Wet Room – The Traditional Bathroom Alternative

The bathroom is usually one of the most difficult spaces to design when thinking of a renovation project, not least because of careful consideration needed to place all of the bathroom suite. With the bathtub, wash basin and toilet system, all needing an ideally located home as well as other useful fittings such as hand rails and radiators; designing such a space so that it is not only practical but also attractive could become a bit of a headache – especially for those who only have a small space to work with.

Bathroom alternative

One alternative to the traditional bathroom is to opt for a wet room. This idea creates a ‘walk in’ shower room, where no shower tray is required. The whole room becomes the shower and water can be drained away thanks to a gentle slope in the flooring.

Opting for a wet room instead of the traditional bathtub and overhead shower could open up the room making it appear much larger. A wet room is also extremely functional, as it is easy to clean and accessible for everyone. Shower heads can be placed just about anywhere, giving you greater freedom when thinking of the design. Wet rooms do not have any size or room shape limitations and so even the quirkiest of rooms can be easily adapted into a wet room space.

What to consider when designing a wet room

The most important aspect to get right within a wet room is the flooring. Without adequate waterproof matting and durable tiles, the wet room is likely to leak through ceilings and flooring – potentially causing masses of damage to other rooms within the home. The waterproofing should be multi-layered to ensure maximum protection including a polyethylene layer.

Floor tiles can finish a wet room perfectly. Option for floor tiles that complement the wall tiles can make for statement design feature. Many companies, including Crown Tiles, offer a wide range of bathroom floor tiles that can also be used for wet rooms. Such tile are available in a wide selection of sizes, shapes and patterns making it easy to find a tile that you would love for your wet room. Used with grouts and adhesives specifically designed for a wet room, flooring tiles will maintain their durability, giving you peace of mind and enabling you enjoy your new bathroom design.

Kitchen Wall Tiles

Have you been considering redesigning your kitchen in the near future? Statistics show that on average, most families redesign each room of the house at least once every six or seven years. This is done so that they can make sure their house looks as modern and well-designed as possible. As the walls themselves make up a huge proportion of any room, they need to look good – the walls are one of the most important aspects of a room when you’re considering aesthetics, because they then dictate how the rest of the room looks and feels. This means you can then get your furniture and other room decorations to match the walls easier.

In a kitchen, it is especially important to make sure the walls look good, because they are likely to be quite empty, as most equipment and crockery is likely to be stored in cupboards. One of the easiest ways to improve the look of the walls in your house is to fit kitchen wall tiles. These can be bought with almost any style and colour and can dramatically improve the look of your kitchen, no matter what its size is.  

Kitchen wall tiles are also especially useful to have because they provide a wipe clean surface, so if water from washing up and other liquids get splashed onto the walls, they can easily be cleaned. The alternative is to leave the walls bare using paint or wallpaper. This might seem cheaper, but in the long run, you’ll have to redecorate sooner because painted walls and wallpaper cannot easily be cleaned, so it will very quickly get grubby. This is the reason why the main places for tiling in the house is kitchen wall tiles and bathroom wall tiles – where the walls are likely to get dirty.

Given that the Kitchen Wall Tiles offered by Tile Choice are part of a huge selection of tiles, it is important that you get the tiles that look the very best in your kitchen. With their range of kitchen tiles offering small 10x10 cm tiles to large 60 x 30cm tiles, and with colours being available from across the rainbow, there are loads of different kitchen wall tile choices that you could use to improve your kitchen’s design. Maybe you’d like a mosaic of different coloured small tiles, or a more modern-looking kitchen with large, block coloured, rectangular tiles.

If you’re interested in retiling the walls of your kitchen, contact Tile Choice, a tiling specialist that can supply you with a wide range of tiles for any project you wish to uptake in our house, from the kitchen and bathroom, to floor tiles and other wall tiles.

Kitchen Floor Tiles

Kitchen floor tiles are much larger than the tiles you’ll be used to seeing on the walls of kitchens. This is because the tiles that are fitted to the floor need to be a lot stronger than those on your wall. With the force of lots of people walking all over the floor several times a day, the kitchen floor tiles need to be as strong as possible in order to take their weight. In order to make the tiles stronger, they are made longer and wider, to that the weight from a person is spread evenly over the ground, and therefore the tile is less likely to break.  As well as being longer and wider, kitchen floor tiles are also thicker than the tiles used on the walls – again, so that they can be strong.

Given that the interiors of kitchens vary hugely in different houses, depending on the taste of the owner, it is important that tile specialists realise that they need to provide a whole range of many different types, styles and sizes of kitchen floor tiles, so that every customer they have can find something suitable for their own kitchen. Crown Tiles is one of the tile specialists that has realised this. The most common colour for a kitchen floor tile is grey, but even that is incredibly vague. Some people will get a lighter grey for the floors of their kitchen, tinting towards sandstone colour, whereas others may go for a more authentic-looking dark grey stone floor, which often features a pattern designed to look like it’s been made of real flagstones. 

Other colours are also available for the floor tiles in your kitchen, although unsaturated colours seem to be norm, given that the effect most people want from a tiled floor is that it looks like real stone.  Sometimes, you’ll find designs printed onto tiles, so that you can form patterns on your floor, like intricate Arabic floor designs.  Alternatively, you can buy two different colours of kitchen floor tiles, and form a regular mosaic out of them.

It is important that you get the kitchen looking good in your home; it is one of the first rooms in which your guests will come if they visit your house, so your kitchen will give the impression for the rest of the house. If your kitchen looks good, the rest of the house will feel good, so it’s important to make sure that the kitchen floor tiles and wall tiles in your kitchen match the rest of the kitchen.

Ceramic Border Tiles

In the United Kingdom, on average, each household will redecorate each room in the house every six or seven years. This is so that the rooms in the house keep looking modern.  If you've been thinking of improving the look of your bathroom or kitchen in the next few weeks, or giving it a complete makeover, and important aspect of the rooms which the majority of people overlook is the tiling. Tiling is an important part of both the bathroom and the kitchen, as it helps to prevent the walls from getting wet, sodden and damaged. 

Most modern bathroom and kitchens have wall tiles built into the design of the walls, but if you’re starting from scratch, you need to make sure you know what you’re doing. As well as the physical benefits of using tiles in the bathroom for the walls, wall tiles are also aesthetically pleasing, as they can help to break up the large space that is the wall.

However, if the tiles in your bathroom extend all the way from floor to ceiling, it could be the tiles themselves that are not doing favours for how your bathroom looks. If you have a large block of similar colour, it can detract from the design of the room, as there is little interest in that area of the room. One tiling solution that many tiling specialists are offering now is the fitting of ceramic border tiles. Ceramic border tiles allow you to have two completely different tiling designs on your wall, without having them directly next to each other and risking them clashing with one another. Having two tile designs on your wall means that the large open space is halved, and the room design is likely to be improved.

Ceramic Border Tiles can be used for both contemporary or traditional rooms, as they only serve to provide a barrier between two different types of tiles. Ceramic Border Tiles can also be used where the end of your tile section abruptly meets the normal painted wall; in order to make the tiling work look more professional and more well designed, you can put them at the top of your tile section to border the tiles and provide a better aesthetic quality to your tiling job.

Types of border tiles can vary. Some are known as ‘pencils’ which are thin strips of ceramic tile to add a small border to a simple design. The designs of the borders then progressively get stronger, such as the rope effect ‘bridge’, which is a thicker version of the pencil, only with a rope-design on it. You can even get half-width tiles of a different design to class as a border tile – so long as it looks good with the rest of your tile set, which I am sure it will.

Glamourous White Wall Tiles

Are you looking for white wall tiles? At Crown Tiles they produce over 35 different white wall tiles, so you have a wide selection to choose your perfect tile from. They also offer a huge range of wall tiles of different colours, different textures and finishes and made from a whole variety of materials, including ceramic, porcelain and natural stone. 

Tiles have been popular since the glass tiles of the Ancient Egyptians, but it is since the reign of Queen Victoria that they have become a favourite choice for covering walls.

Why is it that wall tiles are so popular to cover walls with?

Tiles combine functionality with aesthetics. They are a very practical method of covering a wall. They are given a waterproof coating, and that, plus the grouting, ensures that no matter how splashed the wall becomes, the risk of any ruination from water damage is absolutely minimal compared to other types of wall covering such as paint or wallpaper. Not only that, but their surface is easy to clean and is therefore more hygienic and safer from harbouring mould or dangerous bacteria.

However, white wall tiles are also a beautiful addition to any room. The brilliant white reflects the light – whether natural sunlight or from a lamp – and instantly lightens any kitchen, bathroom or utility in which they are used, giving the illusion of more space and enhancing the appearance of cleanliness. They are stylish and incredibly versatile in complementing different décor designs and colour schemes, meaning that they will match well with both contemporary and traditional styles.

Wall tiles are very durable and hard-wearing. But, should a tile crack, it is very simple to replace that tile without needing to redo the entire wall. Therefore in the respect, as well as in matters of water damage and cleanliness, wall tiles have the edge over conventional wallpaper and painted walls. 

Metallic Wall Tiles

At Crown Tiles we supply a wide range of high-quality tiles for use in the kitchen, bathroom and utility room, including a series of metallic wall tiles which are perfect for adding a dash of character to your home.

We supply several different metallic wall tiles. The majority are in fact produced from porcelain; nevertheless, the subtle colour texturing gives a professional finish and a high quality appearance. They are given a special matt finish to ensure that they do not become too slippery when they are wet – even wall tiles which are slippery can cause a hazard if one needs to lean against them!

From a practical perspective, tiles are a superb option as a wall covering, particularly in rooms such as kitchens, utility rooms and bathrooms. Their versatility, as well as the fact that they are far easier to clean, and therefore more hygienic, than wallpaper or painted walls means that they have been a popular choice for walls since the Victorian years. 

Not only that, but the waterproof layer on the tiles and the grouting between them ensures that any water or liquid splashes do not penetrate the wall itself, meaning that there is no cause for concern about the wall becoming less sound through water damage. Tiles are very hard-wearing and durable, but should a crack appear in an individual tile, it is very simple to replace that tile without needing to renovate the entire room.

However, we know that all rooms need aesthetic quality as well as functionality. Our broad range metallic wall tiles means that regardless of the style or décor in your room, there will be something which complements it to enhance the best features of the room, satisfy everyone’s taste and give off fantastic results. It is important to consider carefully before purchasing wall tiles, and to take into account factors such as which finish and texture to choose.

Wall tiles are one of the most cost-effective methods of covering a wall; as mentioned above, they are waterproof and do not need replacing nearly as often as wallpaper or paint. To help you further, our products are sourced worldwide to enable the best materials in return for price. The range of materials include ceramic, porcelain and natural stone and includes a variety of finishes. The tiles themselves come in assorted shapes and sizes.

Common Wall Tiles for Kitchen Problems and How to Avoid Them

When designing your kitchen, always keep in mind the sorts of things your kitchen will encounter as you use it. Certainly, the kitchen is a very busy and very lively place, and all sorts of things will occur within it that may test your home design’s effectiveness. Things such as common accidents, the sorts of pressures the tiles floor tiles will need to withstand, the stains that wall tiles will need to be cleaned of, and how guests will react to your kitchen design should you invite them over. Knowing the common problems most faced by wall tiles for kitchens is also an important step in kitchen design.

Forewarned is forearmed, after all.

We've provided here a small list of common incidents your wall tiles may need to endure, and tips to help avoid them or mitigate the damage caused by them.

Shattering

For plastic or stone tiles, this is less likely to be a problem. Plastic wall tiles for kitchens can better absorb the blow, whereas stone is just too heavy to do more than chip. Ceramic is also quite good withstanding physical trauma. However there is the chance with other materials of a tile shattering if it’s struck soundly and directly, which of course means it must be replaced. It may also scatter bits of tile everywhere, which may present a hazard to bare feet, pets and young children.

Avoiding shattering is a simple case of being careful around your wall tiles. Unlike floor tiles they’re less likely to be struck, so mostly this is watching things when moving other furniture, or being careful with objects on surfaces.

Build Up of Dirt and Germs

Keeping your wall tiles clean of dirt and stains can help keep your kitchen clean and hygienic. Whenever you’re cooking, always wipe down your tiles with an antibacterial spray, and scrub until the tiles are clean. Wall tiles for kitchens that are particularly prone to dirt build up are any tiles behind a cooker, where boiling sauces often spray against the back wall. There’s little that can really be done to stop this entirely, the most you can do is clean your tiles immediately after cooking.

Chips and Scratches

Even if a tile does not shatter, it may still chip or become scratched. These upset the appearance of your tiles and will spoil any effect they may have in a pattern or decoration scheme. Avoidance is much like shattering -- make sure nothing slams against or scuffs your wall tiles. If it happens nevertheless, you may wish to either paint over them if the scratch or chip is shallow enough, or replace the tile entirely.

Faded Colours

Sometimes tiles may just loose colour over time. This is most prevalent with plastic tiles, but sometimes it can occur with other tile types as well. Usually the cause is direct sunlight bleaching the tiles, but sometimes it can also be the result of cleaning chemicals too. If this happens, you can repaint ceramic or porcelain tiles to immediately restore the original colour, however plastic tiles will need to be replaced.

For further information on wall tiles for kitchens, or else to browse their extensive online catalogue, visit the website of Crown Tiles. You can also contact them directly by phoning 0800 156 0756.

New found Love in the Kitchen

To be a ‘dab hand’ in the kitchen it pays to have the right equipment. There this now such a wide variety of kitchen gadgets to help blitz, chop, grate, steam, grill or whisk – you name it, there’s likely to be a gismo to help in just about every cooking task! With all this extra help, there’s now even more reason to get cooking at home and without blaming the work man’s tools!

Blenders, bread ovens, grilling plates, electrical whisks and steamers; to name but a few. These gadgets really could make cooking at home that little bit easier.

One of the best tools to have in the kitchen is a food processor. Used by all the celeb chefs to make their jobs that bit easier, these processors usually come with a variety of add-ons for an array of functionalities. The food processor can blitz food, ideal for making dressings and smoothies, or with a change in add-on such us a grater it can speed up a home-made coleslaw or potato rosti.  Switch the function again and the processor could even be used to knead dough – saving you all that extra arm work! Don’t forget to ensure the lid is on! Comedy sketches often show the aftermath of forgetting to put a lid on it and pressing the ‘blend button’, seeing part crushed fruits and vegetables firing in all direction to paint the kitchen in a concoction of colours!

With all these new gadgets, now all you need is a well-designed kitchen space to get experimenting and tasting your newly acquired skills.

Revamping your kitchen to give you the best space to work in can be a little expensive; however, even just re-laying kitchen wall tiles could make all the difference for a clean and new looking kitchen that you will want to cook in. Kitchen wall tiles are available in an array of colours, sizes and shapes to suit all tastes and kitchen designs. This inexpensive method of redecoration, is also an easy quick fix requiring little labour and time. Best still – even with a little spillage in the kitchen, wall tiles can be quickly cleaned without leaving tell-tale marks of the mishap.

With your new gadgets in hand and a new found love of the kitchen, you could be whipping up a storm – or at least making a good attempt to!

Black Bathroom Floor Tiles are Versatile, Strong and Stylish

Bathrooms: they’re one of the most important rooms in our homes. The bathroom is not only a functional room, where the family can get ready for school or for work but it’s also a place of rest and relaxation. Taking a hot shower or having a long, bubbly bath is the perfect way to restore your body and mind after a hard day at work. Letting your bathroom fall into disrepair can take the good feeling away from that end of day treat and that’s why it’s important to ensure your bathroom is a place that you want to return to time and time again. Spending some time on the aesthetics can help to lift and transform a tired looking room. If you’re considering giving your room some TLC then black bathroom floor tiles are a great idea if you want to bring your bathroom up to scratch.

You can find black floor tiles for your bathroom in a range of different materials and finishes online, meaning you never have to comprise on creating the exact style to suit your personality. The best type of tile material you can choose will depend on your circumstances. For many people, ceramic and porcelain tiles are the most effective as they are super strong and resistant to the everyday wear and tear of home life. 

However, a black bathroom floor tile in a quartz or slate material can also work well if there tends to be less ‘traffic’ in your bathroom on a daily basis. Alternative materials are also an option if you want an easy way to add an extra touch of luxury to your space. You can choose from gloss, matt, satin or even anti-slip floor tiles for your bathroom and if you’re feeling adventurous, why not try mixing textures for an extra quirky finish?

Black bathroom floor tiles have a great deal of benefits for your home, making them a popular choice for many. Apart from their durability and stylish look, most floor tiles are much safer than slippery wood or lino, which is great if you have young children or adults who are unsteady on their feet. Floor tiles are also easier to clean than other surfaces, meaning you can ditch the rubber gloves and spend more time relaxing in you r new space. Floor tiles are great for blending practicality and style, so it’s worth considering them if you’re looking to revamp your bathroom. If you’re after some professional help on how to get started in your room, then Tile Choice can offer not only a great range of black bathroom floor tiles but some handy advice on how to lay and treat your tiles as well, meaning you can enjoy their benefits for years to come. For more information on the range of black tiles Tile Choice have to offer, get in touch with them today on Freephone 0800 1 560 560.

Blue Wall Tiles Create a Cool Style for your Kitchen or Bathroom

If you’re looking to redecorate your home, it’s important to blend practicality and style to ensure you get the most out of your new look. Wall tiles can be a great way to give your kitchen or bathroom a breath of fresh air, without damaging your bank balance. Both the kitchen and bathroom are important rooms within the home, so it’s good to get them right. The kitchen is of course, the heart of the home, where you not only cook but socialise as well. The bathroom however, is your resting place, where you can indulge in a little ‘me’ time. With so much going on in your rooms, you’ll want to make sure they look as good as they function.

If you’re considering a new, functional way to transform your room, then blue wall tiles are a great way to do so.  Blue wall tiles come in a number of different shades and materials meaning you can create a great style without the compromise. Ceramic tiles are the most common and preferred choice of material when it comes to walls due to their strength and durability. Ceramic is specifically designed to withstand the everyday wear and tear of kitchens and bathrooms such as water splashes, toothpaste spills and food stains, simply wipe clean and the stains are gone.A gloss finish is another popular choice for wall tiles, as it’s simple, sleek and goes with almost every style of room.

No matter if your house is large or small; a simple tiled effect could work wonders on your wall. Blue is the perfect colour for kitchens and bathrooms as it can have a delightfully calming effect, great if you need to chill out in the tub or want to take away from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Considering the little things such as this, can help you to produce a style that really reflects a room and your personality.

Not only are wall tiles durable but they’re super easy to clean too. Most of us just haven’t got the time to be constantly worrying about the state of our walls, so it makes sense to choose an option that allows us to put our feet up a bit more often. If you need something to make your room sing then Tile Choice offer an affordable selection of quirky blue wall tiles, suitable for every kitchen and bathroom. Cost-effective wall tiles help you to get the style you want, with the practicality you need, making them the perfect choice whatever the budget.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how blue wall tiles could work for your home, call TileChoice today on 0800 1 560 560 or via their website

Bathroom Wall Tiles

Are you looking into redecorating or improving the design of your bathroom? Other than the main utilities that are installed in the bathroom, such as toilet, bath and shower, and wash basins, the tiling in the bathroom is one of the most important factors to consider when redecorating. This is because they are usually installed at least half way up the walls, making them a major part of the bathroom design itself.

Bathroom wall tiles are different to normal wall tiles because the bathroom tiles are designed to be able to keep splashes of water away from the wall, and therefore protect the ceramic and plaster from getting water-damaged. As well as this, the tiles that are used in the bathroom are much more durable than those used elsewhere in the house. 

This is partly because they are likely to have a lot of water in contact with them (and they therefore need to be properly secured on the wall and stay strongly there) but also because with slippery surfaces and frequent use, the tiles need to be able to take a lot of force on them from people leaning on them. Because of this, the bathroom tiles are made to be waterproof and durable so that the actual wall behind it doesn’t get damaged itself – tiles are much easier to replace than a damaged wall.

The main way in which bathroom walls can get damaged is due to the water that comes hand-in hand with the bathroom itself. If the plaster on the wall gets splashed with water too often, it can become soggy and fall off. This would then expose the brickwork or wooden boards that make up the wall, and replacing the plaster back onto the wall would involve a lot of hard work.

Make sure that you have a good design of bathroom tile to fit to the walls—because the tiles will potentially make up a lot of the bathroom, making sure that they look good with the rest of the bathroom is essential to make sure that the bathroom looks impressive and modern.

If you are looking to purchase some bathroom wall tiles and need help finding somewhere to buy them, try Crown Tiles. Crown Tiles offer a wide range of tile choices available to purchase, whether you need them for the kitchen, bathroom, floor or any other rooms in the house.

Stylish Wood Effect Floor Tiles for your Home

Tiling your kitchen or bathroom floor has a number of benefits and is a practical way to add a touch of style to a room. If you or your family are busy people and need a practical, high-quality solution when redecorating your home, then wood effect floor tiles could be right for you. Wood effect floor tiles look great in both bathrooms and kitchens and work well in any size property. Whether you prefer a modern or a traditional style, they can fit perfectly into your lifestyle and your look.

You may be thinking that wood effect floor tiles just can’t give you the same effect as the real deal but that isn’t true. Although floor tiles do not feel the same as wood, there are some fantastic options available that look good enough to fool anyone and all without breaking you bank account. Alongside their look, wood effect floor tiles have a range of other benefits that make them just as good, if not superior to the real stuff. Real wood flooring is not only expensive to buy but is also expensive to keep. Both your under flooring and the wood itself needs to be treated prior to fitting and once laid, most wood needs costly oil to ensure preservation, meaning expenses can eventually build up. However, if treated properly when first laid, floor tiling can last for many years and means less of a cost and more enjoyment for you.

Floor tiles are also far more durable and easier to clean than real wood, making them the go to choice for busy families and working individuals. The most common types of wood effect floor tiles are made from a ceramic or porcelain material. These materials are specially designed to withstand food spills, bumps and scraps and therefore, are perfect for your kitchen or bathroom. Asides from practicality, wood effect floor tiles can help you to create the perfect look for your home as they come in a matt, satin or gloss finish. So whatever you style, you’re certain to find a tile that fits your look effortlessly. For more information on preparing and laying your floor tiles, take a look at this in-depth, how-to guide by Crown Tiles and see how amazing your DIY can be. CrownTiles have a range of high-quality, low cost wood effect floor tiles to suit every space and with years of industry knowledge, you can trust Crown with your floor.