Have you noticed? The average American home continues to get bigger! So, too, does the ability of homeowners to tile in style by "going custom".

Tile trends include larger formats of up to 20 inches and a renewed interest in 1 and 2-inch mosaics. In between lies a world of endless color palettes, shapes, sizes and designs ranging from solids to intricate to intriguing.

Most of us know ceramic tile. It often features glazed color surfaces, but it can also be natural terra-cotta. Ceramic tile is performance-rated depending on how you use it. For example, a wall tile is not rated for wear on the floor, so it’s important to make your decor wishes known to your retailer.

Porcelain tile is a much higher-performance ceramic tile with color throughout each piece. Higher temperature firing makes porcelain virtually impervious to environmental swings, especially moisture. That’s why porcelain can be used indoors or out in any climate, just like stone. Porcelain lets you flow your design to a patio, solarium, spa or garden room.

Ceramic and porcelain tile can be smooth or textured, glazed or unglazed. Glaze is a glass-like finish in finishes of matte to high gloss. Durability of a glazed porcelain is a matter of the durability of the glaze, not the body tile.

Right now, the decor trend is to bring the outdoors in. Think of what we can do together with the latest looks in terra-cotta, Italian marble, limestone, travertine, slate or other stone fashions, a weave, herringbone, terrazzo look or mixed media.

What would you think of a room framed in a rich ceramic with an inset of carpet, wood or your favorite area rug?

Stunning installations are a matter of details. World markets continue to open up to us to new tile fashions, and we’ve kept pace with rich selections of borders and decorative pieces like listellos and custom inserts in stone, wood, glass and metal.

With so many choices, Flooring America's interior designers can help you explore your lifestyle as well as your fashion sense.