An Overview of the 10 Best Tile Patterns. (Too Cool for School!)
What is your style?
What impression do you want to give others when they look at you?
As cringey as it feels to say now, I remember being a teenager and going through a bit of a rebellious phase.
Back then, I was really into punk rock music and my personal style reflected that.
I’d come to school wearing ripped jeans, grungy looking t-shirts of my favorite bands, and I even rocked the “liberty spikes” haircut for a while.
For those of you who’ve never “liberty spikes” before, it’s pretty much what it sounds like. Just imagine a haircut where strips of hair are rolled into long pointed spikes that are standing straight up on top of a person’s head.
Back in those days, I’d mix Elmer’s glue with hair spray to keep the hair from losing its shape and form.
A side effect of doing this was that the hairstyle wasn’t something I could wash out right away. Trying to get my hair to lay flat on my head again took some effort.
Once I’d committed to the style, I pretty much had to go everywhere looking like that.
It’s a great haircut for accidentally poking people in the face when they get to close to you, scaring little kids around the neighborhood, being uncomfortable laying your head down on a pillow when trying to go to sleep at night, and occasionally looking like a badass while playing guitar in a band.
Do you know what the haircut isn’t good for?
Trying to look sophisticated at a nice dinner with your mom after getting mostly “A’s” on your report card.
No matter how smart I might’ve felt on the inside, other people still saw me as the kid with the weird haircut at Black Angus steakhouse. Not good.
The point of this personal anecdote is to say that style and presentation MATTER.
And so it is the case when it comes to tile.
You could have the perfect tile. It could me made of the best material, be a great color, and have a great texture.
BUT if you don’t lay it properly in a way that conveys the right vibe that you’re looking for, then it’ll just look awkward like my teenage-self trying to enjoy a steak with my mom while other restaurant patrons gawked and snickered at me.
This is why it is soooo important to get help from your friendly and experienced tile installers here in the Los Angeles area.
A professional tile layer will have a good eye for what works and what doesn’t.
You see, a beginner can make hundreds of little mistakes when trying to do floor tile installation on their own.
Things can get pretty intimidating when it comes to choosing tile patterns. There really IS a lot that can be done with those shapes and patterns.
Many people want to follow trends they see online or in magazines, but don’t even know where to start.
So to help you with your potential tile installation needs and hopefully provide some inspiration, I’d like to offer the following guide to trending tile styles.
Of course, there are countless ways to lay tiles and each pattern can result in a very different look.
This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of every single tile pattern that has ever existed. Doing so would take a really long time and is probably unnecessary considering some patterns just aren’t all that great.
Instead, the following list is meant to showcase what I consider to be some of the classics and personal favorites of mine.
And hopefully, it’ll get you thinking which pattern is the best for your space and lead to you creating something truly magnificent.
So without further ado, let’s kick things off by introducing the most basic pattern of them all.
1. The Straight Stack Pattern (a.k.a. Stack Bond)
Want something simple and traditional?
Do you appreciate the elegance in simplicity?
Then the straight stack pattern is just the thing for you!
To create this pattern, you literally just line up the tiles in rows and stack them on top of one another.
Although it is a very basic look, that doesn’t mean it’s out of style.
In fact, there’s a sort of timeless quality in this particular design.
Flashiness doesn’t always translate to having great style and the straight stack pattern is a perfect example of that.
An extra bonus of having a grid pattern is that you can use either square or rectangular tiles. You are not constrained to picking one shape over the other and you can stack the tiles either vertically or horizontally.
You can even stack rectangular tiles vertically to emphasize the height of a space and make it feel taller than it really is.
But what if you want something simple with a bit of a twist?
In that case, allow me to tell you about…
2. The Brick Pattern (a.k.a. Offset Bond Pattern)
If there’s any tile pattern out there that’s as traditional as the straight stack pattern, this has got to be it.
This classic design has all of the wonderful qualities of the previously mentioned straight stack pattern, but with an added twist.
The twist is the tiles can be offset by a certain distance when being stacked on top of one another.
Perhaps the most basic offset pattern would be the one-half or 50/50 offset where each tile starts at the center of the tile underneath it.
However, you can do variations on the offset distance, such as the one-third or 40/60 offset design instead.
This style has become pretty trendy in recent years and it’s fairly easy to do. Simply have each tile start a third of the way into tile below it. Piece of cake!
It’s another clean and timeless look, but unlike the straight stack pattern, it only works with rectangular tile.
“But I don’t want to use rectangular tile! I really want something simple and traditional that involves squares!”
If that sounds like you, I’ve got you covered.
Simply use…
3. The Diamond Pattern
If stacking square tiles on top of one another seems a bit too straightforward for you, try turning them on their side.
Bam! You now have a diamond pattern instead.
Another classic design that works on both floors and walls alike.
It’s another pattern that has the added bonus of creating the optical illusion of having more space than there actually is.
The 45-degree angle makes a small wall appear larger and a narrow floor appear wider.
“But I want something that’s both traditional AND fancy!”
Ok, I hear you.
Let’s spice things up a bit with…
4. The Herringbone Pattern
So far, we’ve been talking about “classic” patterns and the herringbone is no exception.
While it involves a zig-zag pattern that’s a bit more complicated than the other designs mentioned up until this point, this tile pattern has also been around for a very long time.
As far as trends go, this also happens to be one of the most popular styles right now.
The herringbone pattern can be used just about everywhere.
You can use it on walls, backsplashes, showers, floors, and pretty much anything else out there.
It’s bold yet simple and gets major style points.
Simply install small or large rectangular tiles at a 45-degree angle to form this pattern.
You can also try incorporating different colors to intensify the vertical and horizontal zigzag movements.
It’s even possible to create a double herringbone pattern, which is created by connecting two rectangular shaped tiles with each other.
The double herringbone pattern isn’t as common due to the fact that it can be a difficult layout to perfect.
However, it’s another option for those who are interested in putting an interesting spin on an old favorite.
And if you want something similar yet different to the herringbone pattern, there’s also the option of…
5. The Chevron Pattern
A chevron pattern is kind of like a herringbone in the sense that they both have a v-shaped design, but the tiles usually need to be cut at a 45 degree angle before they can be installed as chevrons.
The tiles are then laid in rows, with each row being an exact mirror image of the row next to it.
This creates a sort of zigzag or arrow shaped look that alternates between pointing up and down along the tiled surface.
The final result has a very clean and elegant appearance.
But what if you want to really mix things up?
What if none of these tile patterns are crazy enough for you?
Well, in that case, you can try…
6. The Goofy Punk Rock Hairstyle Pattern
This exotic tile pattern listens to bands like The Exploited and is full of teenage angst.
It is a firm believer in anarchy and will ensure that your bathroom floor or wall is “sticking it to the man”.
Ok, I’m only joking here.
There is obviously no such tile pattern and most tile contractors in Los Angeles are unlikely to do such a project. Unless we’re talking about doing a custom mosaic by special request, but that’s a whole different story.
This was just a bit of callback humor to see if you’re still paying attention.
But on a more serious note, if you really DO want to mix things up a bit, you may want to consider…
7. The Windmill Pattern
This pattern involves mixing square and rectangular shaped tiles to create something special.
The windmill pattern is created by having a square tile in the center, then laying rectangular tiles around it.
It has a kind of vintage elegance that has a lot of style and chic.
You can even try incorporating multiple colors into the scheme to really mix things up.
One such favorite is the classic black and white color scheme, where the center square is black and the surrounding rectangles are white or vice versa.
Speaking of multi-tile patterns, another great one to consider is…
8. The Corridor Pattern
This tile pattern works especially well in large spaces, such as floors.
It consists or alternating rows of tiles of different sizes.
A common variation is to have large squares with rows of narrow rectangular tiles in between them.
The exact dimensions can vary, so feel free to experiment with different tile sizes and orientations to get a look that’s unique to your specific needs.
Of course, this is far from the only stylish tile pattern that involves multiple tiles of different sizes.
And so, I’d like to present…
9. The Versailles Pattern
Now we’re really getting fancy!
This tile pattern involves not one, not two, but THREE different tile sizes.
The Versailles pattern kind of reminds me of the Windmill pattern, but it’s a bit more complicated.
This design starts off with two large squares with a 50/50 offset on one side and a smaller square combined with a rectangular tile filling the space created by the offset on the other side.
It’s not an easy pattern to describe in words, but the end result looks great and has been around for a long time.
The Versailles pattern is a great example of how sometimes having a pattern that’s a bit more complicated is worth it in the end.
And speaking of pattern that are somewhat more complicated, I feel I should talk about…
10. Different Shapes and Mosaics
I could write a whole separate blog entry about all the different tile shapes that are out there and all the additional possibilities that mosaics can give us.
However, that I started out by saying this wasn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of every single tile pattern that has ever existed.
For now, I just want to mention that tile installation is not limited to rectangles and squares.
Many people have achieved wonderful result by using shapes, such as hexagons.
If you really want to stand out and get creative, choosing an unusual tile shape or using a mosaic may be the best option for you.
It really just depends on what your specific project is.
Please feel free to consult a professional tile installation expert to figure out what best suits your particular needs.
And so…
In Conclusion
I hope I’ve inspired you to find your own style that’s perfect for you.
As you can see, there’s a wide variety of trendy tile patterns out there. Now all you have to do is pick a favorite!
Hopefully, when you meet your tile installer onsite, you’ll now be able to clearly communicate your preferred laying pattern as well as the orientation that you want the tiles laid.
Armed with all the information I’ve just given you, I’m sure you’ll be able to get the result that you want.
And if you have any questions, or if you just want some additional help creating the perfect tile layout for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!
We are glad to be your go-to tile company in the Los Angeles area and we will happily schedule a consultation for you with our experts to create the perfect look for whatever project you may be working on!