Unless you're Pamela Anderson and have left social media to read and be in nature, you've likely seen tiled cubes on your feed. Hell, you might be sitting across from one right now.
A little background: Descended from Superstudio's Quaderna table (c. 1966), Copenhagen's Ikon revived ceramic tile furniture in Scandi, pastel fashion, making their splash with console tables for Saks Potts' offices and pop-ups in 2016. Not long after, emerging designers like Good Behavior, From Willow, Ktown Corner Store, and Occasional Pieces offered ceramic tiled furniture at a more accessible price-point, officially unleashing this Trend with a capital T. When Zoomers began caulking squares and their DIY TikToks became as pervasive on the app as generational emoji use discourse, I knew tiles had entered the homes of the masses.
What makes ceramic tiled furniture so covetable? It could be the material's stylistic flexibility; the uniform tiled squares make a grid that makes a sharp, geometric statement while still cohering with a number of interior design styles. There's also something vaguely Mediterranean about the presence of tiles in rooms other than the bathroom or kitchen. Ultimately, the durability and easy-to-clean surface makes the case for ceramic tile's ubiquity.
It's this physical longevity that has me thinking the tile trend could stick around, however in new emerging forms. We're calling it: the next phase of the craze is all about personalization, whether that's substituting ceramic for another material or pattern, or just adding hand-painted modifications.
The next direction for tiling: collected, natural materials for inlay. Seen here: Ficus Interfaith using mosaic application of shell inlay to create an illustrative terrazzo. Chef's kiss!
What do you think, is the tile decor craze is here to stay?
