With so many different flooring materials on the market, it can be tricky to make the right choice for your property. Obviously, different rooms have different requirements—you wouldn’t put shag carpet in the bathroom—but there are plenty of other factors to consider as well. What colours are you working with? What kind of atmosphere are you trying to create? Do you want the space to feel cosy and welcoming, or cool and modern?

Answering these questions is a good place to start when choosing a new floor. Your instincts may tell you to forget about style and instead look for something that’s hard-wearing and easy to clean, but the good news is that a practical floor doesn’t have to be a plain floor!

Case in point: porcelain tiles are an increasingly popular choice among interior designers, and they require virtually zero maintenance. They’re also available in a huge range of different colours—from bold blacks to classy greys and creamy whites. You can get porcelain tiles that look like limestone, or quartz, or even wood!

And whether you go for the urban concrete look or a classical marble effect, you’ll find that your new porcelain floor offers all sorts of fantastic benefits…

Easy to clean

Tiles and other hard flooring materials generally benefit from being easy to keep clean. They’re also ideal if you suffer from allergies—carpeting can be a haven for dust and pollen, whereas a smooth tile floor gives such allergens nowhere to hide.

Porcelain tiles are especially easy to keep clean because they have a very low porosity (i.e. they’re not very absorbent, even compared to other tile types). Spills and splatters can usually be wiped away without leaving a stain.

Long lasting

As with any flooring product, porcelain tiles vary in quality depending on where you buy them and how much you pay. High-quality tiles can last for a decade or more with almost no upkeep whatsoever.

Porcelain is a highly durable material that’s ideal for all kinds of different environments. Porcelain tiles tend to be quite difficult to damage, and they’re also fairly resistant to UV light, meaning that their colour is unlikely to fade over time.

Match your indoor and outdoor spaces

Many porcelain suppliers offer both indoor tiles and outdoor paving, often in matching colours. This means that you can tile your living room or kitchen in a style that perfectly matches your patio, creating the impression of a seamless segue between the home and the garden.