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Posted on: August 6, 2007

Tile Outside the Bathroom

Fresh ideas for adding tile—and style—to any room in the house

By Michelle Taute
CTW Features

vase with flowers in front of white tile wall

Adding tile to a room creates an unexpected treat for yourself and for visitors each time it's seen. Image courtesy Angela Adams

Tile might have a reputation for being cold and hard, but with more designs, colors and materials than ever before, it can heat up the look of any room in the house. Try these ideas for taking tile beyond the bathroom:

Sweeter Dreams

Stop looking for the perfect comforter and start searching for just the right tile. You can cover an entire bedroom wall with tile—perhaps a gorgeous pattern in glass—to pull the whole room together. “It basically becomes your focal point like decorative wallpaper would be,” says Tineke Triggs, an interior designer who owns Artistic Designs for Living in San Francisco.

Ups and Downs

If you live with kids and pets, tile can be easier to maintain than other flooring options. There’s built-in durability, and spills wipe up easily. Both make tile perfect for such heavy traffic areas as the stairs. “In most of the European countries, the stairs were always tile,” says Nancy Epstein, CEO and founder of Artistic Tile in Shrewsbury, N.J. In fact, risers make the perfect canvas for decorative tiles.

Style Underfoot

But stairs aren’t the only place tile makes sense on the floor. With tiles made to resemble everything from woven fabric and leather to concrete, they can match the look and feel of your living room just as easily as the dining room. Epstein even has specialty tiles on her bedroom floor that include motion-sensitive, LED lights. They softly illuminate a path to the bathroom when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Just choose wisely: The floor makes the largest color statement in a room.