This month, thousands of tile and stone industry members will flock to Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center from April 22-25. That’s the site of Coverings 2024, (coverings.com), North America’s largest and premier international tile and stone exhibition and conference. At this writing, Coverings has just unveiled the top tile trends for 2024, in a sneak peek of the mesmeric product exhibits being planned for this year’s show.
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) – to showcase the most in-demand and fashionable tile designs from the global tile market.
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,” said Capra.
Capra and a panel of tile industry insiders will showcase and discuss the diverse range of this year’s tile trends at Coverings 2024 during the “Global Tile Trends” presentation, which will take place April 22, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT. The live session will provide attendees with a detailed exploration of the newest tile trends with stunning photography from an expansive range of indoor and outdoor tile applications.
Registration and attendance for Coverings 2024 are complimentary, offering attendees a cost-free opportunity to explore the latest and most popular global tile and stone products in one place and the abundant opportunities for curated show floor tours, educational sessions, live demonstrations, activations, and international pavilions.
Here are the top 10 tile trends of 2024!
1) 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.
2) Beyond Realism: When texture, sheen and reflectivity with color can be digitally manipulated, it is easier than ever before to recreate anything through ceramics. Modern tile production is at a stage where artistic expression knows no bounds, even when simulating natural elements. The layers of detail that are possible with printing techniques evoke truly visceral experiences. 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.
3) 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.
4) Organic Grandeur: Innovative glazing technology paired with inspiration from rare natural materials give us stunning surfaces that feature enhancing effects of light and reflectivity, reproduced in luminous finishes, eliciting the beauty and depth of marble with the durability of porcelain in color ranges wider than those of natural stone.
5) Porcelain Panels Panache: The proliferation of full-body porcelain panels 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. Manufacturers are turning up the volume on this trend with the look, style and allure of natural stone, spanning many collections mimicking the world’s rarest marble and showcasing evocative amalgamations with bright colors and luminous veins. Distinguishing them from competitive materials is their capacity to be worked with using traditional fabrication techniques, making them a cost-effective and versatile choice for exceptional architecture and design applications.
6) Seeking Balance: Tile makers are looking to Japan, the birthplace of yin-yang and wabi-sabi, for inspiration and balance in the design world. 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.
7) Set in Stone: These looks draw inspiration from the magnificent beauty of the Earth’s ancient geological past. Masterpieces of nature, like limestone, bluestone and slate, are represented with 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.
8) 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.
9) The Third Dimension: Ceramic tile companies are looking to the third dimension as the next frontier of design. New collections feature a plethora of 3D tiles from fluted and protruding surfaces to reliefs with explosive patterns. As manufacturers work toward producing tiles that look and feel like natural stone, marble prints are now paired with low relief veining for an exceptionally realistic appearance.
10) Trompe L’oeil: From misty forests to overlapping sheets of corrugated metal, tile manufacturers are producing a range of mind-blowing optical illusion effects on porcelain. Given the technical benefits of porcelain, designers can use these 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.
If you haven’t yet done so, make your plans to attend Coverings 2024 at no cost, to see these top 10 ceramic tile trends, and many others. For more information and to register for Coverings 2024, visit coverings.com.
Editorial Director and Senior Writer for TileLetter and TileLetter ARTISAN
Lesley Goddin has been writing and journaling since her first diary at age 11. Her journey has taken her through a career in publishing and publicity, landing her the editor position of TileLetter and its special publications in 2006. Her goal is to educate, inspire, recognize and encourage those in the tile industry -- especially the tile and stone contractor.
