Interior Design Archives - Natural Stone Tile Company & Shop

There is no denying that tiles are a wonderful addition to the home. They can really make a bathroom or kitchen spring to life by transforming floors, walls and shower stalls.

But what happens to your tiles when you feel like redecorating? You could throw them away or you could consider recycling and reusing them.

Upgrading your tiles

The fact you might have tiles you are considering recycling is likely due to a little home improvement. Let’s face it; home decor can feel a little stale after a while and freshening the place up is often in order. Even if you once loved your decor, looking at the same walls for too long can make you start itching to change things around.

The beauty of using a material like tiles to decorate your home is that you have the freedom to chop and change things around as often as you like. Our natural stone tiles come in a variety of styles, including wood effect, and are perfect for renovating your bathroom, kitchen or shower. Once you have remodelled your home, you could have some tiles left behind that you might want to recycle.

Here are some ideas about what to do with your old tiles.

Repurposing tiles is fun

Giving your old tiles away to someone who needs them is a great way to ensure there is less waste in the world. However, we think repurposing tiles and giving them a new lease of life by transforming them is a fun and rewarding activity.

You can unleash your inner artist with these creative uses for old tiles:

Tile coasters and placemats
Tile tabletop
Decorative tile tray
Planter

You might enjoy repurposing tiles so much that you just enjoy buying them and finding alternative uses for them.

We have a fine collection of ceramic wall tiles that look great in any part of the home they are placed. They are perfect for any home improvement project, or some arts and crafts time too.

Our marble flooring tiles are perfect for elegant flooring but are also ideal for home improvement projects as they are large enough to act as a tabletop or tray surface on their own.

Recycling tiles at the local recycling centre

If you have been through a redecoration project in the past you might have realised how difficult it is to recycle old tiles. Many recycling and refuse plants don’t specifically take tiles and they tend to get thrown into the rubble collection point. Once your old tiles are thrown in with the rest of the rubble, there’s not much hope of fishing them out.

Old tiles will get thrown in with other building rubble and either crushed and turned into concrete or possibly sold as materials for building roads. However, there are things you can do yourself to recycle and reuse some of your old tiles to save them from destruction.

Give tiles a new home

Your tiles have served you well but it’s time to move on to something bigger and better. Maybe you think your tiles deserve better than to be smashed up and repurposed as building materials. One way to give ceramic tiles a new lease of life is to offer them out to friends and family.

Perhaps you know someone who has just moved house or has a project that they could use some porcelain tiles. Porcelain tiles are hardwearing, versatile and look great, so they are perfect for donating to others once you have finished with them. You can also check local community notice boards for any people or charities looking for tiles.

Social media has plenty of positives and negatives but one of its great benefits is putting people in touch with each other. You could always post to a local social media community page or marketplace to see if anyone is keen to take them off your hands. This way, you know that your old tiles will be of use to someone again.

How to remove tiles without breaking them

Getting tiles off the wall or floor without breaking them is going to be the biggest challenge to ensuring they can be reused. Naturally, once a tile has been put in place it is designed to stay there. That can make removing them pretty tricky but there are ways to work them out of their place and keep them intact.

The first thing you need to do is to wear away the grout, which may require tools like a grout saw or utility knife. Power tools will get the job done faster but not everyone has them and feels confident using them.

Once the grout is removed it’s time to pop the tile out. This can be easy or difficult depending on how stuck they are underneath. Try easing a chisel below the tile and start tapping gently with a hammer to see if it is going to come loose.

If it’s looking like it won’t budge then switch to something more flexible, like a putty knife. Slide the putty knife under the tile and begin working away at the adhesive until the tile comes away.

Once you have managed to get the first tile off without breaking it, the rest should come off quite easily. You could always sacrifice one tile to preserve the rest if this job becomes too fiddly.

What to do with broken tiles?

It’s still possible to reuse broken tiles but your options are more limited. Broken tiles are great for mosaic making, and it’s even something you could do with the kids on a rainy day. However, make sure everyone is wearing protective gloves and safety glasses as those shards will be sharp.

With broken tiles you could make the following:

Mosaic plant pots
Mosaic tile magnets
Tiled bookcase
Mosaic bathroom mirror surround
Mosaic garden path

Buying Natural Stone Tiles

If you would rather buy tiles than find new uses for them, we can help you out. Our natural stone tiles come in a wide range of options to perfectly fit into your home. Versatile options like slate tiles can be cut to any size and are perfect for traditional and contemporary homes.

We also offer a tile repair and replacement service, so you don’t have to struggle with removing them yourself. For tiles that last a long time, get in touch for a no-obligation quote.

From fashion to interiors, the cottagecore trend has taken the world by storm. The charming aesthetic is focused on creating a cosy respite that is centred around slow living and pastoral features. But what is the trend and what key features can you incorporate into your home to replicate this aesthetic?

What is cottagecore?

Cottagecore is a trend that focuses on domestic living, peacefulness and creativity. It’s a charming and dreamy aesthetic that strives to incorporate sustainability with minimising the stresses of daily life. So, how does that apply to interior design?

Cottagecore works well in homes, with nods to nostalgia and pared-down rooms that remind you to slow down and savour the little moments. Think less technology, more spaces to recharge and relax. And it doesn’t take a major overhaul of your current home to create a cottagecore look.

Use natural materials

Nature and the cottagecore trend go hand in hand, so it’s a common feature of homes adopting this trend to make use of the likes of wood, wicker, hemp fabrics or stone and slate. From wooden furniture covered with warm woollen blankets to wicker baskets and large natural stone floor tiles, there are various ways to include natural materials into your home and layering is very much encouraged with this style.

Include floral patterns

Bring nature inside with florals, both real and patterns, such as in art around the home, textiles and wallpaper. Floral patterns evoke a romantic ambiance and country-style cottage feel and fuse the outdoors with inside. It’s a great way of adding organic warmth year-round to different rooms in your home, especially when coupled with an abundance of real plants for added greenery and an ethereal touch.

Seek out antiques

Antique furniture and vintage décor items work really well with this interior style, creating a nostalgic farmhouse look that cottagecore is known for. But you can also use this as inspiration if you don’t want to buy antiques. For example, Victorian tiles add a vintage feel to living rooms and kitchens, and they’re ideal if you want to keep the rest of the room fairly minimal but with a touch of pattern and colour.

Play with colour

Earth tones and floral pastels pair brilliantly with the cottagecore aesthetic, and with this trend, you can play more with colour and texture to create an eclectic palette. With cottagecore, focus on natural colours such as green, yellow and creams paired with pastel floral colours. If you have a neutral colour scheme already, you can add to it with key colourful pieces that will make a statement.

Experiment with different areas of the home

The living room is often the first thought when it comes to interior design, but cottagecore is a trend that works in a variety of rooms. From cosy bedrooms that make use of layered materials and soft furnishings, to using vintage china and florals in the kitchen and decorative patterned tiles in the bathroom, think about features you can update in each room for an eclectic yet cohesive look.

Final thoughts

Cottagecore has really flourished over the past year since more people have been craving calmness and serenity in light of the pandemic and uncertainty. But the great news is that its popularity has remained, and the charming nature-inspired look can work with many styles of home décor. From natural materials and colours to incorporating florals and vintage-inspired patterns and products, there are various ways you can add a cottage feel to your property, and it’s a style that works in any room of the house.

If you’d like advice on the best tiles to choose for your kitchen, bathroom or elsewhere in your home, the team at The Stone Tile Emporium can help. Get in touch with us today.

Black Slate Rectangular Wall Tiles In Kitchen

If your bathroom has seen better days, 2021 could be the year to finally do something about it.

After all, there’s nothing worse than having to wash and clean yourself in an area you don’t feel as comfortable in as you used to – sometimes you simply have to say enough is enough and do something about it.

However, when it comes to redesigning your bathroom, choosing the right tiles to use can be a difficult decision for many. This is not only because of how frequently trends come and go, but also due to the huge number of designs there are available to choose from.

So, with this in mind, we thought we’d help make the decision process easier for you. Join us as we run through four of 2021’s most popular tile trends, highlighting the key ones to think about if you’re planning on redesigning your bathroom later this year.

1. Subway Tiles

While some people may think the traditional design of subway designs may be boring, 2021 looks to be the year they’re brought back into fashion.

This is due to the new range of sizes they are fast-becoming available in – much thicker, longer and larger than we have seen before.

These styles, combined with a contrasting grout colour, can now transform dull into delightful, especially when installed in such a way to create a unique pattern or mosaic pattern within the bathroom.

2. Hexagonal Tiles

While on the topic of unusually shaped tiles, hexagonal porcelain tiles are becoming more and more popular with consumers around the UK.

Therefore, if you’re keen on giving your bathroom a bit more of a geometric pattern, hexagonal-shaped tiles can do exactly that, creating a truly unique look in your bathroom.

Whether you choose to use them on the floor of your shower or on a standalone wall, these tiles provide an abundance of choice over the style you want to achieve for your bathroom.

You could even go one step further by combining an array of differently coloured tiles to create elaborate accents in tune with your bathroom’s overall colour scheme.

3. Matte Tiles

Another type of tile which appears to have significantly grown in popularity in recent times is the matte tile. These tiles offer a soft but highly powerful style that won’t look too overwhelming in a bathroom, like some glossy ceramics can.

And, while they may be slightly duller in appearance, they more than make up for it in the practicality of their design, with water stains invisible on them when they are installed correctly.

This, in turn, makes them to ideal choice for flooring in the bathroom, especially if you have a lot of room to play with.

4. Graphic Patterns

Retro is officially back.

More and more people are now investing in graphic patterns for their bathroom tiles, utilising a range of colours, patterns and designs to really show off their space.

Victorian tiles, for instance, offer homeowners the creative freedom to put their imagination to use and come up with bold designs truly unique to their own home.

What’s more, these patterns are being seen on both ceramic and porcelain-style tiles, enabling you to control just how glossy or bold you want your designs to come across.

Final Thoughts…

If you’re still feeling a little stuck on which bathroom tiles is right for you, don’t worry – our team here at The Stone Tile Emporium are always on hand to help.

Simply contact us at your earliest convenience and we’ll be able to answer any questions you may have, before helping you identify the best tiles to suit both your personal and budgetary requirements.

Bathroom decoration takes time and often incorporates various attractive tiling features, from glass mosaics to unique natural stone. Of course, there are many things that need to be considered before you start purchasing your tiling, such as whether or not it suits a wet location. You also need to consider what size you’ll be going with. Remember that smaller tiles generally provide better grip, although you can also get larger tiles with effective slip-resistance. Here are a few other things to consider regarding shower tiles.

Tiling also contributes to the feel of the shower. Remember that if you’re tiling somewhere you are likely to sit, such as in a miniature sauna or shower room, the tiling should be larger and possibly incorporate a curved finish. Smaller tiles are more likely to be uncomfortable.

If style and design is your prime concern, think about tiling your shower area with two different tiles. This could be two different types of texture or simply a varied selection of colour. You could even go for some glass mosaics to give you more flexibility when creating unique shower room design ideas.

A final tip for your shower tiling project would be to choose carefully when going for mosaic tiles. You shouldn’t just rely on the gluey substance on the back of mosaics as they can quite easily slip. Contact between the back board and the mosaic tile is essential and leads to a seamlessly stunning installation.

If you’re someone who loves to get involved in arts & crafts activities, you’ve probably got an interest in creating wonderful mosaic or tiling designs with the help of some spare tiles that often go unused. It’s always recommended that you look to get hold of a few spare tiles before a tiling job, as you may require replacements due to damage or you might be unaware of the exact measurements. So if you do have some left over, here are three other uses of natural stone tiles that we’ve come across in the past that are great for those with a creative mind!

Tabletops

If you’re looking to put a smart tabletop somewhere in your home, such as in the hallway or possibly even the front room, you can improve its interior design potential by decorating the surface with coloured stone tiles. Simply apply your preferred paint to the stone tiles, whether they’re still intact or not, and decorate your tabletop with them!

Necklaces

You can create a stunning piece of jewellery with the help of some spare stone tiles as well. Start by cutting your preferred shape from the tile you have left over and proceed to decorate however way you like! Once you’ve got hold of the finished article, place a hole in the top centre area of the tile so it can be sued with a chain.

Coaster

Are you having trouble with tea or drink stains as a result of having no coasters? Stone tiles are perfect for placing drinks on, especially hot drinks such as tea or coffee. Place a thin, fabric material underneath the tile to act as the surface of your coaster and proceed to decorate the top as you see fit.

Glass mosaics are an excellent choice of tile for anyone who wants something a little more flamboyant, although not so much to dampen the clean appearance of any modern kitchen or bathroom space.

One of the biggest pluses associated with glass mosaics is that they aren’t likely to fade out of fashion or look particularly dated in the next few decades or so. They work extremely well with any modern interior design, so you can rest assured that a preference for glass mosaics will work in your favour should you choose to sell in the future.

Choosing glass mosaics takes time and should include plenty of consideration for your preferred colour, design and shape. Here at the Stone Tile Emporium, we have a wide range of glass mosaic options available to suit a variety of interior design preferences, such as Contemporary Chic or Iridescent Pearl.

Every type of glass mosaic we have offers a unique blend of colours and themes, giving you an alternative to the standard features of natural stone tiling. If there’s anything that could potentially become dated in future with glass mosaics, it’s likely to be the shape. Rectangular tiles in general may fade away in time but we’re always on top of the latest design trends here at the Stone Tile Emporium.

So should you go with glass mosaics for your home? It’s an easy yes in our opinion, as you get all sorts of exciting features that this kind of tiling is associated with, all of which are capable of lighting up both traditional and modern living spaces.

To learn more about our glass mosaics here at the Stone Tile Emporium, contact us today on 01737 210125. We look forward to hearing from you.

Porcelanosa Wall and Floor Tiles Hero Image

We’re all after that luxurious finish when it comes to tiling, whether it’s a contemporary home or something a little more antique. However, achieving luxury in a contemporary home can be quite tough, especially with so much to compete with in the market. Here are a few luxury stone flooring ideas that might give your contemporary kitchen or bathroom the sparkle it needs to reach new heights.

Glamour

Original Style Artworks Baroque Blue Bathroom Wall Tiles

Glamour and contemporary go hand-in-hand, so going for something that dazzles or sparkles could work particularly well. Once the mirror effect of your shiny stone tile attracts the natural light of your bathroom, it creates a shimmering atmosphere that compliments any modern bathroom design.

Urban Chic

Urban chic is really growing in popularity. The slate flooring effect means that bathrooms and kitchens are now adopting a unique design that compliments the idea of natural stone. With the addition of some exposed brickwork and wooden cabinets or furnishings, you could create a beautifully luxurious urban environment in your bathroom without substantial expenditure.

Scandinavian

Original Style Earthworks Tumbled Marble Beige Floor And Wall Tiles In Bathroom

The Scandinavian effect incorporates plenty of wooden features as well as cubic furnishings and no short amount of natural light. With the addition of some naturals tone tiles, you can create a spa-like atmosphere that lives up to the demands of luxurious contemporary bathrooms. A touch of the outdoors, such as plant life, shells or stones will also work really well here.

For more information on our wide range of slate tiles and more, get in touch with us today or visit our shop in Reigate, and we’ll take you through our unrivalled collection of natural stone.

Marble Tiles Gallery Image - Original Style Earthworks Viano White polished marble and Nero Polished Marble

We’ve all experienced the ups and downs of carrying out DIY work and installing new stone flooring or wall tiling is probably one of the most common DIY jobs that you’ll come across. There are always questions that need answering when tiling, so we’ve decided to put together a few FAQ’s for those of you who are seeking out some helpful tiling advice or information. Three questions will be answered each week, so keep an eye on our blog over the coming weeks!

Q. Is it safe to drill through my bathroom tile installation?

A. Yes. However, it all comes down to what your tiles are made from. If they are thin and ceramic, a cheap drill bit is all you need to carry out the job. Porcelain tiles on the other hand require small diamond drill bits and can be much more difficult to start.

Q. Can tiles stick to plywood?

A. Plywood is quite a common bathroom material, though it must be thick enough to not be affected by regular changes in temperature. You will need a latex based bonding solution rather than standard PVA solutions to get tiles to stick to Plywood.

Q. Do I have to seal my natural stone tiling?

A. Yes. Natural stone isn’t porous so you’ll have to carry out a grouting procedure. Once the grout has been left to dry, it should become waterproof. Grouting doesn’t have a significant effect on the look of your natural stone tiles, so don’t worry too much about this.

We’re lucky enough to work in an industry here at the Stone Tile Emporium that provides us with all kinds of questions regarding the origin of natural stone and its characteristics.

It’s fascinating to learn more about the origin of natural stone, especially when you consider that the majority of stone flooring is the result of millions of years of compression beneath the earth’s surface.

For example, the colour in natural stone tiles derives from all kinds of organic matter and minerals. So how exactly does natural stone get its distinct colour and pattern variations?

The colour of natural stone is dependent on the minerals and organic matter present. For instance, red marble is given its colour from a high presence of iron, whilst green marble gets its colour from serpentine.

You can easily identify various minerals in natural stone by carrying out some research on the specific colours you get from all the different minerals present in stone. This can help you locate the perfect colour for your interior design plan.

So what should you know about minerals in order to maintain a tiles natural look? There are some stone tiles that gradually fade over time when exposed to sunlight, such as marble tiling.

Marble is sensitive to ultraviolet light and will subsequently lose its deep, shiny dark colour over time. You can bring the colour back by polishing or honing the stone every now and then.

Glass and stone come together to create a unique blend of texture, colour and style that contributes to the contemporary interior design ideas we often see in kitchens and bathrooms today. This particular combination is capable of enhancing both the vigour and relaxation of any average space. With the decorative addition of stone and glass mosaics in your home, you are sure to achieve the major artistic statement you’re looking to portray. Here are a couple of ways to bring glass and stone together in your home.

Example 1 – Liven Up Your Bathroom

If you use some dazzling glass mosaics on the walls in your bathroom and compliment them with stylish stone flooring, you can create a stunning contemporary interior that offers a range of qualities, from the sparkling nature of the glass to the natural effects of the tiling. You can also immerse yourself in an abundance of natural light thanks to the reflective qualities of the glass.

Example 2 – Mix Up the Shapes and Sizes of Your Tiles

Glass tiles come in all different shapes and colours, which is why you can use them to add aesthetic appeal to any tiled or painted wall. An earth-toned glass mosaic finish with the addition of clear, beige or creamy tiling creates a hugely appealing contrast of colours and finishes. Mosaic tiling on the floors compliment this outstanding wall design and you can create a distinctive look by going for a number of different colours.