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Hi everyone, it’s Twilife.
“Tiles” are a material that can instantly elevate the quality of any space.
In our previous article, I introduced the favorite tiles we used in our living room, courtyard, and kitchen.
While tiles create a beautiful atmosphere, they are actually quite a delicate material. If you make even a slight mistake in choosing them, it’s easy to end up with regrets later, thinking, “This isn’t the vibe I imagined…” or “It just doesn’t fit our lifestyle…”
＼ Click here to see all the tiles used in our home ／
Today, for those of you currently considering tiles, I’ll be sharing the “foolproof selection method” we actually used, along with our honest, “real-life thoughts (including the drawbacks)” after living with them.
[Crucial] What You Absolutely MUST Do When Choosing Tiles
Having tiled a huge portion of our own home, there are three things we desperately want to tell anyone who is about to choose tiles.
They are the following three steps:
- First, request catalogs and physical samples.
- Go to a showroom if possible.
- Look directly at large-format samples and installation examples.
1. First, Request Physical Samples
While you could head straight to a showroom right off the bat, personally, I highly recommend starting by looking through catalogs and requesting samples of the ones that catch your eye.
The reason is simple: showrooms are absolutely packed with countless tiles, and it’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed and distracted.
Trying to find that one perfect tile among thousands without any prior knowledge is next to impossible.
Nowadays, you can easily request samples online, or if you’ve already chosen a builder, you can ask your interior coordinator (IC) to get them for you.
Laying out samples at home to establish a baseline of “I think I like this kind of vibe” before visiting the showroom is the secret to making a foolproof choice.
Tile recommendations and sample gathering are heavily influenced by the taste and knowledge of your interior coordinator (IC).
If you are currently looking for a builder and thinking, “I want sophisticated tile proposals,” or “I want to build a house with a similar aesthetic to yours,” we can directly introduce you to the wonderful reps who helped us.
2. See the “Real Thing” at a Showroom
Once you have a shortlist, I would say it is absolutely mandatory to check the actual size of your tiles at a showroom.
This is because the overall impression changes drastically compared to a tiny 10cm square sample.
Even if a small sample looks great, there are two main factors that can drastically change the impression when applied to a large area:
- The edge design and taper angle.
- The overall vibe when combined with grout lines.
Because samples are cut small, it’s often hard to tell what the edges actually look like. This can easily lead to a “this isn’t what I imagined…” moment after the build is finished.
This directly impacts the creation of your ideal space. So, while requesting samples and visiting showrooms might feel like a hassle, I highly recommend doing it without any compromises.
(Brought our own sanitizing wipes, lol)
We Basically Lived at the Showrooms
Before making our final decisions, we visited both the “Hirata Tile” and “Nagoya Mosaic” showrooms in person.
We were particularly invested in Hirata Tile. After doing a ton of prep work via YouTube, we visited their showroom a total of 3 times to double-check everything.
Both are fantastic tile manufacturers, but here are our personal impressions of each brand after visiting them multiple times (this is strictly our subjective view):
- Hirata Tile: They have many highly expressive tiles that give off a warm, playful “artisan handcrafted” feel. Perfect for Southern European or natural modern spaces.
- Nagoya Mosaic: They offer a wealth of stylish, luxurious designs, particularly in monotone palettes. Highly recommended for those wanting to create a sophisticated, hotel-like space.
I truly believe that our current level of satisfaction is a direct result of taking the time to compare large panels at the showroom and checking how they look under natural light.
We’ve compiled the actual atmosphere of the showrooms and how we compared tiles into these videos.
▼ Hirata Tile Showroom
▼ Nagoya Mosaic (Starts at 12:55)
Who Might NOT Want Tiles
I’ve spent a lot of time praising tiles, but depending on your lifestyle, tiles could actually become a source of stress.
After actually living with them, here are the types of people who might find tiles to be a bad fit:
- You prefer to be barefoot inside the house at all times.
- You dislike cold floors or a hard walking surface.
- You are worried about plates breaking when dropped (especially if you have small children).
If you are concerned about the coldness and hardness but absolutely love the design and want to use them anyway, one solution is to invest in thick-soled “room shoes” (indoor slippers). We generally wear room shoes at home and stay perfectly comfortable.
Many people worry, “Aren’t tiles freezing in the winter?”
Generally, because tiles have high thermal conductivity, combining them with floor heating creates a wonderful benefit: they store heat and make your feet feel incredibly warm and toasty.
On the flip side, compared to wood, they do have the characteristic of “taking a little longer to warm up.”
Therefore, if you value efficiency and want the floor to get warm the instant you flip the switch, you might find it a bit frustrating. Please consider how this fits with your lifestyle.
Conclusion
Tiles are a highly attractive material, whether you are looking at their overwhelming aesthetic presence, durability, or ease of cleaning.
However, that comes with inherent material quirks, like being cold and hard.
That is exactly why you must “always look at and touch large physical samples before making your choice.”
We believe this is the absolute best shortcut to avoiding regrets when choosing tiles.
If you are currently in layout meetings and debating whether to use tiles, I hope our experiences can serve as helpful reference material.
Take your time, and please find that one perfect tile you’ll love forever.
Thank you so much for reading to the end.
＼ Click here to see our tile examples again ／
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