GROUT COLOUR
Your grout colour choice is just as important as your tile choice; both decisions will have a huge impact on the design of your space.
From a practical perspective, grout determines the durability of tiled spaces. It fills the voids between the tiles and bonds them together, making the tiled surfaces stronger and less susceptible to chipping and cracking. But beyond it’s functional role, it also plays a key role in aesthetics. It determines whether the eye is drawn to the individual tile, or to the overall pattern in which the tile is laid.
The best strategy is to decide if you want the grout to match, complement, or contrast the tile. Each strategy has a different effect on both the tile pattern and the feeling in the space.
MATCHING GROUT
When you match the grout to the tile, this has a tendency to make the space feel bigger and more expansive. One of the most popular combinations we see and use is white tile with white grout – classic, timeless, and clean. For example, the kitchen below by Stadsted with this combination makes the room feel visually larger.
Image via Pinterest.
When picking white grout, we tend to choose a colour that has a slight amount of grey in it. This is to combat the yellowing that tends to happen as bright white grout ages over time.
We also use matching grout when we have a beautiful tile, like a natural stone, with a simple layout that we want to show off in a space. When trying to match light grout to a light tile, if you can’t find the perfect match, we suggest favoring a shade slightly darker than the tile rather than one that is lighter than the tile. This will not only be easier to keep clean, it will also recede ever so slightly visually.
An image of our Modern Victorian bathroom; the side walls are completely covered with subway tile, while the back wall is covered with marble tile.
COMPLIMENTING GROUT
We typically employ this strategy when we are working with multiple colours within a tile layout. In this case, it isn’t as important to match one tile as it is to find a colour that works with all of them, which is typically a neutral. In the image below, a bathroom by Medium Plenty Architects, light white grout is used to compliment the mixture of white and off white tiles.
Image via Issatec.
In this kitchen, again by Medium Plenty Architects, a light grey grout compliments the tones of blue tile on the wall. In both of the image examples in this category, the neutral grout colour is lighter than the tile being used.
Image via Remodelista.
CONTRASTING GROUT
This strategy accentuates the pattern of the tile layout, making the space feel busier and more graphic. Contrast grout can be a difficult look to pull off well, and usually only works when the rest of the space stays relatively calm and neutral.
For example, the dark grout between the subway tiles in Ali Cayne's kitchen animates the space and gives it an industrial and vintage feeling. Here, the pattern of the tile has an enormous influence on the overall feeling of the space.
Image via Studio McGee.
This strategy also works well with a mosaic tile, like the penny tile shown in the image below by BAM Interior Design. This backsplash now looks poppy and happy and has a strong graphic presence in an otherwise neutral space.
Image via Adore Magazine.
In this image by Ludici Pevere, the mustard grout next to the forest green tiles is surprising in its elegance.
In conclusion, don't leave the grout choice to your tile installer! Selecting the right grout is just as important as selecting the right tile.
