Layers, you’ve got to love them. From the sweet sheets of mille-feuille patisserie to the fash pack’s favourite transitional wardrobe term, layering is an art that creates tantalising texture and moreish colour palettes and then some. And guess what? It applies to tiles too. So this season, pick your porcelain, claim your ceramic or select a stone and layer those tiles like a total trend-led pro.

The Tile Layering Trend, Unpacked

“This latest tile trend for 2024 celebrates the magic tone in mixing materials, finishes and styles of tile,” explains Grazzie, head of creative at Ca’ Pietra. “It’s back to those complementary contrasts and understanding how one tile’s character can enhance another’s no matter how different they are so long as they have something in common to link them together.” Now that something in common could be colour like in this sultry rouge shower room where we’ve mixed the Maroc Porcelain tiles in Beige and Bordeaux to create a modern pinstripe effect alongside the plaster-effect Stucco tiles in red and ivory. That’s four different tiles in total, used in stripes, block colour and chequerboard effect all in the one space with the common thread of red linking them altogether. A tile layering masterclass you might say.

The Rule of Three

“I say rule, but rules are there to be broken. Use the rule of three as a guiding hand in tile layering to make sure you don’t overload your room with too many types of tiles fighting for attention. I’m all for eclecticism but too much of it leads to chaos and none of us need more of that in our lives!” continued Grazzie.

Grazzie suggests as a starting point a large format matt tile mixed in with a glossy brick and a third that's a more unusual shape. Heading into another bathroom for a working example, here we see a swoon worthy space by Roper Rhodes layering with fabulous effect. Reform Stone in Bianco serves up parquet floor shaping, Maroc Bianco gives the walls their glossiness and Savoy Porcelain on the walls and shower bench shine in their large format and dramatically veined glory.

Exceptions to the Rule

After more food for thought? For those more confident in layering, break the rules by working with bolder contrasts. This uber cool bathroom features the marble sheet mosaic tiles in the Bamboo format, letting them create a statement curved shower enclosure, combining them with an unexpected partner in crime on the floor – two-tone granite-effect tiles. A marriage nobody saw coming but one that seriously works and proves that layering can be done with fewer (but more impactful) pairings.

Next up, another example that features just two styles of tile but with great layering prowess in a dining room no less. Stucco strikes again with the raw plaster tones of Tan going onto the walls before flowing into a chequerboard floor that mixes in the darker Umber colourway. The final layer of contrast comes from the surprise appearance from Kinfolk in Ebony. A contemporary character that fits like a glove in the space thanks to the common colour ground it shares with Stucco in Umber.

And finally, here’s proof you can layer with as little as one shape and style of tile as exemplified by our new Marlborough tiles. The Natural Parquet takes to the floor before that same rectangular form gets stacked vertically in our new Green Gloss finish and White Gloss finish to create a neat line of division in the same way that a skirting board does.