Floored – Faux Wood Tiles Are Here To Stay!

The wonderful alternative to wooden flooring – is the faux wood tile! Cheaper? Of course. Easier to install? Yes. Low on maintenance??? Absolutely.

A versatile material, which can be used to beautiful interior and exterior applications, the faux wood tile has all the advantages of a tile plus the look of wood!

I remember the time we had to do a bit of a revamp in my childhood home. With Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys and the Twin Towers and St. Malory’s colouring my dreams, I was keen on getting wooden flooring in my room! My dad, though startled by my request, did ask around for the material. But two decades back and in a small quiet Indian town, wooden flooring was a distant dream! Moreover, the guys at the hardware shops dissuaded us from using wood – its expensive, expands with moisture, needs maintenance… blah, blah, blah. The odds thus were heavily against me – and I had to settle for plain brown tiles. Brown, because, it was the closest I could get to ‘wood’!

The scenario has altered – and how! The market is flooded with options in flooring types. Tiling, however, is still by far, the most popular choice. It has evolved as the most affordable option; and the vast range now available truly lends itself to splendid decor ideas.

And then came faux wood tiles! As the name suggests, they are tiles, designed to resemble wood! Made from ceramic or porcelain, wood tiles come in a vast range of colours and finishes – some engineered to look like smooth and glossy floorboards, and some having the grain and textures of real, rough-hewn wood.

Choose one depending on where you need it, and what colours you wish to have around it. Darker shades can offer interesting contrasts with white, neutrals as well as show off accent colours to advantage; while lighter options adapt better to certain spaces (say, with darker wall colours) or styles (such as minimalism). For outdoor options too – as in balconies, terraces, or kiosks, sit-outs and pathways – the choice would be guided by the other elements of the setting such as the colour and styling of the landscape and furniture…

Another very interesting area to explore for faux wood flooring would be ‘bathrooms’! Breaking free of the limitations of using real hardwood flooring in moisture-prone spaces, the faux wood tiles can be used to create innovative and stylish bathroom interiors.