Transitional Tile to Carpet Ideas

Image: Tru Marmi Extra Matte 24 x 48 Large-Format Porcelain Entryway Tile from Arizona Tile

The various patterns and designs throughout your home have to join each other at some point, be it at a transitional wall, a doorway, or when two separate spaces meet. A transition from tile to carpet may seem like a bit of a design challenge, but it can be easily navigated with the proper ideation.

Tile to carpet is one of the most popular transitions, whether it be a room-to-room variation or a deliberate accent to highlight an area in a space. All flooring has its pros and cons because it faces traffic that brings in dirt and moisture from the outside, but also is subjected to soiling from movement inside the home. Strategic placement of proper flooring will ensure less time is spent maintaining and more time is spent enjoying.

Matching Tile and Carpet Colors… or Not

When selecting flooring for conjoining areas, like tile here and carpet there, there is no “rule” for color-matching, or lack thereof. Color-matching, or close to, provides a streamlined, integrated, cohesive look throughout the home or general area. If you prefer a seamless tile-to-carpet transition, remain within one color family for consistency across all materials.

Contrasting colors can be a fun way to add dimension and separation to a space. While the layout may be one large, open-concept area, contrasting colors from carpet to tile offer delineation between areas. However, be mindful not to choose bold colors that clash or that create extreme contrast as this may distract from the design.

Image: Bio Attitude Almond 8 x 48 Wood-Look Porcelain Tile from Arizona Tile

Regardless of which color scenario you choose, undertones are important to recognize. Mixing warm and cool tones can create an unbalanced look. Color palettes are very broad, so you can find shades of color, green, for example, with either warm or cool undertones. If you love warmth within a color, you’re drawn to more beige, yellow, and orange undertones, whereas cool undertones feature a crisper blue, green, or purple. Keeping undertones consistent throughout your design, beyond just flooring, will present balance.

Entrances

The entrance to your home will get dirty, no matter the surrounding environment. Each season comes with its messes: mud in spring, sand in summer, leaves and loose debris in fall, and snow, slush, and salt in the winter. While environmental factors are inevitable, keeping a clean floor doesn’t have to be a challenge if you use proper materials in certain places.

Image: Calacatta Umber Honed 12 x 24 Large-Format Marble Hallway & Bio Attitude Almond 8 x 48 Wood-Look Porcelain Tile from Arizona Tile

The truth of the matter is that carpets get dirty, very dirty. Cleaning carpets can be a timely task, but if you install them away from entrances, the less mess will get tracked onto them. Porcelain and natural stone tile are great options for the landing surface inside any exterior door. Floor tile is extremely durable, easy to clean, and long-lasting with proper care. It’s recommended that floor mats be used inside and outside exterior doorways to help trap tracked-in dirt and prevent dirt from meeting the tile surface. Basic sweeping/vacuuming and mopping with warm water and a pH-balanced cleaner are recommended to maintain a clean, aesthetically pleasing, and long-lasting product. If carpet met you at the front door, any mess that you could easily mop up on tile now becomes a whole carpet shampooing task, and no one wants that.

With that said, where the entry tile ends and the carpet begins, you will want a stylish transition. Flooring professionals can best help with installation guidance and the types of transitions to install, but your task is to evaluate the overall aesthetic you desire for your tile flooring—color, texture, size, etc.

Tile Room Transitions

Aside from entrances, there are other places in a home that would benefit from tile floors, like kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. These areas, especially kitchens and bathrooms willalso get messy, and having a cleanable surface will make the day-to-day much easier. In these spaces, a doorway is the best juncture for tile and carpet to meet. There is a wide variety of carpet-to-tile threshold strips that can appeal to your desired aesthetic.

Image: Sav Wood Tortora 8 x 32 Porcelain Wood-Look Tile Den Floor from Arizona Tile

Choosing Tile

Porcelain tile presents a vast array of products. Many of our porcelain tile series are made to emulate natural products like wood and stone. Some are suitable for outdoor use, and others are best for interior applications. While these products range significantly in appearance, they all provide wonderful accents to the spaces in your home that would benefit from their durability and versatility.

Image: Tivoli Beige 18 x 36 Large-Format Living Room Floor Tile from Arizona Tile

Here are a few of our products that would present wonderful tile-to-carpet transitions:

• Bio Attitude – If not inspected closely, it’s hard to tell this apart from natural wood. This rectified glazed porcelain series captures the truest essence of oak, bringing the rustic beauty of nature indoors.
• Sav Wood – Offering even richer hues than Bio Attitude, this glazed porcelain also presents as natural wood, including nature-like variations in color and tone.
• Tivoli – In five colors, this large format porcelain tile provides a natural travertine stone appearance.
• Tru Marmi – Featuring the same visual characteristics as marble and other natural stones, Tru Marmi gives you all the beauty of natural stone but with the benefits of porcelain.
• Calacatta Umber – Want natural stone? Ok! That’s an option, too. This marble has a clean white background with darker veins and hints of gold.  

All Design Elements

Even the smallest elements of design considerations, like flooring transitions, are important. To see your favorite tile in a space, check out our Just Imagine Tile and Slab Visualizer. If you have questions about our products, please contact us! Be sure to stop into an Arizona Tile showroom or slab yard to meet with our knowledgeable staff and see our great products in person!