Indoor outdoor tiles are without doubt one of the best ways to harness the beauty of open plan living. With the lines between inside and outside space blurring ever more, and homeowners seeking to connect lounge to lawn with a seamless transition, the flooring you choose to connect these spaces has become more important than ever before.
We’ve sourced some of the very best modern outdoor tile collections, all of which have a co-ordinating indoor tile. These are high-end Italian porcelain tiles without the high end price tag as we work closely with manufacturers we know and trust to deliver on quality and design time and time again. So with Spring around the corner, let’s take a stroll through all the reasons you might want to consider indoor outdoor tiles and why porcelain is a superb material for both inside and outside the home. Let’s learn more about our indoor outdoor tiles for 2024.
There a whole heap of options for ground floor flooring of course. From natural wood to LVT, carpet to natural stone and more. But nothing delivers on that seamless continuity like porcelain. That’s because porcelain, unlike most other materials, can be used both inside and outside the home.
Porcelain is a non-porous material. To be named porcelain, a tile must have less than 0.05% porosity. In other words, porcelain is frost resistant – and stain resistant too. Of course, externally there is the weather to contend with. That’s why generally outside porcelains have a different surface finish to indoor tiles. So an outdoor tile will tend to have a rougher surface than an indoor tile ie a surface with a little more grip so it is more effective against users slipping in wet weather conditions. In addition, porcelain is fade resistant so the sun is also no contest for this material – the rays beating down on your porcelain tile won’t fade the colour.
Internally, porcelain will have a more matt finish – so more of a soft or silky feel. The beauty here is that whilst the indoor and outdoor tile have different finishes and possibly different thicknesses (most outdoor tiles are 2cm thick whereas most indoor tiles are thinner eg maybe 8mm, 9mm or 10mm thick), the two tiles look like each other and that means you can run the tiles across indoor and outdoor spaces and create a seamless flow from in to out.
Here’s a good example. Take our Poise Pebble – part of our new collections for 2024. This is a beautiful Italian stone effect porcelain in a lovely large 800 x 800mm format. The 9mm thick tile is in a matt finish for inside so perfect for use across entire ground floors and walls if necessary. Outside Poise Pebble is a modern outdoor tile in 2cm thickness with an Antislip finish to the surface.
Porcelain indoor outdoor tiles lend themselves particularly well to new builds and extensions where thresholds and bifold or sliding doors are flush. The developments in door sets has been nothing short of miraculous over the past few years and they are opening up space like never before. The trend for inside outside living is all about bringing the outside in aswell as taking the inside out.
Think of it as creating an internal room externally. The beauty of porcelain is that you can do just that. Unlike slate or limestone which lend themselves to a more rustic feel, porcelain is about creating an architectural flush finish to spaces. Whether you are creating a kitchen area, a snug lounge, dining space or relaxation pod, porcelain tiles give you the crisp, clean surface on which to build your additional room.
Well placed furniture, planters and canopies all add to the feeling of an additional room and with furnishings now designed for outdoor spaces you really can let your imagination run wild.
New for 2024 – a beautiful new slate effect collection
Are all indoor outdoor tiles created equally? The short answer is no. Choosing a high-quality Italian porcelain is not just about look, it is also about adding value to your home. Our Italian inside and outside tiles are made from the highest-quality ingredients, they are highly durable and resistant to stains, scratches and moisture.
They also have a high degree of colour matching for continuity. It is important to remember that the inside tile and outside tile are made differently and therefore in different batches – they are 2 different thicknesses and the outside tile has an additional layer of ‘frit’ added to the surface to deliver on the anti-slip properties so they will never look exactly the same. However, these are about as good as you can get. A high quality Italian porcelain tile does it all – in style.
Alpine Champagne quartz effect tiles with a riven surface for an added dimension
Take our Alpine collection introduced in 2023 and part of our 2024 collection (because we love it and so do our customers). This is a tile that is designed to mimic quartz, not just in look, but in texture too. A clever slightly riven surface brings an added dimension to the collection and ensures these tiles work equally well with both classic or traditional styling as well as a more modern space.
The beauty of a high quality Italian tile is all the tile technology that goes into creating a new tile collection – for example pattern repeats. These are collections with a high number of pattern repeats to ensure your space looks as realistic as possible. So rather than just a few different patterns, these are collections with numerous designs per tile and that brings realism to design.
Outside of any specific requirements you may have your your project, there are five key things to consider when you are choosing a tile.
Design ie the pattern. Think stone effect, quartz effect, a tile that looks like wood, concrete effect, limestone effect – the beauty of great quality porcelain is that technology means all these types of materials can be reproduced in porcelain and they can be used both inside and outside. Things to consider are that some stone effect tiles can have strong veining and that may influence how you lay the tiles eg do you try and run the veining in a direction if possible. Some wood effect tiles may only have a few patterns in which case it can be hard to make them look realistic (again a benefit of choosing a higher quality tile is that there will be more pattern repeats for ultra realism).
Colour – most families of tiles will house several colours in the same collection giving you a number of options. Particularly outside, you may want to zone spaces so opting for a good quality tile with different colours can mean you are able to perhaps colour match your tiles inside to out and then opt for a slightly different colour to create a zoned area.
Size – tile size is key. Budget is a consideration of course as generally larger tiles tend to be more expensive, however, if you can stretch to it, particularly for a larger open plan space, it is worth going large. One consideration is tile collections where you are able to use a larger format tile inside and a smaller format outside. So our Blend collection features 1200 x 1200mm format tiles for inside (as well as a 600 x 600mm format) and outside the 2cm thick tiles are in a 600 x 600mm size. That means from inside to out you can either match sizes or go larger inside and still have a co-ordinated look and feel.
Finish – we have already looked at tile finish and the fact that inside tiles tend to have a different finish to the external tile. But it is really worth considering the overall feel of both tiles. For example, our Tone collection features inside outside tiles where the finish is very similar inside and out. This is because this tile is echoing a micro cement so it is a super modern outdoor tile with a very fine antislip finish and the indoor tile has a very fine matt finish.
Contrast that with our Fusion collection which is akin more to a rustic stone effect where the outside tile has a much more rough hewn surface.
Format – and finally format. Square tiles are less complicated as they are generally laid stacked to keep grout lines flowing. Rectangular tiles can add interest as there are options regards laying patterns. For any tile with a length of longer than 600mm it is important not to overlap the tiles by more than 1/3 when laying them. This is to avoid lippage. Regardless of the quality of tile, a tile will naturally slightly curve along the length.
Tone Concrete echos micro cement and is available in 800 x 800mm tiles inside and outside
The trend for indoor outdoor living has grown steadily over the past few years and continues to grow. It is a way of adding valuable space to your property. Porcelain tiles are not only beautiful to look at they are also incredibly practical.
Porcelain is a brilliantly hard wearing material and as long as they are installed correctly, your tiles should last for years and years. Internally, porcelain is scratch and stain resistant and a breeze to keep clean. Unlike carpet there is nowhere for dust to hide and unlike natural wood, porcelain won’t warp or bend and can be mopped easily to keep it clean.
Outside, porcelain can be jet washed down for ease. It is fade resistant and frost resistant and naturally inhibits the growth of mould or moss on the surface (with the exception of very dank, dark corners with very limited sunlight). It really is hard to beat as a material.
Blend Dove mimics concrete and is available in 600 x 600mm indoor and outdoor tiles
It also lends itself perfectly to pathways adding a crisp, clean feel to spaces. And the real beauty? The outside tiles can also be used to create a solid pathway when laid onto a concrete bed that is fully cured as shown above or as stepping stone pathways where they can be laid directly onto grass or onto gravel externally. So that home office you have always wanted at the end of the garden can be easily connected to your home by means of 2cm modern outdoor tiles in porcelain.
Our exceptional collection of indoor outdoor tiles for 2024 are hand-picked collections from Italian suppliers we know and trust – that means superb quality, well-balanced shades, and beautiful designs. It also means you have the pick of the crop with a great range of modern outdoor tiles all with co-ordinating indoor tiles, so dig in and check out our 2cm porcelain paver portfolio. Click here to start browsing!
Ethos Shore outside porcelain tiles with co-ordinating indoor tiles
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Every day we are helping customers across the UK find tiles they love. And with our unique “order and store“ service we’ve made it easy. So many of our customers use this brilliant service.
We’ve carried out our own home renovation project so we know that programmes can move – we also know that you may have spent weeks or months finding the perfect tiles for your project. With our unique service you can order your tiles with us and we will hold them for up to 2 months free of charge. You can just contact us then when you are ready to call them off for delivery with a few days notice. That means they won’t go out of stock at the last moment and you don’t have to have them on site sitting around until you need them!
All images are subject to copyright. The TilePortfolio specialise in high quality Italian and Spanish Porcelain and Ceramic tiles, in particular large format Porcelains and porcelain tiles for inside and outside. Our carefully curated, stunning tile portfolios are beautifully presented online and supported by a friendly, warm and welcoming service. Visit our centrally based showroom in Kettering, Northamptonshire or shop on line with us at www.thetileportfolio.co.uk. We are here to help and would be delighted to get involved with your project! We always recommend using a professional installer for your project. Please note: We strongly recommend using a professional tiler for your project. Installation requirements may vary depending on the tiles you choose, the fixing products used and the specific conditions. Always check with your tiler regards the suitability of the tiles. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.
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