Feature Article /
Jan 4, 2018

Spanish Tile Makers Forecast 2018 Ceramic Trends

Keraben Remake Series

Keraben Remake Series

One month before the Spanish ceramic tile industry holds its 36th annual trade show, Cevisama, manufacturers are predicting that popular trends for the coming year will include single-color products, vintage looks, and cement-inspired styles.

“When looking at the coming year's innovations as a whole, there is a reverence for clean, honest materials,” according to a press release by Tile of Spain, the association of more than 100 Spanish tile manufacturers.

The macro trends designers, builders, and remodelers can expect in 2018 include monochromatic colors, planks for wood and beyond, well-loved vintage looks, non-rectified edges, encaustic mashups, gauged porcelain in a large format and thin profile, and thick pavers in porcelain.

“Collections are being designed with broad expanses of installations in mind,” Tile of Spain continues. “Tile is not just an accent, it’s literally everywhere indoors and out. The intentional hyper-distressed look of neglect is beginning to give way to a more refined and stately vintage look with a well-loved and maintained feel.”

Here are the trends the Spanish tile industry predicts will be important in 2018:

 

Monochromatic

Gray, white, and black, in that order, remain the top 3 colors for both floor and walls with greige (gray-beige) following as a close fourth depending on the collection’s design inspiration. The only departure from this is in the wood planks collections, where classic wood tones still reign supreme. 

Vives Doney Tile Wall application

Vives Doney (floor) and Vives Mosaico Necci Blanco (wall)

 

Planks

Almost without exception, manufacturers are reporting their top sellers to be planks. This seems to be a truism in most global marketplaces, but certainly is the case in North America, where design and architecture feature so much of the native timber. Stone, metal, and even cotto are finding great success in the planks formats as well. North America tends to favor planks in the 8 by 36-inch size. Still, small formats continue to be a strong choice for wall tile.

 

Natucer wood-look Ceramic wall tile coat and sneakers

Natucer Vintage

 

Rectified Edges

In recent years, North America has been trending away from rectified edges in all looks, with the exception being traditional marble and flowing textured wall tiles in the 12x36-inch or upwards sizes. The luxury market tends to prefer the seamless look a rectified edge provides and don't mind the premium installation costs. Installation costs seem to be the key component to the shift towards a traditional calibrated (non-rectified) tile.

 

Vintage

Heavy rustication and weathering are on the decline this year to make way for more of a vintage, worked-by-hand look. In looks ranging from woods and stones to glazed ceramics and cottos, the overall impression is one of a long life with care and consideration rather than one of neglect and hardship.

Keraben Ceramic Remake Tile Kitchen project

Keraben Remake Series

 

Encaustic Mashups

The strongest look by far remains encaustic cement and other riffs on the style, where multiple patterns are mashed together to create a layered, cohesive look. Most of these looks are offered in the traditional 8 by 8-inch format, but many are printed as decos in a larger format field.

Peronda Harmony Floor TIle WIth Shoes

Peronda Harmony

 

Thin Tile

This relatively new market segment continues to gather steam, especially to reduce grout lines in bathrooms and kitchen countertops. The market is steadily adjusting to this material and it’s becoming more commonplace at point of sale.

Inalco iTopKer Ceramic Tile Kitchen Countertop

Inalco iTopKer for counters, tables, and sinks

 

Pavers Cement Their Position

One of the key components to the rapid growth of this 2-centimeter-thick category is that they are lighter and more consistent to cut than traditional cement pavers. Because of this, the contractor base is actively promoting the switch to porcelain in projects. Previous years saw almost exclusively 24 by 24-inch formats, but this year there was a cornucopia of 16 by 32- and 24 by 48-inch pavers.

El Molino Burela Collection Ceramic Paver Exterior Patio with grill

El Molino Burela