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Design Dilemma
emmelinewe

Flat or bevelled metro tiles?

Emmeline Westin
7 years ago

You opt for tiling. You progress even further and decide that metro tiles are right for you, and then you have to decide whether you want to go for a flat or bevelled finish. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Which metro tile finish would you choose (or have chosen)? And why?

Featured Answer
  • Sarah Cameron
    7 years ago
    Don't you think these metro tiles make a room feel rather like a public lavatory?

    Comments (37)

    • frmawson
      7 years ago

      Hi Emmeline Get some samples (you pay then take them back - that's Topps Tiles if \i remember rightly/and/or support a local tile shop - I did with the bathroom tiles), see what a friend's done; visit some neighbours ie with the same size kitchen; see the tiles in different light/time of day/evening - I went for a light beigy bevelled shiny - looks good. If in doubt go for LIGHT. You're right - there is too much choice! Am in the lounge now - more decisions!

    • Daisy England
      7 years ago
      Neither. My pet hate is metro tiles. Vile things.

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    • Laura
      7 years ago
      Defintaley flat! My kitchen has been 'finished' for 18 months but I can only find the colour tile I like in bevelled. I'll keep waiting to find what I want
    • PRO
      User
      7 years ago

      I like both.. I think the flat type is great for hygiene and it probably serves this purpose in the kitchen picture you've chosen. Also the bevelled style is very tactile and gives a much warmer feel to the tile, which is great in a bathroom environment.. Both rooms are beautiful.

    • tamp75
      7 years ago
      I'm with Daisy & Sarah. Hate the things. Public toilets or London Underground style, but that's just my opinion. However, if for any odd reason I had to have them, I'd go for flat with a nice crackle glaze which kind of detracts from the public places style.
    • louisecampbell09
      7 years ago
      but alot of people like the London underground look. I do. And I prefer flat faced tiles
    • suesigngirl
      7 years ago

      I don't like these tiles much as they look a bit 'public lavatory' in style. My son has some bevelled soft grey metro tiles in his kitchen and they took a lot longer to fit due to the need to cut some to fit around sockets etc. He wasted quite a few trying to make them look neat and straight where the cut edge met the sockets due to the changing depth of the tile surface.

    • apismalifica
      7 years ago

      Not keen on metro tiles, but if anything, flat

    • Rosie B
      7 years ago
      Surely it's time to move on from these ghastly toilet tiles. So many sheep following a style.....and manufacturers must be thrilled to be able to overcharge for such basic tiles. Where has individuality of design gone?
    • Daisy England
      7 years ago
      I'm just glad I'm not the only person who detests these things.
    • hunnyshooga
      7 years ago

      I like both however if you go flat you can always change it up by using Tile Decals .....



      ..

    • Joanna Biddolph
      7 years ago

      Neither. They always make me think of public loos. I prefer large tiles. Very large. And I like to place them landscape, not portrait - if they aren't square.

    • msclelluk
      7 years ago
      Beveled as they add more texture @ the light bounces around more ... I like them !
    • Lisa Herring
      7 years ago

      flat....got them in my bathroom in black mixed with chrome and black glass mosaic tiles.....looks fab

    • Mel Brady
      7 years ago
      Pointless comment from Daisy! Anyway I think they're lovely, maybe choose which may be easier to clean in the long run!? Good luck with your project!
    • Tidy Towers
      7 years ago

      Think about something else altogether. I have flat cream metro tiles behind my cooker and plan to have them behind my sink too, but you don't see them on new pictures of kitchens anymore on Houzz and I am almost regretting them..... Don't know what's "next," square tiles look bathroomy to me, brick bond square tiles hurt my eyes somehow.

    • geloma
      7 years ago

      I prefer the flat, and like the look.

    • Jasmine Cat
      7 years ago
      l think both look great, but flat tiles are much easier to keep clean. Bathrooms are for pampering yourself, not housework!
    • PRO
      fraser bathrooms
      7 years ago
      Metro tiles are cheap look cheap and are the work of the devil. I instal bathrooms for a living and refuse to fit them.

      For kitchen splashbacks there are some small tiles with a more rustic look and cracked glaze that do look good.

      Last house I worked in had white metro tiles in kitchen totally ruined the look
    • Darren
      7 years ago

      I agree that white beveled gloss metro tiles with dark grout can look a bit like a public toilet.... however flat matt, or flat glass metro tiles can look fantastic.

    • Lisa Herring
      7 years ago

      fraser bathrooms , I wouldn't want you doing work for me then....at the end of the day its the customers choice not yours....you sound very unprofessional

    • PRO
      fraser bathrooms
      7 years ago

      It's about not doing the customer a disservice. I have only once had a customer dissatisfied with a job I have done but only because she wouldn't take advise from someone more experienced and only realised how bad her her ideas were when she saw it finished.

      I fitted these things in the 80's and know what better options are available now.

    • PRO
      Charlie Howe Design
      7 years ago

      Like both I think

    • J C
      7 years ago
      I'm with Lisa on this..... It's personal choice...... I love them and really like their retro underground references. I am certainly not a sheep in my design choices, I simply go for what I like....... There are many design arrangements which I'm not fond of and would never have in my own home but I accept that design preferences are individual, and enjoy looking at how other people put things together. And to see if I can interpret them in a different way. Wouldn't it be so boring if we all liked the same things!
    • PRO
      Room Revolution Ltd
      7 years ago

      I think it would have to be the 'bevelled tile', it reflects lights at different angles and looks more chic!

    • Tracy Sidaway
      7 years ago
      I'm going for the slightly larger rustic ones in our bathroom, I have the bevelled in my kitchen and I love them.
    • annarocks123
      7 years ago
      It has to be the flat tiles, if only because the beveled ones take much longer to clean and I am very lazy. Also with dark grout, for the same, lazy reason
    • Annalie Evans
      7 years ago

      Agree they are soooo boring now, you know when a fashion goes on too long... ?'scandi' style anyone??! Lol

      Still, I can't help it!! I am totally in love... these have just gone in my en suite even so. I have taken my own twist on them tho... very vintage feel in a dove grey shade and totally crackle glazed surface, although I guess they are flat rather than bevelled for the sake of this discussion. And they look amazing!! even if I do say so myself :)

    • Joanna Biddolph
      7 years ago

      Oh yes, 32lolo. I am sick of Scandi style. Where's the character? As with greige or anything safe ...

      Can you post a pic of your en suite so I can see if the variation appeals more than the standard do?

    • Tracy Sidaway
      7 years ago
      32lolo, can I ask if you were advised to seal the tiles? I have looked at some but it said the crackle glazed needed to be sealed in wet areas?

      I personally don't follow 'fashion' in home decor, I prefer more traditional styles. I know everything has a shelf life but I wouldn't have the time or money to be constantly staying up to date with the latest trends.
    • bouncebob
      7 years ago
      If you do metro tiles you should go for the real thing: bevel edged!
    • Chris Goodchild
      7 years ago

      I am not crazy about metro tiles as they look too busy to me but they do have their uses as splash backs or to tile a nichewhere a larger tile woud look ridiculous.

      My house had (until last week) an extremely ugly corner fireplace and breast piece up to the ceiling which I have ripped out. For now I am going to use the cast iron log burner with a metal chimney, to reflect some of the heat back and to make a feature of it I will line the walls with metallic metro tiles but have yet to settle on exactly how.

      There are oversized metro tiles available that look a lot better than the standard brick size which I prefer.

      As an alternative, in the past I have used metros diagonally within a frame using dado tiles for small areas as a feature.

    • Caroline Foreman
      7 years ago
      Bevelled, I have a 1930s style bathroom and have them in light green with pencil border and they bring a touch of old and new and look amazing
    • mimsey1706
      7 years ago
      Bevelled just updated our kitchen
    • monicaopal5
      7 years ago

      Ah metro tiles are escaping the underground to live more stylishly in our homes!!! Think industrial, vintage eclectic and just about everything else in between.. And Im just about to update my kitchen from terracotta tiles to lovely dark grey metro bevelled tiles. I could have opted for the flat but they are exactly that... FLAT. The bevelled edge gives you a two dimensional look and if you choose a different colour grout changes the look again to a more contemporary feel.


    • Lisa Herring
      7 years ago

      chris...they only look busy if you use a contrasting grout colour......use the same shade colour grout as the tiles and you wont go googly-eyed :)

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