Feel Appeal with Texture

When decorating a room, whether it’s a feature wall, splashback, kitchen island, bath surround, shower area, floor or more, there are ways of making it stand out – literally – and that’s by using texture. Textural tiles have always offered more depth than a painted surface and this is a trend that can be used in any interior space, from home renovations and revamps to commercial buildings, hotels and the hospitality sector. Textural tiles are not only more visually appealing, they also add another dimension to a space, challenging and satisfying the senses.

Take our Marlborough collection of traditional terracotta, which comes in hexagon, brick, square, picket, parquet and rectangle shapes as well as our new Marlborough Arabesque tile from the Rituals range. A classic stone with a modern twist, it’s ideal for high traffic areas and can be used on interior and exterior walls and floors. Perfect for rustic kitchens, utility and boot rooms, hallways and garden rooms, its earthy quality and raw textural feel brings warmth and character to any space.

We particularly like the Buscot Limestone range of paving due to its neutral, consistent colour, fine texture and ease of maintenance. This particular stone is particularly versatile, sitting well in both traditional and contemporary settings. For use in projects with more traditional feel and where the stone is to be subject to increased foot traffic or likely to become dirty such as in rural or farm settings where dogs and muddy boots can be an issue, we have found Trusloe Limestone to be an ideal solution. This is available with matching copings and steps and is exceptionally hardwearing and easy to clean. Generally we complement our paving with a lighter tone of grout or filler as this ensures the stone or ceramic is the feature.

We usually design with straight lines in mind, utilising the rectilinear format of the paving. Paving is orientated dependent upon whether the aim of the desired view across the finished surface is to foreshorten or elongate the space. Laying paying along a sightline will extend the view whilst laying across will make the space feel wider, useful in long narrow spaces. We usually lay the paving offset as opposed to corner to corner as this gives a more upmarket appearance and increases the strength of the finished surface where slabs intersect. Regarding curves, we do sometimes incorporate into the design, but tend to use smaller pieces to avoid excessive wastage, or have pieces fabricated to suit.

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