Hallway Flooring Ideas: Victorian Tiles

Victorian tiles are a perfect way to introduce pattern to your hallway. Whether you wish to sympathetically restore the floor of your Victorian property or would like to add a touch of period style to your modern home, there are patterns and colour combinations to suit every taste.

Defined by their intricately coloured tiles of varying shapes and sizes, when arranged, produce a geometric repeating pattern used to decorate a floor space. These iconic traditional style tiles were made popular in the Victorian era to satisfy their love of all things decorative in the home. These tiles are available in a multitude of patterns, from simple monochrome to colourful displays. Traditionally, they are surrounded with a coordinating border and corner tile to complement the design of the main floor. Check out our beautiful range of borders and corner tiles

When choosing your Victorian style tiles, it is important to consider the shape and size of the room that the tiles will be in. A narrow hallway would benefit from minimal colours suited more to the traditional monochrome black and white combination, high impact in a small space. Whereas, a large or tall ceiling hallway could accommodate a design made up of many colours. Victorian tiles work really well in a hallway when they compliment a feature that is already in the space, for example if you have a stained glass window in your external door, consider tiles that co-ordinate with an accent colour. (see image of Dorset Marron. Photography credit: @gregsonperfecthomes)

Traditionally, Victorians chose to decorate their hallways with patterned tiles with the aim of impressing visitors. First impressions count and a patterned floor can bring instant character to a home. For a cohesive look, choose a prominent colour from your chosen victorian tile and tile the wall in the same colour.

Traditional monochrome creates a distinctive and classic look. A simple chequered board effect can be achieved by laying black and white tiles in an alternate arrangement, teamed with a complementary boarder tile - timeless and stylish! We have a wide range of monochrome tiles to choose from!

The production of Victorian tiles has evolved over time. Historically, the patterned tiles were created layering different colours of clay in a mould to create the pattern within a tile, known as encaustic tiles. This proved to be a very expensive way to produce tiles so, as a more affordable way of production, individual small tiles of various colours, shapes and sizes were then laid in a geometric repeating pattern to create the pattern. In modern times, so that Victorian tiles are more affordable, there are different options to achieve the victorian tile look.

Harrow Grafito features life-like grout joints to give the impression of individual tiles. The benefits are they are much quicker to install that the original style and also with the less hefty price tag.

Our Victorian Octagon tiles are produced on mesh-backed panels to ensure installation is quick and simple for the installer without compromising the beautiful Victorian tile aesthetic.

For the modern home, it is all about simplicity when choosing the finishing touches for a Victorian tiled hallway. The patterned floor is the star of the show so when choosing accessories, be selective. 

A console table is a practical solution to store your car keys and the everyday necessities when you return home. Plants are always a good idea to invite life to your space whilst helping to keep the air clean, and the addition of a table light is a perfect way to add atmospheric light.

Victorian tiles offer not only a practical solution for high traffic hallways, but also create a welcoming entrance to the home. Create an expensive elegant look by choosing a muted colour pallet, opt for neutral coloured tiles for a chic classic look.

Browse our extensive range of Victorian tiles here!