Decorative possibilities of ceramic tiles

Ceramic tiles serve as a full-fledged interior decoration today. Therefore, referring to it, one should know not only about its operational characteristics, but also about its decorative possibilities. Since the walls inside the premises are less subject to mechanical stress, the aesthetic aspect is the most important for wall tiles. Today we will talk about the traditional decorative elements found in wall tile collections. Usually they include background (main) tiles and decorative elements (inserts, panels, borders).

Inserts

The simplest decorative element in ceramic wall tile collections is a single insert. It is a single tile with a pattern or pattern that is different from the background, which brings a solid surface to life and creates a color spot on the wall. Most often, single inserts are used in bathrooms and in the kitchen “backsplash” (this is how the wall surface between the cabinets and hanging shelves of the kitchen unit is called). As a rule, inserts for the “apron” correspond to the theme of the room: usually they depict vegetables, fruits, flowers, pastoral subjects, etc. The format of kitchen inserts is often small – 10×10 cm or 20×20 cm.

Inserts for bathrooms have no format restrictions, and their themes are more diverse: various patterns, antique scenes, images of fish, ships and other marine attributes. In addition, there are special inserts for children’s bathrooms – with cartoon characters or funny animals.

The inserts are placed on the wall surface at regular intervals or, conversely, chaotically. Unlike borders, they are not an indispensable attribute of a collection. For example, high-tech collections are completely absent..

Apart from the decorative function, the individual inserts also have a practical meaning – these are the so-called functional inserts. So, for example, some factories offer tiles-hooks and tiles-soap dishes for decorating a bathroom or kitchen, on which towels, kitchen utensils, etc. are hung..

Panel

Decorative panel – it is an insert, usually made of two, three or more tiles. However, there are decorative panels made of one tile, which are larger in format than the background tiles of the collection. The panel can be either a finished “work of art” (a painting on ceramics or a bas-relief), or it can be assembled from individual tiles.

Panel-freesize. Decorative panels also include compositions that do not have a clear shape and size. They are called in English the word “freesize” (“free size”). As a rule, a freesize panel consists of two or three tiles with different patterns, from which you can make a vertical composition of any height. For example, depict a column, a sunflower or a liana on the wall. The initial and final elements of such panels have a strictly defined image, and the intermediate tiles are absolutely identical. Thus, the height of the column (or flower) is determined by the number of middle elements..

Another type of freesize panel looks like an arbitrary drawing that does not have clear boundaries. These can be, for example, scattering of flowers or randomly located geometric shapes. To achieve this effect, the image is composed of two types of tiles. Some are completely covered with a pattern, others are half. Depending on the number of tiles of both types and their combinations, the panel can have completely different appearance and shape..

Curbs

Traditional border – it is a narrow horizontal ceramic strip with a certain, usually repeating pattern or relief. To one collection of wall tiles, several borders of different widths are often offered at once, designed in the same style – wide, narrow and pencil-like borders. The latter are a narrow convex strip that either completes the tiled masonry or complements the traditional border..

When laying curbs, a variety of techniques are used to achieve individuality in the design of the walls.

In classic horizontal installation, the border usually separates the tiles in two colors (usually a dark bottom and a light top). Another option is when the curb, passing under the ceiling, serves as the end of the tiled masonry.

Vertical stacking of curbs allows not only to give the surface a non-standard look, but also performs a practical function, say, when highlighting certain zones. There are special vertical curbs, but in most cases, this role is played by an ordinary horizontal curb, only laid vertically. With the help of horizontal and vertical laying of the border at the same time on the wall, they create a pattern of intersecting lines.

Stacking the curb – this is when it is staggered or even chaotic. With this approach, it serves not only as a decorative wall decoration, but also allows you to beautifully bypass possible interference, for example, plumbing equipment. There are a lot of styling options in this case, and which one to choose is up to the customer and the designer.

The combination of several types of borders. One of the most common types of styling is the use of not one, but several types of borders at once. For example, a traditional border can be edged with a pencil border on one side or both. Often, borders are used not only as decoration, but also as a functional element. For example, as a frame for a wall-mounted mirror.

Decorative inserts from borders. Using the border, you can make an insert yourself. To do this, you need to cut the background tile and lay several borders on it (for example, two, three, four).

There are several options for laying tiles. A classic familiar to almost everyone: light top, dark bottom, and a border between them.

But you can do something more interesting. In particular, apply a double border. In this case, the wall is divided by a border not into two sections (top and bottom), but into three (top, middle part and bottom), and the emphasis is on the middle part. This method of installation provides much more design possibilities than the previous one, since it allows using not two, but three types of tiles and several types of borders.

Another promising and modern technique is space zoning. Usually it is used when it is necessary to place a compositional emphasis on a fairly large part of the wall. Let’s say visually highlight the space under the sink. For this, the walls in the room are tiled with background tiles. Then they take a background tile of a different color or pattern and lay out a vertical strip with it over the washbasin area. There is another way to achieve the same effect: you can take the insert offered in this collection and lay out a block with it over the washbasin area..

Inserts, panels and borders allow you to give the interior even more variety than could be obtained by color, pattern, texture or tile shape. It’s like in a kaleidoscope: just a few colored glasses give an amazing, unique picture every time. The good thing about the collections is that in them all the decorative elements are designed in the same style, but at the same time they can be freely combined, creating a unique, individual design from a standard set of proposals. Professionals will help you find a place for beautiful tiles on your walls.