We’re back from Cersaie in Bologna with sore feet, a camera roll full of tiles, and plenty of ideas!! Here’s what we saw and what you can expect to see in design trends next year.
Bigger is better, and we mean it
Most of the tiles we saw were 1200×1200. That’s four times the area of our standard 600×600, and walking past floor after floor of them was AMAZING!!!
Fewer grout lines means less to scrub, less to stain and a calmer surface. A large format is also harder to date. A big, quiet tile doesn’t tie a home to one year’s trend, so when the colours change, the tile still works.
It does cost more, and most of that sits with the labour. Large tiles are heavier, take a more experienced tiler and more time to lay. We won’t pretend otherwise.
Our advice is to go as large as you can afford. If the budget only stretches to large format on the shower wall, put it there and keep the rest simple. Ask your builder early, because the size does affect your quote.
Colour is back, and it’s rich
Every feature tile we saw came in a deep, juicy glaze. Caramel and toffee yellows were the standout for us, and we think it’s the one to watch. Rich burgundies were everywhere. Olive green and terracotta are still going strong, so if you’ve been holding off on either, you’re not late.
Colour drenching was a big part of it. That means taking one colour across the walls, the floor and sometimes the ceiling, so the room feels like a single, wrapped space. Tile does this well because the same colour can run from the floor up the wall without a break. A drenched burgundy or olive bathroom is bold, but it feels intentional because nothing interrupts it.
The feature slabs were just as rich. We saw burgundy marbles, deep chocolate marbles and plenty of violas with that plum veining through a pale base.
If full drenching feels like a lot, take the same idea at a smaller scale. A glossy burgundy or caramel glaze behind a vanity, paired with a quiet large-format body tile, gives you the colour without committing the whole room.
Warm greys, never cold ones
Beige was the base for almost everything we saw. Grey was still there, but it had changed. It was warm grey and beigey slate tones, with brown and sand underneath, and nothing blue or steely. Rich, darker chocolate is also emerging as a trend, and it sits well next to those warm neutrals.
If you’re planning a build now, warm neutrals are a safe base.
Feature tiles have gone sculptural
The bold colours weren’t flat. Most of the feature tiles had undulation, 3D effects, fluting and framing. We love the creative glazes!! It looks even better when the surface catches the light and the shadow moves through the day.
The large format feature tiles followed the same idea, only quieter. Most were large-format with tiny raised squares, flutes or other textures in the same colour as the tile.
Stone looks are getting softer
Travertine is still everywhere, but there are some beautiful other options as well. We saw a big move to softer marbles and a lot of limestone variations. Botticino, the creamy beige Italian limestone, came up again and again, along with soft Crema Marfil marbles. Both are warm, calm and easy to live with.
Terrazzo-look tiles have moved on as well. They’re now chunky and organic, with big irregular chips instead of the retro speckle.
A soft limestone-look floor with one rich glazed wall is a combination we’d put in our own bathrooms.
What we’d do with this
If you’re planning a bathroom or kitchen in the next year, our short list is: choose the biggest format your budget allows, use warm beige or warm grey as your base, and add one rich glaze or a feature slab if you want some personality. If you’re keen on colour drenching, pick one colour and commit to it.
Pop into the Townsville showroom or get in touch, and we’ll talk through what suits your space and your budget.
