FOTB is out there….

Years ago when we had a tile showroom, I found that people often suffered from FOTB – Fear Of Tile Buying. On the one hand, they were excited at all the beautiful designs on show. On the other hand, there was the necessity of Getting It Right. It’s the permanency of sticking them on the walls that’s the problem. What if they don’t like them when they are up? What if fashion changes, and they look like Yesterday’s Tiles? What if they decide to sell the house, and prospective buyers are put off by them?

It seemed that people would very often find something they liked quite quickly, and then spend another hour or so trying to find something better before coming back and buying the one they found in the first place. This was all par for the course, and I enjoyed the time spent attempting to identify what else they might want and introducing them to new ideas. However it did show that people instinctively like what they like, regardless of fashion and trends. And as for selling the house, I used to ask them who was going to enjoy their bathroom more: themselves or some potential buyer years hence?

The problem with playing it safe is that you may miss an opportunity to make a personal statement. I once visited the guest cloakroom in a tile showroom. The tiling was quite plain but when I turned to go out, I found the wall next to the door had been tiled with a quirky little mouse at the bottom, with a long tail going up to the top. I had to smile.

You see, choosing tiles can be fun if you’re motivated by your taste and not trend – although the two may well coincide. And one of the biggest tricks of making an impact on a budget is to buy plain white tiles (large or small) and use impact tiles like Persian Glazes shown in the bathroom above to bring in a zing of colour.

They do not need to be simply used as borders though. Create a piece of wall art for yourself. You never know, it may be your creative masterpiece that sells your house?