How to Get the Look: Floor Tile Ideas for Your Renovation

Favourite

Share

Share

---

Facebook

---

X

---

Pinterest

---

WhatsApp

---

Email

---

Copy Link

Choosing a floor tile properly means starting with the room you want, not the tile you like. So decide what result you're actually going for before you fall for a sample. Once you know that, the material choice gets a lot easier.

We've pulled together a few of the most requested looks and how to get there using tiles from Fired Earth's floor tile collection.

“We are well known for our gorgeous floor tiles and have a collection that features everything from stunning stones and bold patterns through to tiles that have the appearance of wood or concrete” - FiredEarth

The rustic farmhouse kitchen

You know the look. Warm, worn in, like the room's been lived in for decades even if the extension only went up last year. Terracotta gets you there. It comes from fired clay rather than cut stone, so no two tiles turn out the same. Some run darker, some lighter, and that variation across the floor is what gives it a handmade feel instead of a flat, factory finish.

It's not the lowest maintenance option. Terracotta needs sealing, and it isn't the toughest choice for a hallway that takes a real battering. But it ages well, genuinely better than most flooring does, so the trade off tends to pay for itself over the years.

Best in a farmhouse kitchen or a boot room, somewhere the floor's meant to look loved rather than pristine.

The Mediterranean courtyard feel, indoors

Want a bit of that sun soaked, holiday villa warmth without booking flights? Zellige gets you closest. It's handmade the traditional way. Every tile goes through the same process by hand: moulded, fired, glazed, fired again, so no two tiles pick up the light the same way. That surface movement gives a floor real depth rather than a flat, single tone.

It suits a smaller room best. Think a cloakroom, a utility room or an en suite, somewhere a bit of zellige can do a lot without overwhelming the space. And because the tiles vary slightly in size, it's worth using a fitter who's laid handmade tiles before.

The seamless indoor to outdoor flow

If your renovation includes bringing the kitchen out onto a terrace, the biggest mistake is changing material at the threshold. It breaks the flow and makes the join obvious. Porcelain solves this. Fired Earth's frost resistant porcelain ranges are built for outdoor use, so you can run the same floor from the kitchen straight through to the patio with nothing to trip the eye up on.

Porcelain doesn't need sealing either, and the stone and wood effect designs mimic the real thing closely. It can feel a touch cold underfoot without underfloor heating, so factor that in if you're planning a big open span.

The considered period hallway

A hallway gets seen by everyone who visits, so it's worth spending a bit more thought here than in rooms only your household sees. Limestone is the material for this. It's natural stone, durable enough for daily traffic, and some of the limestone tiles carry subtle fossil detail in the surface, a quiet reminder it came out of the ground rather than off a production line.

It comes in a range of formats too, so you're not stuck with a plain stacked lay. A herringbone or a mixed format brings proportion into play, which matters more in a hallway than almost any other room, since it's usually long and narrow.

It is porous, so budget for sealing, and resealing every so often. Worth it for a floor that's meant to last decades, not one you'll be relaying in ten years.

Before you commit

A couple of things worth doing whatever look you're going for.

• Order more tiles than the room strictly needs. It costs little extra and saves you hunting for a matching batch years later if one tile cracks and the range has moved on
• Get samples before the full order, and check current sample terms on the site, so you can see how a tile actually behaves in your own light rather than trusting a photo

Where to start

Fired Earth has been making tiles since 1983. The story started with terracotta on an Oxfordshire farm. The full range, terracotta, limestone, zellige and porcelain among them, sits on Fired Earth's floor tiles collection page, so it's a good place to start narrowing down which look you're actually chasing.

Published: September 9, 2026