INTERIORS : Tile’s in Style : With New Looks and Uses, Bold Colors and Concepts, It’s Fashionable, Not Square

Those who still think of tile as square have yet to see the latest in tile designs.

At the Tile Bath Concept Studio in Corona del Mar, there are tiles shaped like tropical fish and whimsical cherubs, tiles adorned with sculptures of sea horses and sand dollars, parrots and giraffes.

“We try to do things nobody else has done,” says Richard Goddard, who owns the studio with his wife, Karen Bishop.

Thus, when a Laguna Beach man asked the pair to design a shower enclosure to look like an English telephone booth, they obliged. They covered the enclosure in red tile, adding a hand-painted tile telephone below the shower nozzle and realistic-looking graffiti on the walls. Another bathroom in the home depicts a jungle scene, with birds and monkeys that stare at visitors from the leafy walls.

Goddard and Bishop decorated their own home with white tiles, relying on molded shapes and unique textures for interest.

“Artisans are coming up with tiles that are a lot more fashionable and functional,” Goddard says.

Tile has gone from plain, utilitarian squares used mainly on kitchen counters and in the bath to decorative mosaics for the entire home.

“I used to think of tile as your basic oatmeal-colored 4 1/4-by-4 1/4 square. Now tile really is an art form,” says Mike Farrell, manager of the Walker Zanger tile showroom in Costa Mesa.

His showroom displays tiles of all sizes hand-painted with tulips, floral and fruit garlands, winding ribbons and twisting vines. Some tiles form murals of exotic birds in ornate cages, baskets of flowers, bowls of fruit and bouquets of flowers. In addition to squares, one can find colorful parallelograms, rectangles and octagons that fit together like giant jigsaws.

There are tiles for every taste and budget. At Walker Zanger, tiles cost from $5 a square foot for a plain white ceramic tile to $90 apiece for a 9-by-9-inch hand-painted hummingbird scene.

The showroom’s finer tiles feature sculptures of cats, birds, roses and seashells, delicately painted on white porcelain. The tiles cost $75 apiece, and some customers buy a single tile to frame.

“They’re actual works of art,” Farrell says. The cats look almost lifelike, with their bright yellow eyes and fine whiskers. A feather mingled with seashells on a sandy background looks real enough to blow away.

“People are discovering there’s a lot more to tile,” Farrell says. “The industry is coming of age.”

The tile industry’s growing diversity could be seen at the colorful International Tile Exposition, held last month at the Anaheim Convention Center. There, 600 exhibitors from all over the world showed off their latest tile designs.

With improved techniques for making tiles, the manufacturers have found they can turn designs from a wide range of sources into tile.

The Meredith Collection Inc., based in Canton, Ohio, borrows patterns from Amish quilts such as Jacob’s ladder and makes them out of tile. Fourth Bay, another Ohio-based tile maker, researches English tile from the 1800s to reproduce in its line of Victorian tile.

The United States Tile Co. displayed a tile mural reproducing the poster for “Gone With the Wind.”

Other vendors showed off tiles textured with granite, marble and 24-karat gold plating. Some designs were inspired by fabric, including paisleys, plaids and stripes.

Goddard and Bishop look everywhere for inspiration-- fabrics, magazines, books and even a dress or sweater worn by a passer-by. The pair created a denim tile that resembles a patch from a pair of blue jeans. A white tile with a crisscrossed texture was copied from a cotton woven bedspread. Another tile features the imprint from a cable knit sweater.

“A lot of people look at these and ask, ‘How can you do that out of tile?’ ” Goddard says. “But any architectural design can be done out of ceramic.”

In an age of fiberglass tubs, linoleum floors and Formica kitchen counters, people have come to appreciate tile for its color and texture. “People are going back to real things--the natural materials and handmade goods,” Bishop says.

There are three types of tile: glazed, unglazed and quarry tile. In manufacturing glazed tile, the surface of the tile body is first coated with color and then a glass-like substance that serves to seal the porous clay. Glazed tiles are the softest and easiest to cut.

In unglazed tiles, the color permeates the material. The density of the clay makes them extremely stain resistant. Porcelain tiles are unglazed tiles that are the least likely to stain.

Quarry tiles are more porous, and, therefore, more likely to stain. Polyurethane sealers are often used to protect quarry tile, though it may not be desirable to use them on surfaces where food is prepared. For kitchen countertop installations, it’s usually best to use a latex wall and floor tile adhesive.

Grout is used to seal the joints between tiles. It is available in powdered form. There are cement-based grouts and those made to be mixed with a latex solution. Both types are suitable for countertops, though the latex-based grout resists mildew and deterioration somewhat better. Grout color can either blend or contrast with the tile to create varied effects. The grout should be tested first to be sure it won’t stain the tile surface, particularly with unglazed tiles.

Once Americans installed tile mainly in the bathroom. If they used it in the kitchen, it was only on the counters. Now they’re putting tile all over the house, according to David Knox, director of the board of governors of the International Tile Exposition. In the past decade, the use of tile has more than doubled in the United States, Knox says.

People are putting tile on their floors, walls and ceilings, all over the kitchen and bath, around the fireplace, and in rooms not traditionally associated with tile--such as bedrooms, dining rooms and entry ways.

“People used to do a row of tile above the tub or sink. Now they do the whole wall,” says Bob DeMuth, who owns DeMuth Inc. in Napa, Calif., with his wife Joyce. “Tile has become a wallpaper substitute.”

The DeMuths, who visited Orange County during the tile expo, make hand-painted tile, including mosaics of potted flowers and vegetables seen at Walker Zanger.

“Tile used to be utilitarian and ordinary,” DeMuth says. “Now it’s become a way of decorating. People order their tile to match their fabrics.”

Homeowners have great flexibility in the way they approach a tile project.

They can go to a home decorating store and drive away with boxes of tile to install themselves, or they can enlist the services of tile experts such as Goddard and Bishop, who will oversee the job from start to finish.

The couple will come up with a concept for the project, have sketches drawn up of the rooms and make sure the tile is installed properly, at a cost of about $8 to $50 a square foot depending on the tile. They have spent as long as two years working with clients on big projects.

“Installing tile is a lot trickier than many people think,” says Bill Klein, president of the nonprofit Ceramic Tile Industry Action Group in Seal Beach.

“I’ve done tile work on my own, and you can get in over your head.”

As a good first step, he recommends talking to the tile distributor about the choice of tile. Tiles have different finishes which work best in different areas of the home. For instance, tiles with shiny finishes might be too slippery to place in the bottom of a shower, according to Goddard.

Those who aren’t sure they can handle the installation themselves shouldn’t try to scrimp on the hired labor.

“You don’t want it to look bad, because it’s not cheap to do over,” Klein says.

He advises enlisting only licensed contractors for the job. Most distributors provide a list of recommended contractors.

Homeowners who hire an incompetent worker to lay the tiles can end up with tiles that are poorly spaced, with wide or narrow channels in between each square, or tiles that are uneven so the floor can have a wavy effect.

“A lot of mechanics just throw this stuff in,” Farrell warns. “One of the mistakes people make is they’ll go for the low bid. When using first-class products, you don’t want to cut costs. A contractor can make the job look wonderful or make it look like garbage.”

For more information on tile, homeowners can pick up pamphlets published by the Ceramic Tile Industry Action Group on “Selecting the Right Tile,” “Installation,” “Care and Maintenance” and “Selecting a Professional Installer,” available at most tile distributors.

The pamphlets can also be ordered by writing the Ceramic Tile Action Group, 13001 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, Calif. 90740, or by calling (213) 598-8808.