiles under the general title of "ceramic" tile. Therefore, all forms of clay and stone tile can be considered together when it comes to the use of these products in bedrooms. All have similar merits when it comes to using them as flooring materials for bedrooms.
Wood-Look Porcelain Planks
One great way to visually warm up tile in the bedroom is to use wood-look tile in rich tones. Manufacturers in recent years have become adept at producing tile with the look of oak, birch, walnut, cherry, pine, and other species, all in a variety of stains. When the tiles are shaped into planks, the look can be very convincing. These come in 4 x 24-inch and 8 x 24-inch sizes. The two sizes are often mixed in the same flooring installation to increase visual interest.
Glazed color full body porcelain floor tiles. These come in 4 x 24-inch and 8 x 24-inch sizes. The two sizes are often mixed in the same flooring installation to increase visual interest.
Rectangular Tile in Running-Bond Pattern
If you want to break up the tile routine in bedrooms, consider breaking out of the box. Or maybe we should say, break out of the square.
Square tile has been overused for years. In the last few years, larger rectangular 12 x 24-inch ceramic tile, have exploded onto the marketplace, along with their elongated cousins, ceramic tile planks.
Marble Look-Alike
Flooring takes the back seat in this bedroom installation. This big-scale 20 x 20-inch ceramic tile admirably does the job of providing a durable, easy-to-clean floor covering, and one that is attractive and cost-effective.
It is designed to resemble the look of natural marble tiles but is far more affordable. Marble and other stone ook tiles are best suited for climates where a cool look and feel is desirable, but in northern climates, stone-look tiles can be wonderful if laid over underfloor radiant heating.
Wood-Look Porcelain
Here is another warm and friendly porcelain tile that looks amazingly like wood. Only in rare instances are wood look tiles from cheap, bargain outlets worth it; they look awful because the wood grain is repetitive and poorly printed. For convincing wood- or stone-look porcelain tiles, you're better off going to a premium tile outlet offering products from high-end manufacturers.
The explosion of porcelain tiles is one of the biggest developments in flooring, as porcelain can be fabricated to resemble many different materials, including wood, natural stone, cork, bamboo, and even metal.
Rustic Terra Cotta
Historically, terra cotta is an early form of ceramic tile. It is an unglazed, red-toned stone with porous surfaces. Originally, it was cured by simple sun-baking, though now terra cotta tiles are generally oven-baked. Ceramic tiles generally have the same clay core as terra cotta but have a glazing surface applied to them before baking.
However, the porous tiles shown here are not true terra cotta, but a ceramic tile that's intended to look like classic terra cotta. The advantage is that these will be less porous and will hold up better than genuine terra cotta.