How to choose the right tiles for your home
5 June 2025 · 6 min read
Choose for the room and the traffic first, and the look second. It rarely costs more and it lasts far longer.
Porcelain or ceramic?
Porcelain is denser, harder and almost non-porous, which makes it the right choice for floors, wet areas and anywhere outdoors. Ceramic is softer and cheaper, and it is perfectly good on walls where nothing walks on it.
For a floor that will see prams, dogs and grit off the street, porcelain is worth the extra per square metre every time.
Finish and slip resistance
Polished tiles look superb in a showroom and become an ice rink when wet. On any bathroom or kitchen floor, ask for the R rating: R10 as a minimum indoors, R11 or higher for wet rooms and outdoors.
Matt and textured finishes also hide water marks and footprints far better, which matters more day to day than most people expect.
Size and proportion
Large-format tiles make small rooms look bigger because there are fewer grout lines to break up the surface. The limit is your substrate — big tiles need a flat floor, and levelling a bad one adds cost.
Small mosaics are the opposite: lots of grout, more grip, and much better for shaped surfaces like shower floors and curved walls.
Buy enough, and buy it all at once
Order at least 10% over the measured area — 15% for diagonal or herringbone layouts. Tiles are made in batches and shades vary between them, so a top-up order six weeks later rarely matches.