Day 152: faux wood tile

As one can imagine, faux wood tile is supposed to mimic the warmth and texture of real wood. In the interior design world, we are seeing this tile pop up everywhere from floors to kitchen backsplashes, even to fireplace surrounds. It’s no wonder this tile has risen in popularity as it’s easier to maintain than real wood and comes at a fraction of the cost.

We have been fortunate to use faux wood tile several times recently. And in BATHROOMS! The value in this tile is its versatility; it can be minimalistic and modern, or invoke rustic and bucolic aesthetics. It’s part of an overall trend toward biophilia, or bringing nature indoors.

Faux wood tile, whether porcelain or ceramic, is laid the same way regular tile is. It does require a perfectly flat surface since tile is more rigid than real wood and does not have the same amount of give. We recommend using narrow grout lines so as not to detract from the wood plank look.

In the above project, the large-format, horizontal tile is laid in a strait match pattern. The lines are clean and contemporary. Contrast with below where the tile is laid in a traditional staggered pattern. Both showers use similar stone mosaics for the floor, and the first project has a mosaic on the ceiling while the second continues the wood tile. Which of the two applications do you prefer?

In a third bathroom shown below, we used wood tile on only the bottom half of the shower. Coupled with the lighter, upper tile and the glass walls, the shower appears bigger. By continuing the same wood tile onto the bathroom floor, we also created visual continuity.

So are you convinced of the beauty and versatility of faux wood tile? Where will you use it in your next remodel?