Ceramic Tiles Buying Guide
Ceramic earns its lasting popularity through a straightforward combination: genuine durability, a lower price point than porcelain or natural stone, and an extensive range of colours, patterns and textures. It's a practical starting point for most indoor tiling projects, provided it's matched to the right application.
Why choose ceramic tiles
Durability is a genuine strength within ceramic's intended use: it's crafted to withstand daily wear, making it well suited to high-traffic indoor areas, and its resistance to moisture and staining suits kitchens, bathrooms and laundries particularly well.
Aesthetic versatility comes from the sheer range ceramic is produced in. Pairing ceramic with white tiles gives a clean, timeless look, while pairing with blue tiles brings a considered splash of colour into an otherwise neutral room.
Easy maintenance follows from ceramic's glazed surface, which prevents dirt and staining from penetrating the tile itself. Regular cleaning with a mild detergent is generally all that's needed to keep it looking fresh.
Where to use ceramic tiles
Bathrooms suit ceramic well on walls and floors, thanks to its water resistance. Shower areas and splashbacks both benefit from the moisture protection ceramic provides, and pairing with marble-look tiles gives a more luxurious finish, while pink tiles bring a playful accent into the room.
Kitchens suit ceramic for splashbacks, benchtops and floors, since it handles heat and staining well during daily cooking. Pairing with terrazzo-look tiles brings a more contemporary edge to the space.
Living areas can use ceramic for both flooring and feature walls. Large-format options, such as 300mm x 600mm tiles, give a more seamless look, while smaller formats, such as 100mm x 100mm tiles, suit more intricate, detailed designs.
Outdoor areas need more careful consideration with ceramic specifically. Because it's more porous than porcelain, ceramic is better suited to covered or sheltered outdoor spaces, a protected patio or an enclosed outdoor kitchen, rather than a fully exposed pool surround or open pathway facing direct rain and temperature swings. For a genuinely exposed exterior application, porcelain is the more reliable choice; this collection's travertine-look tiles, where available in a porcelain base, are worth checking specifically for that kind of outdoor use.
Design ideas with ceramic tiles
Creative patterns, herringbone and basketweave among them, add genuine visual interest to a space beyond colour alone. The herringbone tiles collection is worth browsing for inspiration on how this pattern reads across different tile shapes and sizes.
Mixing colours deliberately, pairing a neutral base with a more vibrant option like green tiles, creates either bold contrast or a subtler gradient, depending on how much of the bolder colour is used.
Texture and finish add further depth: combining matte and glossy ceramic tiles within the same space gives a layered effect that a single finish alone doesn't achieve. The feature tiles collection is worth exploring for distinctive textures and patterns within this material.
Materials and finishes
Ceramic tiles in this collection are available in polished, glossy, matte and textured finishes, giving genuine control over how a space ultimately looks and feels. Classic square formats, such as 150mm x 150mm tiles, suit a more traditional layout, while a range of more contemporary formats are also available.
Completing the room
Ceramic tiles are easiest to select once the room's other fixtures, vanity, tapware or cabinetry, are settled, since colour and finish should complement those choices rather than being decided in isolation. Explore the full tiles collection for additional formats and finishes to pair with a ceramic tile selection.
