All About the Angles: Changing Perspective With Tiles

If you’re considering updating your home using floor or wall tiles, it’s natural that your first thoughts will turn to picking out the perfect colour, style and size of tile. However, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of tile layout patterns to achieve your desired finish. 

With a huge variety of styles and finishes, you no longer have to opt for the standard brick lay pattern or uniform straight rows when laying tiles. With the right pattern choice, you can elevate the design and alter the perspective of the room entirely – so when you’re choosing your tiles, you can use this to your advantage to create a standout feature.

Sounds simple, right? Well, if you’re at all in doubt, we’re here to give you the lowdown on different tile layout patterns and the effects they bring with them. From grid designs to hexagonal shaped tiles, we’ll tell you all you need to know about how to optimise the impact of your tiles wherever you choose to use them.

Grid patterns

Grid patterns deliver a classic, uniform look and are one of the easiest ways to lay tiles and minimise the amount of cuts needed in the process. 

The overall finish is clean, simple and timeless, which is what makes it a go-to option for laying tiles in modern homes. However, there are plenty of tactics you can use to ensure your grid pattern doesn’t stray into the bland category. 

For instance, using large format rectangular tiles laid vertically on walls can be a clever tactic for making rooms appear to have higher ceilings. This principle also applies with laying tiles horizontally, working to elongate the area widthways. This is just one of the optical illusions tiles can deliver that has the capability to alter the perspective of the room. 

One of the main advantages of using a grid layout is that it delivers a clear structure to the room’s interior, particularly with floors. However, it’s essential to plan out your design to ensure you have an even distribution of grids and aren’t left with small, slithers of tile cuts at the end of your rows.

Diagonal designs

If you prefer the above structured look but want to add a touch of interest, you can opt to turn your grid on its side to create a diagonal pattern. This is more of a tile laying technique than a pattern and can be a brilliant trick for making small areas look bigger. 

For instance, if you have a modest hallway or a narrow galley-style kitchen, laying tiles in this way will elongate the floor space. A diagonal tile design can also be a brilliant way to conceal a room’s imperfections if your walls aren’t completely square. 

To bring even more flair to your diagonal design, why not incorporate a decorative focal point? Using different coloured tiles or smaller designs, it’s possible to further elevate the look with a border or central pattern.

The downside to using a diagonal pattern is that it typically requires more cuts and a keen eye for detail to ensure the pattern fully lines up – meaning this is a job best left to the professionals. 

Offset or brick lay patterns

Another popular choice for laying tiles is to slightly offset the tiles to create a brick lay effect. The beauty of offsetting the layout of your tiles is that you can play around with the design to achieve different finishes. 

For instance a 50:50 split, where the edge of the above tile is laid in the centre of the tile below, will add a more traditional feel, with a strong impact on the eye. This is a design that’s perfectly suited to metro wall tiles if you’re looking to give your home a retro feel. 

However, it isn’t limited to pulling off vintage-inspired interiors. Shifting the edge of the tiles along slightly to be a 40:60 or 30:70 split will soften the look and give the pattern a more natural feel. 

This design isn’t just for your typically horizontal brick pattern either. Laid vertically with an offset pattern, you can give the perception of a waterfall effect, as the eye naturally travels from the ceiling to the floor. 

Another handy benefit of laying tiles with an offset pattern is that you can use offcuts from one tile to start the next row – meaning less waste overall.

Herringbone layouts

If you’re looking to use your tiles to add a feature wall or floor to your home, then herringbone or zig-zag patterns could be just the ticket. For this design you need rectangular tiles that are essentially laid in an L-shape at right angles to the neighbouring tile. 

Often found in block-paved driveways and paths, herringbone has become a trendy choice for inside the home, too. From rustic-styles that replicate the effect of parquet floors to funky kitchen and bathroom splashbacks featuring bold colours, this striking pattern uses angles to create the illusion of more space as the eye is naturally drawn upwards.

Creating different perspectives at every viewpoint within the room, herringbone almost gives surfaces a fluid feel that instantly transforms flat, plain coloured walls and floors into a dynamic feature. With the added benefit of being adaptable to both contemporary and classic interiors depending on your tile colour and style, herringbone patterns are incredibly versatile. 

Chevron patterns

Similar to herringbone, chevron tile patterns harness the power of angles to deliver a stunning visual display. Using a rhombus (4-sided shape that looks like a stretched diamond), laying tiles in a chevron pattern creates an eye-catching arrow effect.

Primed for pulling off a contemporary finish, using chevron patterns can be the ideal way to add panache to your home interiors, as well as giving the illusion of larger dimensions in smaller areas like walk-in showers.

While you can use standard rectangular tiles cut at an angle to be laid in a chevron design, it’s easier to opt for chevron shaped tiles. Firstly, you’ll save time on making individual cuts, but also you’re more likely to get a more professional finish. 

If you do decide to go with some funky chevron tiles, you don’t just have to go for the arrow effect. From vertical arrows to geometric shapes or a mixture of chevron and hexagonal tiles, they can be laid in a whole assortment of designs as shown above – delivering unique and attention-grabbing geometric designs.

Unusual shapes 

If you’re looking to use tiles to create a dramatic feature in your home, then opting for unconventional shaped tiles such as hexagons or trapeze tiles is the way to go. 

With the freedom to lay out your own unique pattern, like chevron tiles, you can use geometry to your advantage, mixing and matching shapes, colours and sizes to deliver a standout feature for walls and floors throughout your home. 

Whether you get creative with hexagonal tiles using bold colours to create your own piece of abstract artwork or you combine trapeze tiles to create stylish modular design, the different shapes and angular grout lines are a sure-fire way to put a modern stamp on your interior design. 

Quirky designs

We’ve talked about a huge array of different tile pattern layouts that tend to stick to a specific formula, but there’s nothing stopping you from breaking the mould and ditching uniformity in favour of something a little more quirky.

For instance, why not take the offset brick pattern but lay them at a slanted angle? Having a less conventional layout for your tiles will make them the focal point in the room and can be a great way to work around any awkward fixtures and fittings in the room, such as shelves and cabinets in existing kitchens. 

Another way to break free from conformity is to use different tiles and textures in isolated areas rather than covering the whole space, particularly if you want to define specific zones in larger areas. For example, use playful patterned tiles in functional spaces like kitchens, that seamlessly blend into a different floor tile as you head into the living room to break up open-plan living spaces.

Understanding different tile pattern layouts is key to pulling off an impactful design that complements the entire aesthetic of your home. With the ability to elevate and change the perspective of a space through the clever use of angles and grout lines, you’re sure to have an interior that makes a lasting impression. 

If you’re itching to get your next home update underway and harness the power of tile pattern layouts, Tiles Direct is here to help. With an extensive choice of both gorgeous wall tiles and stylish floor tiles, you’re sure to find the perfect tiles for you. We also offer the chance to buy small tile cut samples for just £1.99, so you can see what they’ll look like before you buy them in bulk.