You’ve always loved variety — and now it’s time to bring your love for beyond-the-ordinary into your home with a tile and wood floor combination.
While the results of a combination floor can be stunning, the reality is there’s much more to combining wood and tile flooring than meets the eye. If it’s not done right, you can either be left with a trendy floor that’s the envy of every visitor — or an interior design nightmare that leaves you longing for basic.
In this article, we share expert tips — gleaned from 30+ years of experience in the flooring business — for how to combine tile and wood flooring so you’ll have the knowledge you need to have the perfect combination floor.
Table of Contents
- How Do You Blend Wood and Tile Floors?
- 7 Steps on How To Combine Tile and Wood Flooring
- 5 Creative Tile and Wood Flooring Combination Ideas
- Achieve a Successful Hardwood Floor and Tile Combination With Help From Interior Motives Flooring
How Do You Blend Wood and Tile Floors?
There are multiple ways to blend wood and tile flooring the wrong way — and equally as many ways to do it right. The key is having a well-thought-out plan.
Depending on the layout you desire, designing a combination floor typically isn’t for the faint of heart. If you want to save yourself the stress — and the possibility of a flooring layout gone awry — this is a great time to call in the professionals.
The team at Interior Motives Flooring is passionate about designing and installing a tile and wood floor combination that matches your tastes and your home’s aesthetic.
Family-owned and operated, Interior Motives Flooring is a full-service carpet and hard flooring store led by father and son team, Dave and Bradey Krone.
With a combination of 31 years of experience, we have a wealth of fresh new tile and wood floor combination ideas to give you a versatile offering of taste and know-how. Our goal is to provide the level of care and attention you’d expect from a small-town company — while offering the wide selection and pricing you’d receive from a big box store.
Connect with us today for your free estimate!
7 Steps on How To Combine Tile and Wood Flooring
Here’s a general overview of the step-by-step tile and hardwood flooring installation process.
Step #1: Plan Your Design
When you’re planning to mix tile and wood flooring, creating your design is the first step. Clip pictures from magazines of designs you love and look online for ideas — Pinterest is a great resource.
Once you have an idea of what you’re wanting, there are a few questions you’ll want to consider, including:
- What’s your budget?
- Where is your tile and wood floor combination going to go?
- Is there a specific purpose for the tile and wood combination?
- How much maintenance are you willing to do? (Part of combining flooring materials is maintaining a smooth and clean transition.)
Step #2: Choose Your Flooring Materials
This step is likely one of the most important ones to get right if you hope to achieve the perfect tile and wood floor combination.
Visit your local flooring company to gather together samples of materials you like to see how they might look in your space. It’s about creating harmony and choosing materials to complement each other.
When you’re selecting your flooring materials, consider the:
- Color
- Finish
- Texture
- Shape
- Pattern
As you’re considering a tile and wood floor combination pattern, it’s critical to select flooring materials whose depths are as close to the same as possible. If the two materials you choose have different thicknesses, it can create a tripping hazard, lose its aesthetic appeal, and wear unevenly.
At Interior Motives Flooring, our process is built to make your flooring experience as stress-free and efficient as possible, providing you with samples, fast estimates, and seamless installations.
Get in touch with us today to view samples or schedule a free estimate.
Step #3: Measure the Space
If you’re brave enough to attempt a DIY tile and wood floor combination, you’ll need to take meticulous measurements of the area where the flooring will be installed. This way, you’ll be able to purchase the right amount of flooring materials to plan for transitions.
Step #4: Choose Your Transition Solution
When you’re using tile and wood flooring together, creating a smooth transition between the flooring types requires careful consideration.
Choosing just the right transition solution is a must if you want to create a cohesive look throughout your space — while also ensuring the maximum in safety and functionality.
For instance, transition strips can be a great option for blending tile and wood floors by merging the height difference between the two. Not only does creating a smooth transition make it easier to move from one area to another, it also significantly impacts the overall practicality and design of your flooring.
Transition solutions for combining wood and tile flooring include:
- Transition strips
- T-molding
- Reducer strips
- Flush transitions
Step #5: Prepare the Subfloor
The next step in creating a tile and wood floor combination is ensuring the subfloor underneath both materials is clean, smooth, and level. This ensures the stable foundation necessary for your new floors to look their best and stand the test of time by preventing:
- Cracking tiles
- Creaky wood planks
- Uneven wear
Don’t underestimate the importance of this foundational work. It’s essential in providing the seamless integration of tile and wood.
Step #6: Lay the Flooring
You’ll want to begin by laying one type of flooring and complete installing it before you move on to the next. This will help you manage the workflow and ensure each type of flooring and section is properly installed.
Step #7: Seal and Finish
The last step is to seal your tile and wood floor combination by applying the proper sealants and finishes to each type of flooring. This step will help to ensure your new combination floors maintain their beauty for years to come.
If you’re in the market for wood and tile flooring installation, look no further than Interior Motives Flooring. Contact us today to book a free estimate.
5 Creative Tile and Wood Flooring Combination Ideas
#1: Versailles Pattern
Inspired by the Palace of Versailles, the Versailles pattern is a unique, yet traditional look.
This classic flooring design combines triangles, squares, and rectangles cut into wood floorboards and fits together like a puzzle to form a giant square.
#2: Big Square Tiles and Wood Borders
If you want to make a statement in your home’s entryway or make it appear larger than life, try a flooring design that includes one or more lightly colored, large square porcelain tiles with dark wood frames surrounding them.
This tile and wood floor combination looks especially stunning in big rooms such as dining rooms, ballrooms, or meeting rooms.
#3: Hexagon Tile and Wood Pattern
The hexagon tile and wood floor combination pattern is often utilized in kitchens and bathrooms. The contrast is the perfect way to combine a natural and creative look for your space.
Due to the obvious amount of measuring and cutting required for the hexagon shapes, the prep can be labor-intensive and time-consuming if you choose to do it on your own.
#4: Use Tile as an Accent Border
Achieving this look is fairly straightforward — a tile pattern is used as a border to surround the hardwood flooring in the center.
This hardwood floor and tile combination option can be as simple as using a single color of tile, or you can up the game by using a fun pattern of colorful tiles to create a visually appealing separation that adds a unique touch to your overall flooring design.
#5: Transitional Flooring
A transitional floor is a combination of two different flooring types in the same room. This design is especially popular in areas like kitchens and bathrooms but also looks great in big, open-plan spaces to create separate zones.
Transitional flooring patterns come in all sorts of fun shapes and layouts, and the results can be stunning. A few examples of transitional flooring include:
- Hexagon tiles to wood planks
- Herringbone tiles to wood planks
- Standard edging strip
- Hexagon tiles to wood floor
- Marble and wood bathroom planks
- Parquet flooring tile
- Diamond tile and chevron floor plank
- Basketweave tile and wood
- Tiled dormant
- Mermaid tiles to wood floor
Achieve a Successful Hardwood Floor and Tile Combination With Help From Interior Motives Flooring
If you’re ready to delve into the world of combination flooring, the professional team at Interior Motives Flooring would love to help!
We specialize in wood and tile flooring installation and have the skills and know-how it takes to take your project from conceptualization to the combination floor you’ve been dreaming of.
Interior Motives Flooring caters to all types of flooring projects, including:
- Residential home remodels
- New construction
- Corporate offices
- Apartment complexes
- And everything in between
Get started today on creating a combination wood and tile floor you’ll be proud to show off with Interior Motives Flooring.
