8 tile & flooring ideas for decorating luxury homes

Welcome to January and Happy New Year! Christmas may already seem like a distant memory, and I realise that many people find January a difficult month to love. But I’m a big fan of the opportunities this month brings to take stock, explore new design trends, and plan new projects. It’s never too soon to start thinking about how to update your interiors with decorative accessories for the year ahead. Read on to discover some of my favourite ways to use tiles and accessories to add some high-end finishing touches to any luxury home decor.

Textured walls for depth

A white colour palette remains an overwhelmingly popular choice for bathrooms, for many different reasons. First and foremost, white reflects light, so it’s ideal for making small spaces in your house seem bigger and brighter. White also communicates a sense of cleanliness when it comes to decor and it tends to be a popular choice for luxury home accessories. And of course, like beige and other neutrals, it’s a versatile, timeless shade that never goes out of style.

 Luxury home accessories embrace texture

However, too much white in a room can feel cold and bland – but texture is a great way to counter this. In fact, textured walls are fast becoming a key luxury home decor trend. They are a great way to elevate an interior, without embarking on any major renovations. Textured walls can add depth, dimension, an element of luxury living and an innovative point of interest in any room.

 Enhancing your interior

Common ways to add texture to a luxury home decor room scheme include wall coverings such as silks, leathers and raffia. But delicate fabrics simply aren’t suited to a humid, high-traffic bathroom. In contrast, ceramic tiles are very hard-wearing, making them the perfect choice for a house. Durable and easy to maintain, ceramic tiles don’t easily chip, crack or stain. They’re also waterproof and hygienic, so do consider this material for textured bathroom wall tiles if you’re keen to add depth and visual interest. And if you pick white sanitaryware, you may want to unleash your hidden designer and embrace a contemporary touch with a neutral palette to enhance your decor. 

Our Minoli 3d Wall Carve Leaf White rectified ceramic tiles (40 x 80) collection adds instant depth to the walls in this modern, bespoke bathroom, through an eye-catching textured patterned leaf motif. These tiles are available via special order

Flooring ideas for underfloor heating

I’m a huge fan of underfloor heating, especially during the wet, cold winter months. Comfort aside, I find it far more compatible with any luxury home decor than radiators, especially if you like a minimalist look. But before you take the plunge, it’s important to realise that it isn’t compatible with all forms of flooring, most notably solid wood. Happily, we offer plenty of stylish alternatives, such as luxury vinyl tiles and engineered oak flooring. These still look just as elegant as the real thing, which can help to make a house feel instantly warmer.

 House warming ideas

If you love the look of real wood – but are less enthusiastic about the cost and maintenance – engineered wood flooring is definitely the solution for any space. It’s available in a huge variety of plank widths, shades, grains and stains. So whichever aesthetic you favour, there’s an option to suit every room. Its durability means it’s ideal for high-traffic areas, such as hallways and kitchens. And it’s the perfect match for underfloor heating, as its layered construction helps to retain heat, so you stay warmer for longer, and save money on utility bills.

Our new Woodpecker Chepstow Flaxen Oak engineered wood flooring collection embraces the natural character of oak but, unlike a solid wood floor, is suitable for underfloor heating, unlike a solid wood floor. Complete with a 100-year warranty from the Legacy range, this flooring features subtle tones and a hard wax oil finish for an attractive lived-in look 

Using large format tiles for luxury home decor

Bigger doesn’t always mean better. But sometimes, especially where luxury home decor is concerned, size matters. In recent years, large format tiles have become increasingly popular in residential settings. And by large, I mean anything where at least one of the edges is bigger than 15 inches. This tends to suit contemporary decor and can provide the perfect finishing touch to any room in a luxury house, large or small.

Big can be beautiful in any room 

The main benefit of large format tiles is their aesthetic impact – hence their popularity within luxury home decor design schemes. In short, big tiles create a big style statement in any space or room. These products create a large surface area for walls (with fewer distracting grout lines) and complete a designer look, which instantly draws the eye.

Adding an illusion of space

But they can also be used on floors in a room, to really open up a space and make it look bigger. A gloss finish always looks expensive, and reflects even more natural light. For maximum impact in your chosen room, use the same large format tiles on your walls and floor.

Our Minoli Cosmopolitan Statuario Extra Lappato (80 x 80) marble-effect tiles are extra-large and ideal for a luxury home décor finish at a fraction of the price of real marble. They are made from rectified porcelain, and incorporate a striking veining for a luxurious look

Parquet flooring for sophisticated style

Parquet flooring is often a feature of luxury home decor ideas. For many years it’s been synonymous with elegance and wealth and may have been more prevalent in a stately house. Classic parquet flooring is made from natural solid hardwoods, but nowadays there are plenty of man-made alternatives, which are more hardwearing and also more cost-effective.

 Patterns for any room

Many people associate parquet with the classic herringbone design, but there are lots of other pattern options, including chevron, basket weave and Versailles. This means parquet is surprisingly versatile, and suitable for many different areas – not just hallways and reception rooms.

Enhancing an interior 

Parquet flooring can feature deep, dramatic designs or more subtle shapes and shades. It suits both traditional and contemporary settings, but always looks upscale. It can instantly enhance an interior and bring a room back to life with an air of good taste.

If you want to elevate your home décor with a luxurious touch, our Woodpecker Sandringham Royal Oak Engineered Wood Flooring design panels could be the perfect pick. They are ideal for making a grand entrance in a hallway, and you get extra peace of mind from its 100-year guarantee

Lifting home décor with decorative tiles

Different tiles are designed for different roles within the world of luxury home decor. Don’t be afraid to think of them accessories or accents, as opposed to whole wall or floor coverings. This is an area where mosaic tiles in particular really excel and there are a variety of brands to choose from.

 Creating a statement room

Mosaic tiles look amazing, and really allow you to indulge your creative streak. You can use them to transform an entire space, or use them sparingly as a border or accent. Mosaic tiles are especially popular for upscale steam rooms and wet rooms, in both commercial and residential settings. That’s because aside from their aesthetic advantages, they are usually non-porous and resistant to mould and mildew.

 Peruse the range

Our extensive mosaic portfolio allows you to pick from numerous brands at different price points. You can then opt for one single colour and size, for a cohesive, high-impact effect. Or you can mix and match colours, sizing and zoning for a truly bespoke and bold finish. They can reflect natural and synthetic lighting too and, as a result, make a room feel instantly lighter and brighter.

Farmed from sustainable sources, our Siminetti freshwater pearl mosaic tiles are impervious to water, making them ideal for wet, humid environments. From a steam room and spa to a swimming pool, our Anthracite 25mm Square Mosaic Tiles are designed for luxury home décor. Pic credit: Drom UK

Decorative accessories for creating a feature wall

Feature walls per se aren’t new within the world of interior design. But wall murals are fast becoming a feature of contemporary luxury home decor – and you can use our tile panels to create one.

Creating pictures with tiles

Bathrooms are surprisingly suited to experiments with wall art. We spend limited time in them, so there’s less opportunity to become bored with the decor. Compared with kitchens or cloakrooms, bathrooms are relatively private too. So you can use a wall mural to indulge your passion for colours and patterns that might be considered too outré elsewhere in your home.

 Tile decorations

There’s another advantage. Updating just one wall with statement tiles – as opposed to ripping everything out and starting again from scratch – is a fast and cost-effective way to transform a space.

Our Original Style Living’s English Garden Wall Mural features three panels (A,B & C) which you can use separately or together to create a calming countryside setting for a bespoke bathroom, large or small. These decorative accessories will make a bold statement and can instantly add luxury to a distinctive bathing haven

Being sympathetic to your surroundings

The best examples of luxury home decor are always authentic. So do make the most of what you have, rather than trying to change everything into something that’s it not.

Embrace original features 

For example, choose period-style tiles to complement a period property. Embrace and enhance what you’ve inherited, by restoring original features or recreating a traditional look. Celebrate your high ceilings, original fireplaces, Edwardian columns, or Victorian floors.

In a stunning Art Nouveau style, our Original Style Angelina Pink Tulip 3-Tiles Set on Colonial White from the Artworks collection are hand-crafted. They add instant charm to this period property, which also features our Oxford Black and White floor tiles from the Victoria Floor collection

Material matters for luxury interiors

If your budget will stretch to it, sometimes there’s simply no substitute for luxury materials. Natural stone, such as marble and onyx add an instant upscale, elegant look to any room, especially luxury bathrooms. Limestone and mineral-rich travertine are also popular choices.

Every house deserves a little luxury

For the ultimate luxury home decor design, use your choice of glossy, natural stone on both the floors and walls, to evoke that unmistakeable high-class hotel/spa ambience.

Our striking Bert & May Green Herringbone Honed Marble Tiles feature deep veins and swirls of pistachio and teal tones. With a unique opulent look, it pairs well with gold accents in a luxury bathroom