Kitchen Floor Tile Sample Swatches

When renovating or building a new kitchen, selecting the perfect floor tile is one of the most exciting parts of the design process. However, with so many options to choose from, it can also feel overwhelming trying to settle on the right style, color, and texture for your space.

Requesting free kitchen floor tile samples takes the guesswork out of this big decision. Tile manufacturers and retailers offer sample swatches to help you visualize how various tiles will look in your kitchen before committing to a large order. Handling and seeing these swatches allows you to get a feel for the tile's durability, glossiness, and coloring.

Finding Places to Order Free Samples

Many top tile retailers like The Tile Shop, TileBar, and BuildDirect provide free samples straight from their websites. Usually you can request up to 10 samples from each company. Some will even cover the shipping costs for you.

Online Retailer Samples

When ordering samples from an online-only tile store, pay attention to sizing charts and tile thickness measurements. This helps ensure the samples you get reflect what the full-sized tiles will look like. Reputable retailers like The Tile Shop even size their samples to represent the relative thicknesses of the actual tile material.

One benefit of sampling tiles online is that you can access a wider variety of materials, colors, shapes, and designs than what brick-and-mortar showrooms carry. If you have a very particular kitchen floor tile in mind, shopping the online retailers' expansive inventories is likely your best bet.

Physical Store Samples

Visiting neighborhood flooring stores allows you to see and feel tile samples in person. Speak with a sales associate about the specific kitchen look you hope to achieve, and they can advise on suitable tiles for your space.

Provide details on the room's size, floor plan, countertops, cabinets, and appliances. This context helps the store pull the most relevant samples for the overall design and your expected foot traffic. Feel free to request more than one set of samples to compare at home.

Available Kitchen Floor Tile Types

From natural stone to chic metallics, today's design options span far and wide. Review the main kitchen floor tile categories to understand the full range of materials at your fingertips.

• Porcelain: Surprisingly durable and water-resistant. Stain, scratch and fade resistant surface.
• Ceramic: Broad range of colors, shapes, designs. Durable, easy to clean and cost-effective.
• Quarry: Made from natural stone. Provides a timeless, unique look.
• Glass: Adding a glossy, sleek appearance. Easy to clean and naturally moisture resistant.
• Metal: Gorgeous solid metals or porcelain prints. Adds glamorous shine.
• Mosaic: Intricate designs made from arranging small tiles into patterns. Inlays provide visual interest.

There are also more unique kitchen floor tile materials to consider like terrazzo, rubber, vinyl, laminates, bamboo and concrete. Diving into all the groups and their defining characteristics helps guide you on what sample tiles to request.

Most Popular Kitchen Floor Tile Looks

In terms of style, today's trending kitchen floor tile aesthetics include:

• Large format tiles like 12" x 24" for a seamless appearance
• Hexagons and fishscale shapes for visual interest
• Subway tile patterns and mosaics for texture
• Bold colors like navy blue, emerald green and rich brown
• Natural stone aesthetics, from marble to travertine
• Wood-look planks, many with texture for an authentic appearance

Knowing the top trends aids your sample selection process when chatting with retailer reps. Share the styles catching your eye to streamline getting on-trend tiles to test.

Installing and Reviewing the Samples

Once your samples arrive, set up a designated area to place the tiles and compare colors, sheens, textures and shapes. Examining all the options together allows you to determine which complement your kitchen best.

Testing Samples at Home

To judge durability, leave samples on the kitchen floor for a few days so you can walk over them and visually assess wear and tear. Pay attention to how much traction the tiles offer as you step across them with shoes on and bare feet.

Spill a small amount of water on some samples to test absorption rate. See how easily you can wipe liquids off the surface. This simulates dealing with splatters and spills once installed.

You can also place samples against kitchen cabinets and countertops to evaluate if the colors and sheens pair well together. Doing this mini mock-up helps you realistically envision the final look.

Ordering Full Tile Shipments

After you select your favorite from the samples, reach back out to the tile retailer to order the full boxes of tiles needed for installation. Provide them the item name and SKU number listed on your preferred sample to ensure getting the right shipment.

Before slabbing the mass shipment of tiles as your new kitchen floor, lay out a few pieces in the actual space. Verify you still love the look and feel in that permanent setting before applying tile mortar and rolling out the entire order across the floor.

Design Ideas for Kitchen Floor Tile Samples

How you mix and layout your kitchen floor tiles also affects the room's overall aesthetic. Use these pro tips when reviewing tile samples to conceptualize strong design choices for your space:

Complementary Tile Color Schemes

Pull a color or two from wall paints or cabinetry finishes to unify the whole kitchen's color story. For example, if your cabinetry has blue accents, bringing those tones into the floor grounds the scheme. Or select an unexpected pop of color to make the tile a unique focal point.

Group various cream, beige and gray tiles together for sampling to identify the warm and cool undertones. Often the floor tile sets the foundation palette, making getting the right shade crucial.

Tile Layout Patterns

Samples showing patterns like herringbone and chevron make it easier to visualize the organized look. You can also mimic patterns by arranging different sized rectangular tiles in pleasing rows.

For small kitchens, avoid busy or oversized tiles which can overwhelm. Try 4" x 4" or 6" x 6" sizes for better proportions. Cut 12" x 24" tiles on a diagonal to create dynamic diamond effects.

Contrasting tile textures keeps the floor visually intriguing. Pair shiny porcelain with natural stones or encase mosaics within geometric-shaped fields of matte ceramic.

If working with all one material, sample different surface finishes like polished, cleft and tumbled stones. Or introduce grout colors that contrast or match tile hues.

There are endless ways to design kitchen floors that delight using tile samples as guidance. Thoughtfully sorting through and experimenting with physical swatches paves the way to confidently selecting the perfect tile to install.