Atlanta—Coverings, North America’s largest and premier international tile and stone exhibition and conference, has unveiled the top tile trends for 2024 in celebration of National Tile Day, which takes place February 23.
Alena Capra, owner of Alena Capra Designs, certified master kitchen and bath designer and Coverings spokesperson, collaborated with the tile associations to forecast the 2024 tile trends.
“The Coverings 2024 tile trends deliver a totally fresh perspective on ceramic tile’s versatility and beauty, providing architects, designers and other tile professionals with a groundbreaking reimagination of tile’s unified functional and aesthetic possibilities,” Capra said. “National Tile Day, however, is not just about getting a first look at the cutting-edge trends shaping design; it is also about uniting industry professionals from around the world for a collective tribute to the timeless artistry and long-enduring benefits that ceramic tile brings to our creative endeavors.”
The following 10 tile trends of 2024 are summarized in alphabetical order:
- Architectonic: With tile being a historically integral part of buildings, it is no surprise that architecture is a muse for tile manufacturers. Ceramic brands are partnering with industry designer heavyweights to put their own creative stamps on the classic material, while others are inspired by historic buildings and architectural details, from stained glass to Byzantine cut mosaics.
- Beyond realism: When texture, sheen and reflectivity with color can be digitally manipulated, it is not only possible to recreate anything through ceramics but it is also easy. The ability to create fine variances in decorative adornments allows for a ceramicist to play with the characteristics of different substances or introduce other elements of interest in tile.
- Contempo concrete: To complement the raw beauty of contemporary architecture, designers are giving us fresh interpretations of modern cement in porcelain format. Exquisitely colored and perfectly sized aggregates give these designs a handcrafted concrete look and feel. Beautifully brutalist and understatedly elegant, these creative concrete looks embody modernity, sophistication and the bustling tapestry of urban living.
- Organic grandeur: Innovative glazing technology paired with inspiration from rare natural materials render surfaces that are simply stunning. Enhancing effects of light and reflectivity are reproduced in luminous finishes, giving the beauty and depth of marble with the durability of porcelain in color ranges wider than those of natural stone.
Porcelain panels panache: The world is witnessing and embracing the availability of production-ready versions of full-body porcelain panels. This achievement signifies a momentous milestone as it fulfills a longstanding request from fabricators and specifiers since the mainstream adoption and installation of large-format tiles. These full-body pieces offer the remarkable qualities of heat, stain and scratch resistance, while being sustainable and free from toxic chemicals.- Seeking balance: When balance and complementary interactions are fleeting, tile makers look to the birthplace of yin-yang and wabi-sabi for inspiration. While we see ample textile designs translated into ceramic renditions, there is one standout repeated by many this year, “stick mosaics.” Manufacturers are offering their take on this classic Japanese porcelain style, enhancing new lines with gracefully flowing pottery glazes. The appeal of fragmented pieces lies in the delicate interplay between precise straight lines and a gracefully undulating imperfect charm of the coatings.
- Set in stone: These looks draw inspiration from the magnificent beauty of the Earth’s ancient geological past. Masterpieces of nature, such a limestone, bluestone and slate, are represented with such precision and include characteristics like veining, coal lines and visible fossils. The visual richness of their textures, nuances and details are maintained and paired with the practicality of ceramic.
- Tactile renaissance: Tile manufacturers are wholeheartedly embracing the infusion of rich textures throughout new ceramic collections. As architects and designers explore a growing interest in outfitting built environments in raw and rugged materials, the incorporation of tangible surfaces enables one to adequately interact with and navigate a space. Tiles impressed with deep grooves, subtle fluting, billowing curves and scored strokes are meant to be experienced both visually and physically.
- The third dimension: Ceramic tile companies are looking to the third dimension as the next frontier of design. As manufacturers work toward producing tiles that look and feel like natural stone, marble prints are now paired with low relief veining for an incredibly realistic appearance.
- Trompe l’oeil: Given the technical benefits of porcelain, designers can use digitally printed tiles to their advantage, creating a shower that appears to be enclosed by billowy drapes or the floors of a spa covered in grooved wood-look planks.
Coverings 2024’s top tile trends offer a sneak peek of the product exhibits being planned for this year’s show, which takes place April 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Centre. This year’s lineup of in-vogue tile trends was identified by Coverings’ three leading sponsors and international tile associations – Ceramics of Italy/Confindustria Ceramica, Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association of Spain (ASCER)/Tile of Spain and Tile Council of North America (TCNA).