Design Tricks: Bring Style To Your Tile Tile can be both the body of the poem or the flourish of a well-penned last line.

By Mark Clement The luxe look of this shower is emphasized by the classic Greek key pattern around the top. The gold metallic tiles pick up the brass tones of the fixtures, while the black adds drama. I love tile. Sure, my zeitgeist is wood, but tile tells a house's story in a verse much different from its leafy cousin. It has a different kind of language and finesse — and different feel and touch — than wood. And you can do things with it that aren't possible with wood. Dialed in just so, tile can be both the body of the poem or the flourish of a well-penned last line. Elemental to building a story you're proud of are the design tricks that course from basic to luscious, weaving the tale only tile can tell. Color and size There's a phrase my mother often quotes: There is no arguing matters of taste. It's true. I was never more aware of this (tile-wise, anyway) than when I was renovating a house whose main hallway had been embellished with utterly hideous salmon-colored, red-flecked 8x8 ceramic tiles. They even had a salmon-ish colored grout. I mean really, look up "ugly" in the dictionary. There will be a photo of this hallway there. I used a 14-pound chipping hammer to divorce those things from plywood subfloor and replaced them with a "better" color and size. But you can't use words like better to describe color, really. Case in point: The morons who installed the salmon filets thought it was "better" than all the other choices they had. What you can say — generally, anyway — is that darker, heavier colors absorb light, making spaces feel smaller, which is part of the reason you see a lot of small rooms like bathrooms and open-floor-plan single-floor homes (think Florida) with bright white tile and/or lighter colors. When the rooms get bigger (or the weather colder, too much bright color can be overpowering. Subdue it with color and texture. A mudroom likes color, but it's more for utility than sense of space. Mud, grime, schmutz, whatever comes off your shoes. The color of, say, slate or a slate-like ceramic even terra-cotta hides it nicely. Tune that it with a dark grout for the illusion of clean. Size does matter in tile. The trend is toward bigger and bigger tiles, but bigger isn't always better. A small or chopped- up space like a bathroom, shower stall, counter or backsplash is generally happier with smaller tile sizes and shapes. Adding random colors throughout the tile install or a mechanically repeating pattern like the classic octagon-and-dot gives a little pep and, a little depth, but it keeps the generally bright tone. The bigger the space — a large kitchen floor, an open floor plan, a shower room, bar, even a wall space for a wood stove or mantle surround — the bigger the tile you can generally use for a cool look. (Check with local fire codes and the stove manufacturer on installation details for wood stoves or fireplace surrounds.) For tight, lineal spaces like hallways and galley kitchens, think about turning the tile on the diagonal. The grout lines draw your eyes naturally out to the edges of the room, giving it a wider feel. The floor is almost all-white, but tiny squares of red add spice and interest to what could have been a sterile-looking room. Blend I love blending materials to create signature looks — and to break up space. Indeed, my own home — designed with my partner and fellow HGTVPro.com writer Theresa Coleman — is called the Formal Farmhouse. Old and new, dignified and work-a-day can compliment each other for awesome views. Using tile as wainscot, as in a bathroom, is a design trick as old as the hills. Terminate it just below light-fixture height with a coped cap or detail tile, even a wood chair rail, and leave the rest of the wall drywall. Tile dialed in to pine paneling looks great, too. Transition materials are very important here; you want the right proportions when one materials shifts into another. You can also blend tiles themselves. A stone or ceramic tile with a glass "band" running through the room at picture-rail height is great. You can interweave tiles with images on them or of differing materials throughout the field. And for another throw-back, use ceramic soap dishes and other details to do what I call "blend and bounce." They blend into the overall design but also give the texture a little bounce so you can see the detail without it being overwhelming. Signature Elements A signature element pretty much runs the gamut from built-in shower benches and shelf spaces between studs in a shower room to taking the floor tile up around a Roman tub installation. You can switch tile size, color and direction at graceful transition points, such as between a counter and backsplash, and even add glass block. A "rope" detail is a great border, and there are tiles with images on them you can use to create mural. Or you can make your own mural from mixed and matched tiles. Totally cool. And that's the story tile can tell like no other material. Give your home an old-country feel or a dazzling urban panache. Play with color to bounce the light. Combine terra cotta and granite, stone and ceramic. Weave in some glass. And use tile anywhere you want. Bring it up a chimney flue or bump-out. Use it to offset a single wall to add style and color to a room, something paint can't match. Find a classic design for the bathroom. Tile lives brightly from mudroom to mantle. Imagine what you can do with it in your projects. Note: I consulted two excellent tile books from real-deal pros on this story: Michael Byrne's Setting Tile and Tom and Lane Meehan's Working With Tile, both published by The Taunton Press. Mark Clement is a remodeler and author of The Carpenter’s Notebook and The Kid’s Carpenter’s Workbook, Fun Family Projects! Check out his books and current projects at his new website. See Tile Photos and get Tile Design Tips and Suggestions for choosing the right Tile for your Kitchen and Bath in our Tile Style section. RELATED ARTICLES: Hot Trends in Tile: Picking the Right One Building a Shower 10 Tips for Topnotch Tile Installations Types of Membranes for Tile Installations Backerboards: Properties and Installations Installing Tile Surfaces That Won't Crack Choosing the Right Substrate Sustainable Design and Natural Stone The Right Tools for Tile Work