ᐅ The Challenge of Choosing Tiles: What Is the Best Approach?

Good morning everyone,

I am responsible for choosing the tiles in our new house. Easier said than done.
Online, I am practically overwhelmed with different tiles, which makes me feel even more confused. The selection is often confusing, and there are so many suppliers that I lose track.

Do you have any tips on how I should best proceed to find the right tiles?

What should I generally pay attention to when buying?

Thank you in advance.

You should always look at and choose tiles in person. Visit a home improvement store or showroom, touch the tiles, and also check them in natural daylight. I wouldn’t recommend buying this kind of product online, as the colors never appear the same as they do in real life.

You should already have a color scheme for each room where the tiles will be installed, so you can narrow down your choices.

Our tile studio then created 3-D visualizations of the bathrooms, allowing for a final review of the selection.

Yes, definitely view the tiles in person. Make sure to see them in natural daylight. Also, place them on the floor. Tiles look different when displayed on the wall in a showroom compared to how they appear on the floor.

I would also recommend that once you have narrowed it down to two models, take samples of both and, if possible, place them on the floor at the construction site. You might be surprised at how different everything looks "on site."

The same applies to the size. The same tile can look completely different in 80 x 80 cm (32 x 32 inches) compared to 30 x 60 cm (12 x 24 inches).

It would also be helpful to define the requirements—form follows function.
How durable should the flooring be?
How slip-resistant?
Would the tiler be able to work with uncalibrated and non-rectified material?
What joint width is desired (this is related)?
What kind of atmosphere should the room have, for example warm or cool?
What budget do you have per square meter (per square yard)?
What formats are preferred, and do the installation areas practically allow for these formats?
How long will the series still be available, or has it possibly already been discontinued?

Regarding design, if you want to watch the budget, I would look to Italy. Italians create high-quality accents over much smaller areas than Germans and often achieve even nicer results. Here, people tend to go big when it’s not necessary.

Best regards,
Gabriele

ah... the 8 W-questions when buying tiles