Advantages and Disadvantages of Natural Stone Tiles

Natural stone tiles are versatile, elegant, robust, and are the perfect addition in any home. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of them...

The most common natural stone tiles include Slate, flagstone (sandstone), marble, granite, travertine and limestone.  Each stone has unique characteristics and maintenance requirements.When laying down natural stone tiles you should seal natural stone tile before grouting unless you are planning on using the grout colour in the stone as a design element.

Most natural stones are not resistant against common household acid (lemon juice) or oil stains so they might not be the ideal option if you have lots of pets and children who are likely to cause spillages. Natural stone tiles are relatively difficult to work with mainly because they are products of nature rather than modern manufacturing. However, it has been made easier in recent years.

The Advantages of Natural Stone include:

One of the many advantages natural stone tiles provide is a warm timeless, unique appearance which makes it worthwhile when spending that extra time to fit these

Stone is an excellent conductor, so adding underfloor heating can also add to the eco-friendly benefits of stone tiles. Heat will be generated by drifting up into the room so that traditional heating systems can be turned down, making a saving on household utility bills.Natural stone has also become a feature that can add value to a property. As the housing market began to stagnate, people started devoting their resources to regeneration by adding modern luxuries, like stone tiles, to their properties instead of incurring the expense of moving.

If you are looking for a material that will last a lot longer than carpet, and something that is easy to maintain, you can't go wrong with natural stone tiles. There is good news for those of you who want to invest in these timeless jewels as there has been an increase in demand throughout the years with more and more people looking on a stone floor as an investment it has meant that the cost of stone tiles has dropped. Natural Stone tiles are now an affordable option for most people when looking to tile your home.
If you want to find out more about natural stone tiles you can call 0800 156 0756 to purchase them from Crown Tiles.

Bathroom Finishes to make your Home Sell

In recent months there has been a significant rise in the cost of buying a home within the UK. As these prices soar, buyers are now becoming more particular when searching for their dream home before parting with such large amounts of money! Add to this the rise in new property developments and it becomes apparent why it is increasingly difficult to sell property.

Bringing your home up to spec with a potential new buyer in mind could be just the answer for a smooth sale. Redecorating key rooms including the kitchen and bathroom for favour of a clean and neutral finish may have buyers imagining being able to move straight in – with only the need to add a few personal finishes. With little work to do and with that the saved pound sign ringing through a buyers mind, your newly redecorated home could make for a quick sale.

Garish colours are a NO GO – even if to your own tastes! Opting for softer colours such as browns and greys can give a buyer time to appreciate a room for its size and features, without being put off by vibrant walls. It is also harder to picture yourself living in a space if it is not decorated to your own tastes. Neutral colours allow for splashes of more vibrant colours to be added without the need for a complete revamp – perfect for those on a tight budget!

Although redecoration your home to suit potential buyers may seem like a big project, the benefits could be collected tenfold – especially if you get that all important offer! Redecorating the whole house may be an expense and time consuming task. Concentrating on areas such as the kitchen and bathroom – that is more likely to look a little bit shabby – could be enough to secure a sale. Laying new tiles, especially in the bathroom, could give the room a whole new lease of life and it doesn’t have to be as expensive as you may think. Using colours such as grey bathroom tiles could allow for a buyer to add their own design quirks simply and cheaply, making them far keener to move in. Many companies can offer inexpensive bathroom tiles, making it a worthwhile redecoration choice when selling your home.

If you are looking for ways to improve the saleability of your home and would like to find out further information on bathroom tiles including grey bathroom tiles, please visit the website of TileChoice. Alternatively, if you would like to speak to a member of the Tile Choice team to discuss any of their products or would like to quotation, please dial 0800 1 560 560

Choosing Kitchen Tiles on a Budget

Decorating your kitchen  can be challenging as there are so many options for colours, finish, material, size, shape and style that it can be difficult to know where to start. Whether you are after floor tiles or wall tiles here’s a guide to choosing kitchen tiles on a budget.

Browse through magazines and get create by making your own ‘digital kitchen tile board

Start by getting some magazines or free brochures from your local DIY stores to find inspiration for colours, wood type and general design ideas and finishes.

Why not get creative by using PowerPoint or Pinterest to make yourself a digital kitchen tile board. It will help you make those all important choices. You can even take the board shopping with you and show it to sales associates or email it to online retailers so they have an idea of your visual.

Picking out your favourite budget tiles

When shopping for those perfect kitchen tiles you can create a "high end look for less" by mixing an inexpensive ceramic backsplash tile with either stone or glass. You can use stone or glass mosaics, cut them into strips and add them to your backsplash design. You can also use a decorative stone liner as an accent piece. Some other inexpensive options include:

• You can take a large wall or floor ceramic tile and lay it out in a horizontal or vertical brick pattern. This covers a lot of space for not a lot of money.
• Glass mosaic tile has become a budget-friendly backsplash option. 
• Ceramic mosaics are also an inexpensive option. 
• Ceramic mosaics are being made to mimic natural stone. It is difficult to tell the difference, but they cost a lot less. 
• Decorative glass liners  add a lot of punch to a backsplash. 
• Ceramic profiles like twist pencils can add texture and depth to a backsplash.

Fit them yourself

The price tag for a tile project is materials plus labour; instead of hiring a professional decorator you might want do the work yourself so you have more money to spend on the tile. Even if you don’t set the tile and grout it, you can do the preparation, hang the cement board and mortar the seams. Tiling is taught at in-store weekend stores, there are also videos for DIY decorators.

Green Wall Tiles for that Natural Look

Throughout the year, nature offers an abundance of beautiful colours that change with the seasons – giving us a new perspective every time we set foot outdoors. Most obviously, the leaves on trees change drastically through the months as part of a trees natural annual changes. From vibrant greens to burnt reds, the colour changes really are a wonder and something that we should all take a little time to appreciate. We can even take inspiration from such natural colours as part of decoration plans for the home.

Although we all see the changing leaves throughout the year, I am sure many of us have wondered why this happens.

BBC Nature explains that leaves are made up of a number of chemical pigments including chlorophyll and carotene. The chlorophyll is required as part of the process of photosynthesis and when in contact with the sun shows lush green in colour. During the year, as the weather changes and the days draw in, the chlorophyll pigments break down revealing the yellow tinted carotene colouring of a leaf. This colouring is always present but is masked by the brighter greens that show during the warmer times of the year. It is because of this process that we see and enjoy the beautiful shadings on individual leaves as the seasons come and go.

Of course when we think of trees and leaves, the majority of us will immediately think of the colour green. It is a very organic colour that brings with it freshness and a level of purity. With home designs, the colour green can be used to bring the feeling of the outdoors into the home. This is commonly seen in the likes of conservatories and sun rooms which can make the room seem to flow straight into a garden space but can be used within any room to make it feel light and spacious.

From soft minted greens to bold lime shades, there is sure to be a green to match all room designs.

If you are looking to redecorate with a natural theme in mind, please visit the website of Tile Choice, to view a range of products including green wall tiles. These could be a great addition to any project to bring a little bit of the outdoors into our home. 

Cream Metro Wall Tiles

According to some statistics, on average, some families give parts of their house a design makeover every six or seven years, in order to keep their house looking modern, clean and beautiful. Maybe you haven’t redecorated your house in recent years, and as a result, parts of it are starting to show the wear and tear? Most commonly in houses, the tiling in some rooms (especially the kitchens and bathrooms) is the most likely thing to show wear and tear, as old tiles start to fall off after getting either wet or being on the walls for too long. Tiliing is most commonly used in rooms where the walls and floors have a risk of getting either wet of dirty. This is because tiles can easily be cleaned. Examples of these rooms could be the front porch of your house, or the kitchens and bathrooms.

Apart from the main furnishings that make up your home, the walls of the house are very important when it comes to getting the feel and design of your house right. This is because the area of space that the wall takes up in a house is quite large, and therefore the design of it makes a large impact on the overall design of the whole room.

Getting the colour and style of the tiles right for your room will make the difference between having a well-designed room and poorly designed room. If you are aware that your artistic merits leave something to be desired, it is often recommended that you go for a relatively neutral colour scheme, because this means the tiles are less likely to clash with the other colours in the rooms of your house. 

For example, white and cream coloured tiles are neutral, because they don’t really clash with any other colours. Cream Metro Wall Tiles are rectangular tiles that can improve the look of any room they are used in. ‘Metro’ is the style of the tile, which is a simple rectangle of dimensions 10 x 20cm, so they are neither very small nor too large. They can be placed in a modern, bright home, and provide a focal point of stylish white or cream wall tiles (especially when used with a black grout) or they can be placed in a more traditional home with brickwork and wood being a recurring feature in that home. The beauty of these Cream Metro Wall tiles is that they will fit with almost any style of room.

In order to purchase some Cream Metro Wall Tiles, contact Crown Tiles at crowntiles.co.uk, who are a tile specialist with a vast range of tiles available for many different uses around the house.