100 Years of Tile: 1970s Tile Trends

Tile Trends

The 1970s brought us bright colors, bell bottoms, and platforms. When it comes to tile, the ’70s trends still inspire us today. The ’70s were an era of bright and bold colors with unique floral and patterned designs. More is more when it comes to 70s tile trends, and this blog will show you what designs homeowners gravitated towards the most.

Disco Designs

Disco brought bright neon lights into clubs, shops, and homes, and these colors quickly made their way to tile. You could throw a stone and find a tile shop that had every color of tile imaginable. The 1970s were well known for their bright green, turquoise, yellow, orange, and brown tiles.

A 70s kitchen in any home across America would feel groovy as soon as you walked into it. Many had lost the pink and mint tile from the 50s and upgraded to a bright green and yellow 1970s kitchen design.

Standard Tile

Psychedelic Patterns

The psychedelic colors and imagery of flowers, peace signs, and plants were everywhere in the 1970s. The popularity made it easy to bring these images into their everyday life by incorporating patterned tiles into kitchens and bathrooms. The available colors and shapes made it easy for tile designers to create the most ‘far out’ designs of the decade.

The 1970s interior design style had one rule: there is no limit to what you can create. If you can imagine it, you can bring it to life with tile design, and very few homeowners thought of breaking that rule. It indeed was a groovy time to be in the tile industry!

Standard Tile

Ceramic Tile Mistakes

One of the largest trends to make its way out of the 1970s was ceramic tile in the bathroom. Ceramic tile is resistant to stains, and not porous, which is one of the main reasons it became so popular. However, over time we have learned that it does not hold up as well on a floor application as other materials, such as a porcelain tile. To date, ceramic is still a great option for a wall tile, but porcelain is a much better alternative for flooring because it is a stronger and more durable material, much less susceptible to cracking and chipping.

Takeaways

The 70s brought bright colors outside and inside the home. Tile design greatly reflected the fashion and style people loved. From the 70s kitchen to the bathroom, family room and bedroom, psychedelic tile patterns were prominent throughout the home.

  • 1970s interior style design embraced the beautiful bright colors of the latest fashion scene.
  • The hippie lifestyle could be found in exquisite 70s kitchens, bathrooms, and flooring tile patterns, including plants and geometric shapes.
  • Homeowners recognized the benefits of ceramic tile in the bathroom and began to utilize this tile in the floor and shower.

We’ve been in business long enough to remember the 1970s interior style design trend first hand. From tile in the 70s kitchen to the tile flooring and bathroom needs of homeowners, we recall helping design extravagant, one-a-kind designs. Contact us to learn how we can bring some of these 70s styles to life in your home with a modern twist. We look forward to working with you!