PATTERN RECOGNITION

Price and colour are not the only factors to consider when buying tiles. Shape, material and finish will decide if they’re right for you

- Natasha Radmehr

BETWEEN THE LINES

Don't let grout be an afterthought. Decide whether you'd like it to co-ordinate with your tiles (or be unnoticeable), or contrast with them for more of a design statement (consider a pale metro tile outlined in graphic black). "In high-traffic areas, grey grout will age better, and there are now many shades to choose from," says Achillia Mavrovounioti, studio and design assistant at Edinburgh Tile Studio.

What does the camera roll on your phone look like? Mine, especially following a recent trip to Lisbon, is a little something like this: my feet planted on a mosaic-patterned floor; the cornflower blue, Azulejo-tiled interior of a Portuguese church; my hand holding various sage-coloured tiles aloft as I try to decide what to clad my bathroom walls in. I am a tile-phile, if there is such a thing.