Choosing the right tile for your home is exactly like shopping for new furniture or even new clothes. You see a single piece and think “wow, that looks great” or “I love that color! I’ve got to have it.” So you buy it. But when you finally try it out, suddenly things don’t look so good. 

Maybe the furniture you bought doesn’t fit the current styling of your home, or the colors are clashing terribly. Maybe those nice shoes don’t work with any of your wardrobe because everything you own is extremely casual and they are more formal. (Dress, shoes and t-shirts anyone? I don’t think so.) 

This can be a pretty common problem for most people, and let’s face it, this is exactly why we rely on stylists or interior designers. They can easily see the big picture. We tend to focus on the individual piece by itself. While it does look great on its own, the real question is whether or not it will look just as great once installed in an environment that hopefully compliment its features or is similarly styled. How do we accomplish this without an interior designer or buying a “set” of pre-made products that compliment each other by design?

 

The Color Wheel - Back to Basics

Using a color wheel is an excellent starting point. A color wheel can help you easily identify complimentary colors. What are complimentary colors? Complimentary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined or mixed, create a strong contrast between them - just like black and white - opposites. Opposites, being the keyword as that's exactly how you find a set of complimentary colors on a color wheel. Choose a single color and whatever color is directly on the opposite side of the color wheel is its complimentary color. White & black, blue & orange, yellow & purple, red & green, etc. While most of these colors might seem too bold, you must also consider all the different shades and tones of each in between the regular spectrum that when properly combined produce exquisite palettes.

 

Simple Matching

An even easier way to blend tile into your space is by combining it with black or white. These two colors alone are perfect compliments to almost any tile and are able to easily bring out the most prominent features of your tile when used accordingly. White allows bolder and brighter colors to “pop” and helps bring more attention to certain areas of an installation when used as a border color to help “frame” the main feature tile. Black can help provide additional depth to tiles by easily creating patterns and “null” space between pieces of your feature tile by absorbing incoming light rather than reflecting it like white tiles to tend do. It is because of this effect that white tiles tend to naturally be a perfect option to help brighten a room that may or may not receive a lot of light of outside sources.

 

Monochromatic Palettes

We know, we know. Monochrome? But the answer is yes. Most hear the word monochrome and mistakenly confuse it with grayscale. Monochrome does not mean black and white as most commonly think. Monochrome just means using a single color - and all of its shades. Light blue and dark blue are still blue. Having a single design in 5 different shades of blue would be considered monochrome - you follow?

 

If your home has a recurring theme using a specific color - monochromatic color pairing is a very satisfying course to take. It is as simple as choosing a tile that is a different shade of the same color that is prevalent throughout your space. If you have a modern or minimalistic home that is comprised of mostly black and white pieces, then any shade of gray in between would be an excellent choice to bring it all together without actually using another color.

 

Keep it Neutral

When all else fails, neutral is always the safest way to go next to just doing all white everything. Neutral tones are naturally occurring and most spaces are built with neutral colors by default. Neutrals also keep the it extra simple by relying not so much on actual color but on color temperature. Warm neutrals are anything with yellow undertones such as tan, beige, creams, off whites and even “greige” which is like a warm gray. Cooler neutrals are colors on the “cooler” side of the spectrum as the name implies so silvers, slates, and charcoals are perfect to pair together depending on your tastes.

 

Of course, if all else fails resources such as color palettes and mood boards are widely available to give you a preset range of color options that pair perfectly together in order to give you a starting reference point to renovate your space to your preferences. The options are almost limitless and go far beyond just tile. These choices affect your furniture, your flooring, your appliances, your paint, and everything in between, accessories included.

 

Mosaic Tile Outlet – Your definitive source

Whatever your style or choice may be, you can count on Mosaic Tile Outlet’s massive variety of mosaic to fit any style you have in mind. Simple, neutral, traditional or modern, we’ve got you covered.