Some interior details have the magical power to change the entire personality of a room. A velvet armchair. An oversized pendant light. A beautifully aged wooden table. A wall covered in art. A patterned tiled floor. From our point of view, the last one has a unique architectural confidence. You look down and suddenly realize the space’s focal point.
Now, it would be hard to explain why we find patterned floor tiles the element that shapes a room’s personality more than others. Perhaps it’s the variety. The Victorian vibes. The modern interpretation. But we’re sure that once you take a good look at a room featuring a rhythmic geometric design in cream, charcoal, and terracotta, or Victorian-inspired tessellation, you will also understand.
There are countless ways to integrate and interpret patterned tiles because they have a knack for making a home feel more layered, warmer, and, what we find extremely important, more lived-in.
So, why do we see these tiles trending again? Why didn’t they stay in the Victorian age?
Before Homeowners Found Patterned Tiles Trendy, They Were A Big Trend
Let’s start with the beginning if we want to understand the current fascination with patterned flooring. We’ll go back to the Victorian era when decorative tiles experienced something of a renaissance. They weren’t “invented” in the Victorian era; their story stretches way back. They have medieval roots (and like a medieval knight, they’re here to save us again); they were mainly used in ecclesiastical buildings before they came to the public’s attention during the Gothic Revival of the 19th century.
The industrial advances of the time made these decorative tiles more accessible, so the designs that were initially associated with prestigious buildings could lastly be welcomed into domestic interiors.
By the second half of the 19th century, encaustic and geometric floors became an essential feature of Victorian architecture and were used in public buildings, churches, and grand houses. After some time, they became increasingly popular in ordinary homes. If you were living in the 1890s, you would have found the decorative tiled floors a familiar sight across Britain.
The homeowners of the past didn’t turn to them solely for decorative purposes; they also found them wonderfully practical because they were hard-wearing and relatively easy to maintain. So, they were one of the most practical solutions for entrances, hallways, and other areas that registered high foot traffic.
When Floors Were Part Of The Room’s Decoration
One of the things we found most charming about historical patterned interiors is that the floor rarely existed in isolation from the rest of the decor. Victorian designers, in fact, used encaustic and geometric tiles as part of the overall decorative language of a space. So they would integrate patterned tiles in designs that also included ornate woodwork, stained glass, wallpaper, richly detailed furniture, and fireplaces because their end goal was to create spaces that were layered.
You could often notice how wealthy households influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement turned to decorative elements like tiles. Designers like William Morris and William De Morgan found a certain logic in this kind of ornament; the patterned hallway floor creates a sense of movement toward the front door.
Homes went minimal in interior design for a while, only to eventually miss the pattern
There was a long period when people would associate sophisticated interior design with everything opposite what the Victorian era would promote. The ideal example of a contemporary home includes pale timber, white walls, large expanses of neutral flooring, clean-lined furniture, and a carefully restrained palette.
Homeowners considered the visual quiet beautiful, especially when natural materials and light did the work wonderfully. But let’s be real, how much visual quiet can human beings tolerate? We are creative individuals who thrive in environments that feel personal, so it was only natural at a certain point to bring decorative elements back into the interior design conversation.
These days, richer colors, vintage furniture, antique pieces, layered prints, heritage-inspired details, and patterned floor tiles by Hyperion Tiles are trending again because they give rooms personality and warmth.
The New Generation Of Patterned Floors Is Far More Relaxed
Now, we didn’t turn on the time machine to go back to the Victorian era and bring the old patterned tiles to our homes. We chose the more interesting route and came up with a surprisingly contemporary version of the Victorian floors. We would install a checkerboard floor beneath sculptural furniture in the living room, create a heritage-inspired pattern to provide some contrast against our minimalist walls, or pair a traditional geometric motif with streamlined cabinetry and modern lighting in the kitchen.
Nowadays, interior designs that include patterned tiles feel magical because they create tension between old and new. Close your eyes and paint this picture, you’re welcomed into a house, the homeowners opens the door to the kitchen and you step on a period-inspired floor that serves as base for a contemporary kitchen.
Then you step into the bathroom which features an intricate geometric bathroom floor paired with simple sanitary elements and warm timber decorations. Do you feel nostalgic? Or do you find it deeply personal?
Can We Describe Patterned Tiles As Timeless?
We’ll say that the answer to this question is slightly complicated because not all patterned tiles are timeless, and that is perfectly fine. Some patterns inevitably belong to a design movement or a moment in time. Some colour combinations or motifs will unmistakably tell you the year they were installed.
But some categories of patterned floors have proved that they have the ability to move between eras. Victorian geometric designs are the best example because they survived well over centuries and contemporaty reproductions and reinterpretations continue to decorate modern homes.
We believe that patterned tiles aren’t timeles because they don’t look old in a contemporary design but because they age beautifully together with the accompanying decor.
They have the extraordinary power to become part of the architecture of the house.
