Flooring ‘N Tiles

Mediterranean floor tiles reflect the near certainty that a kitchen floor – and perhaps even more surfaces in a typical Mediterranean Style home – will be tiled. Naturally, tiles provide the perfect water-resistant, easy-to-clean surface that a kitchen would require. This much has been proven out over literal centuries of flooring work in Mediterranean areas. Classically, these tiles were originally brick or terracotta, easily manufactured at the level of manufacturing technology of those earlier times. But the advent of mosaic tiles which began in Greece and flourished in the exotic atria and homes of the Romans took the roof off of Mediterranean flooring design.

Whereas your typical Mediterranean flooring dealt with capturing and featuring the abundant bright sun of the area, thus featuring brown and muted earth tones which are considered the true “classic: Mediterranean flooring tile, later developments insisted that a mosaic and ceramic feature be included in this category as well. Moroccan influences spread to Spain and their influences can be seen to this day in many homes and public areas. Combined with Roman technology and practices, this yielded a most remarkable blend of classic Mediterranean tiles, mixed with artistic and unique twists.

By far, the primary current concept of the Mediterranean floor tile reflects its earlier form. Earth-toned, semi-terracotta, brown with red influences which reflect sun and brighten a kitchen or bathroom, or even more areas of a home, are the paramount conception of what a Mediterranean floor tile is.

Rustic country floor tiles are a constant in kitchen floor design. The numbers of people who desire that rustic country look are legion. Especially in American suburbs where the housing market has taken off in the recent past, custom flooring included a definite preponderance of people searching for the warmer, rustic country kitchen look. Cozy and family-oriented, color-neutral when combined with other, brighter color elements such as cupboards, counter tops and fixtures, a rustic country floor tile works wonders as warm, comforting flooring alternative.

More chic are the oddly more primitive floor tiles. such as terracotta dn other rough-hewn, irregularly-edged varieties of clay-fired or even porcelain flooring tiles. Toscana tiles are often pointed out as desirable, reminiscent of the warm country farm flair of those brightly-lit and informal kitchens from Tuscany and as well from Southern France and Spain.

The desire to relax and to provide a comfortable working environment for food and entertaining work looms large in the longing for a warm and rustic floor country tile. They may come in a variety of forms but they all share one very common characteristic: warmly colored earth tones with textured surfaces, a working man or woman’s type of floor, suggesting some labor was put into the hand-hewn objects one walks and converses informally on.