Tiles are a beautiful form of floor paving. It’s affordable, easy to lay, and even easier to maintain. When used in a kitchen, or on bathroom walls, your tile will require regular scrubbing. But when it’s used as a flooring material, all it needs is the occasional sweep to get rid of surface dust, and maybe a quick mop a few times a week.

In addition to being easy to take care of, tiles are good conductors. In a room bathed in natural light, it can keep the space warm and cosy throughout the day. And in more tropical climates, it’s a great way to cool your feet in the noon-time sun. It’s great for pets too.

The best thing about tile flooring is its versatility. It can produce such a wide range of styles that it can go from playful to classic, creating a chic high-end ambience or a laid-back hipster affect. It’s available in hundreds of colours, patterns, and textures, so you can mix-and-match to your heart’s delight. Let’s look at a few styling options that you can get from a tile.

The appearance of natural wood is beautiful and stylish, but wood flooring needs a lot of tender love and care. It’s susceptible to warping and mould, so you can’t mop it as often. It also needs frequent polish and might be attacked by insects and fungus. Tile has none of these vulnerabilities, and if you get the right design, it looks exactly like wood!

You can find tile that is patterned like organic bark, pale knotted softwood, or dark grained parquet. To your eye, it looks exactly like woo, and even gives the appearance of wooden texture. It’s only when you touch it and feel the cool smooth shine that you’ll realise it’s actually tile. Now you can enjoy the look of wood without the maintenance hassle or the potential for infestation.

If you’re more of a metal head, you can tile your pattern to match a metallic finish. Not many people would want a metal floor because it can be unpleasantly cold on your feet. There’s also a fear of rust or burns during warmer weather. However, if you want your floor to have a minimalist, industrial look, it’s possible to get tiles with metallic facades. It can be shiny stainless steel, matte iron, or even glossy fibreglass, all in the form of smooth, ceramic tile.

When you pick a metal finish, select one tile first and take it home to test it against your walls and home décor. Metal patterns are quite bold, so before you commit to laying multiple square feet, be sure it fits in with the rest of your room. If not, be sure that you’re willing to re-do all your interiors to match.

Suppose you’re looking for something a little more classy. Maybe you’ve been watching interior design TV shows, or maybe you were recently in an elegant home and would like to take some of that high-end living with you. You don’t have to shell out on pricey natural stone. You can install the elegance of travertine or marble on a ceramic tile budget.

You can get a high polish effect or a more natural matte look, with colours ranging from soft-grain white to high-vein grey. It’s as beautiful as marble, but easier to clean, and you don’t have to worry about sealing or etching. It’s a deal made in flooring heaven.

If you’d like to go to the other extreme and keep your flooring simple and utilitarian, you don’t have to restrict yourself to basic cement or concrete. While the Spartan look may reflect your personality, cement gathers a lot of dust, sometimes absorbs water, and is rough and scratchy on your feet. Instead, install cement-coloured tiles. You’ll get the same simplistic aspect, but you’ll have it with a stylish, easy-clean floor that won’t fray your socks. Plus, tile is better than cement when it comes to managing room temperature.

If texture is your thing, you can go an extra step and lay tiles that mimic fabric. They won’t feel anything like cloth, but they will produce the same feeling of warmth and softness. You can go with a plaid look or try some faux linen. If you find a custom tile store, they might even fabricate colourful ethnic patterns for you.

And if colour is more your thing, explore aqua ocean tones, or deep coffees and pale lattes. The versatility of tile has almost no restrictions. All you have to do is pick a style and find the tile to match. Spend some time online, browsing the available options, then talk to your local tile store and see what they can do for your floor.