Tuesday, March 24, 2015

3 Ways to Create Style with Plain Hexagon Tile


With it's classic six-sided shape, the hexagon is gaining and maintaining it's elegant prowess in design circles (pun intended) once again. Here are three ways plain hexagon tiles lead to an overall stylish look. Our style guide below uses both ceramic, porcelain, and cement tiles - all available from Avente Tile.

Hexagon Style Tip #1. Create a simple pattern with plain hexagon tile in two or three colors.  The hexagon format was common in the 1920s. These small-format "penny hexagons" or the penny hex in white was typically used for kitchen and bath floors. It gained some notoriety again in the 1960s, and now, it is once again is a design staple that provides interest without being over-used.

Hexagon tile, the size of pennies, were popular in the 1920's.
Penny-sized hexagon tiles, popular in the 1920s, were typically used as flooring in the kitchen and bath.
A simple repeating pattern in black and white works great with hexagon tiles. Stylistic floral patterns and simple borders can also be used with this fun, interlocking shape.

Hexagon Style Tip #2. Use hexagon tile with hand-painted glazes or cement tile in the same color. Sound boring? Not really, use an interesting glaze that exhibits variation from tile to tile. Or, use hand-painted glazes or cement tile to achieve the look you're after. The natural variation in color provides an absolutely stunning look that hides dirt, provides a sense of texture or depth, and lots of interest. It's also a more straight-forward design approach for the DIY group.

Arabesque Hexagon Spanish Pavers in Cotto Dark, all in the same color, can create a rustic look similar to this.
Arabesque Hexagon Spanish Pavers in Cotto Dark, all in the same color, can create a rustic look similar to this.

Hexagon tile looks great with hand-painted glazes.
Hexagon tile looks great with hand-painted glazes. The variation of hand-applied glazes create a look that exudes depth, texture and interest.

Saltillo tile provide rustic charm because the terracotta has a lot of natural variation in color
Hexagon Saltillo tiles provide rustic charm with the natural color variations found in terracotta.

Hexagon Style Tip #3. Blend ceramic tile glaze colors or cement tile colors and texture to unique, one-of-kind designs. Feeling creative? Like to work with colors? Then this option is perfect for you. Create a colorful mosaic of hexagon tiles using three to five colors, then choose a size to accommodate the scale of the space.

6" Arabesque Hexagon Spanish Paver Tile in Normandy Cream and Vintage texture

Hexagonal cement tile from our Arabesque line.
Hexagonal cement tile from our Arabesque cement tile collection. Pictured above is a blend of red and brown tiles, our Duoro Blend, with a Vintage texture

It's easy to see why this classic shape never falls from grace. Hexagon tile, or hex tiles, are just a great way to add both style and grace to any design.

Next week get's really fun! I'll show you three ways to create style with patterned hexagon tile. Patterned  hexagon tiles can be very playful - the hexagon pattern can almost disappear or form truly unique modular mosaic patterns. If you haven't seen patterned hexagon tile at play, I think you'll be surprised!

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