Kitchen Tiles Buying Guide

Reading time: 7 minutes

How do I choose kitchen wall tiles?

There’s a lot that goes into kitchen renovation, and kitchen tiling can be tricky - it acts as a focal point, and helps to set the tone and character for the room. Before choosing your kitchen tiles, there are a few things you might need to weigh up. While you may have a few kitchen wall tile ideas, this can be limited by other factors. By breaking these down, life will be made a little easier and you’ll be able to prioritise what’s important for your circumstances.

Budgeting for kitchen wall tiles

This is possibly one of the main priorities for many people when choosing new kitchen tiles. This is especially true when planning to remodel a kitchen, as the knock-on effect of buying tiles can affect other consideration areas, such as how much you can spend on fixtures and fittings for example. However, that’s not to say that opting for the cheapest tiles is always best practice. Spending more on better quality tiles can make for a better investment. For example, spending more on tougher tiles means you’re less likely to pay for replacements over time.

You could consider tiling just a small area - around the sink or cooking space for instance, and paint the rest of the room - this will help cut down the cost.

Placement of kitchen tiles

Where you place tiles will have an effect on the type of tile you choose, and the amount that you order. For a plain wall with no obstructions, this is easy to work out. When you start to think about tiling around corners, in alcoves or other awkward spaces, a lot of cutting is likely to be required, to create the right edges for your needs. This could lead to increased costs, given the extra tiles, as you cut them to shape.

Choosing your kitchen tile style

The design variations of tiles are huge, with everything from plain white kitchen tiles to mosaic kitchen tiles. With all the many designs and types available, where do you begin? Of course, personal taste plays a huge part – if you’re looking for tiles for your own kitchen, you’ll have to live with it! But there’s also the style of the property that needs to be taken into consideration. For modern kitchens, plain grey kitchen tiles can be an ideal match, whereas a terracotta tile might be more suited to a period property.

Types of kitchen tile

As you might imagine, the variety of kitchen wall tiles available is broad enough to accommodate numerous tastes and styles. Here are some of the most readily-available types of kitchen tile available in the UK.

The choices for tiling your kitchen are broad, and you’ll find far more variations and designs than we’ve covered here. We hope this has helped you to choose the right tile for your kitchen. Aside from a range of tiles, at Travis Perkins we have a selection of tiling tools, accessories and adhesive for installation too. 

Disclaimer: The information contained on this page is intended as an overall introduction and is not intended as specific advice from a qualified professional. Travis Perkins aims to avoid, but accepts no liability, in the case that any information stated is out of date.

Always refer to the manufacturer's guidance and installation instructions.