Every homeowners dream is to have a beautiful kitchen whether they like cooking or not.
Your interior adornment will remain incomplete until you have given your kitchen the best possible plan and design you can.
Tiles offer protective and decorative functions and they are one of the essential parts of kitchen finishing, depending on the type of flooring you have.
Tiling your kitchen goes beyond buying colorful and attractive tiles, you need to install them properly.
There are different tile patterns.
Each offer something different and they all have ways of unbelievably enhancing the look of your kitchen.
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The two trending patterns commonly found in homes these days are the staggered and the straight sets.
In this article, we will talk more on these tow patterns, highlighting the pros and cons of each.
Straight tile pattern
The straight tile layout is the most common of all the patterns.
This pattern comes easy without any hassle. This is why it is the best to consider if you are planning a DIY-installation.
Whether your tiles are square or rectangular in shape, a straight tile layout will always suffice for you.
To lay out tiles in a straight pattern, you set your tiles in such a way that the corners of each tile are lined up with one another, giving you a grid-like look at the end.
This pattern offers a clean linear look that gorgeously showcase the beauty of your tiles.
Straight tile patterns are versatile and one can be creative with them, especially when you are using tiles with decorative designs. Aligning the tiles side by side will birth another design on the floor.
The fact that it is a straight pattern does not make it boring; with the right color, design and tile size, you will be surprised at how stylish this pattern can be.
Straight tile patterns can be set in two ways if you are using rectangular tiles; you can either set your tiles in a vertical position or horizontal position.
If you are using tiles with simple colors without any design on them, you can make the layout pattern more stylish by using alternating or contrasting colors to highlight the grout lines; this will enhance the visibility of the straight grout lines.
What we like about this pattern
- It is easy to layout
- It is cost effective
- It is perfect for a simple kitchen design
- It prevents cutting and wastage of tiles
- It is very stylish and allows for versatility
- It can be used for both wall and floor tiling
- Whether large or small tiles, square or rectangular tiles, this pattern serves all
- It is also suitable for kitchens with complicated designs, layouts or colors
The downside of this pattern
- It is not good for extremely narrow kitchens
- The tiles must be of equal size to give a perfect straight layout pattern.
Staggered tile pattern
The staggered tile pattern is also called the “offset” pattern.
It is a common tile pattern and that has been in use for a very long time; it is seen in many homes today. This pattern is also an easy tile pattern.
The staggered tile pattern adds interest to the tiling in your kitchen; instead of having a straight tile layout, there is an unexpected twist, in which each line of tile is offset or interrupted by the width of half of a tile.
In other words, each tile is set to begin at the center of the tile below it.
You can be creative with this tile pattern, such that instead of having lines of tiles offset by the width of half tile, you have each joint offset by a one-third tile – this style is commonly called “third stagger”.
You can also be more creative and lay out your tiles in a “random stagger”.
Staggered floor tile pattern is mostly used for rectangular tiles as this shape will create a more defined grid look.
The common way of staggering tiles is horizontally but you can add a not-too-trendy and stylish twist to yours by staggering them vertically.
Doing this rotates the widening effect your kitchen receives when set horizontally and place it on the height of your kitchen.
In as much as this pattern is easy, it requires great care to make sure that the tiles line up perfectly.
If they do not, you would not even get to know until you have tiled a large area.
What we like about this pattern
- It is an easy tile pattern.
- It is stylish and creative
- It can be used to install tiles on walls and floors
- This pattern is capable of hiding imperfections. For instance, if you are having crooked walls or uneven surfaces, this pattern will go a long way to hide all these defects.
- It is the best to consider when using tiles that are of unequal size.
- It makes your kitchen design more elaborate
The downside of this pattern
- You might not be able to successfully mix tiles using this pattern, because it gives the best result when one simple tile is used throughout.
- Does not really come out well with very large tiles.
Staggered or straight, which floor pattern is right for your kitchen?
When choosing the best floor pattern for your kitchen, many things come to play: the size of your tiles, the design of your tiles, the structural layout of your kitchen, the size of your kitchen, and many more.
If your kitchen is very narrow, consider the staggered tile pattern as this pattern has a widening effect on narrow spaces.
The straight tile pattern is not the best for extremely narrow kitchens.
This is because the long grout lines parallel to the walls reduce spaces and make narrow spaces smaller than they are.
If you are using tiles that have decorative designs and motifs, consider a straight tile pattern.
Above all, a kitchen will have cabinets and appliance doors and these kitchen equipment sometimes look sharp and angular; it takes a staggered floor tile pattern to add extra texture and softness to the overall setting.
NOTE: If you’re wondering if your kitchen renovations will increase the value of your house, check out my article here.