Textured Tiles, Fluted Looks, Porcelain Panels, and Earthy Tones at Coverings

Posted by TOA's Blog Team on Jun 19th 2025

What stands out at Coverings for Anna Robinson, Assistant Store Manager at the Fort Myers location of Tile Outlets of America? Definitely, textured tiles, fluted looks, porcelain panels, and earthy tones... as she describes in this article.

Textured Tiles, Fluted Looks, Porcelain Panels, Earthy Tones and More at Coverings

Anna Robinson attended her first Coverings, and came away with ideas, inspiration, and amazement. She took many photos to capture the range of tile styles, designs, and patterns she observed during her visit.

For example, in the image below you see a variety of subtley textured wood look porcelain plank tiles, including one in a herringbone pattern.

Anna, what were your overall impressions of Coverings?

I was very impressed with Coverings. Many booths did a phenomenal job putting together displays to showcase their products.

The displays invite you to touch the product as well as visually examine them.

In the image below, you see large wood look panels with a strong vertical pattern. Notice the different format sizes displayed on the wall on the right.

What were your expectations? Did Coverings meet them?

I knew based on previous experience attending trade shows that I would need to be sure to bring my walking shoes.

I was so excited and in my zone, that surprisingly, I could have kept walking Coverings for at least a few more hours. It absolutely exceeded my expectations.

I was blown away at the size of some of the booths and how they utilized almost every inch to showcase their products - floors and walls display product ideas, with combinations of patterns and tile formats.

I was pleased with the time that some of the vendors took to explain the products and their lines. The recognition that Tile Outlets of America received was great as well.

The vignette below stunningly contrasts a textured monochrome horizontal pattern with a smooth tile. Notice the size of the panels. Fewer large sized tiles mean fewer grout lines.

What were the most interesting products you saw and why?

Textured Tiles & Fluted Looks

Some of the most interesting products that I saw were textured and/or fluted. I personally love these looks and boy were there plenty of options to choose from.

These looks provide depth and give you design options other than just flat looks.

There were also a few sugar glaze tiles that were gorgeous.

What surprised you at Coverings?

The 3D prints. There were quite a few that looked as though they would have some texture, but they were totally flat.

Notice the zigzag pattern and the veining in the white.This pairs perfectly with the marble look wall panels.

What trends did you notice?

I noticed that there were fewer greys and more browns. I also noticed lots of small format subway tiles and textured tile.

There were also many options in the gauged porcelain panels category.

Colors

The 70s are back. Lots of earthy tones like mustard yellow, rust, burnt orange, and browns showstopper throughout Coverings.

There were abstract size options for mosaic that were shown throughout.

Patterns

I saw new takes on classic veining. There were also plenty of traditional options shown as well.

Styles

I noticed many options where various looks were combined. For example, a marble look with brass or veining going in nontraditional ways as you see in the image below.

Here you see examples of different subway tile colors, patterns, and textures.

Textures

There were more textured tiles available then what I had imagined.

This trend is growing, and I was very pleased to see more options for fluted tiles in a variety of colors and sizes.

I noticed options with a subtle texture, which is a nice choice to offer those who would like to introduce texture while still keeping a timeless design

Details

Whether using porcelain panels, which means fewer grout joints, or utilizing rectified tiles in order to get smaller grout joints, the theme was definitely less grout.

>> What is Rectified Tile and Why Does It Matter for Your Tile Installation?

Did you notice big differences between the Italian, Spanish, American, and other pavilions?

I actually did not notice this that much.

I know that Coverings was broken up into country, but during the first half of the day I did not notice any difference. I was highly impressed by several of the Turkish booths. Their displays and tiles were quite impressive.

I especially liked the tiles in these booths with sugar glaze, as well as their take on vintage tiles that still had a very modern look

Panels with textured patterns and without.

What was similar?

Throughout Coverings was the theme of 70s colors.

Almost every booth had some sort of product with this color combination. This did not change no matter what country you were in within Coverings.

Michael Jackson in tile at Coverings.

How will attending Coverings help you with your role in the store?

Attending Coverings gave me additional insight into tile product trends.

This helps when assisting in selecting mosaics to stock in store and offering my opinion on tile selections. It also helped to broaden some of my design ideas. Seeing the selections that were used and how they were displayed will assist when I am designing displays throughout the store.

Notice the combination of geometrically patterned wood look tile with porcelain panels and planks.

Any other observations you'd like to share?

I was extremely touched that one of the booths, World Sales Group, had a sign hung on their booth that paid tribute to a beloved coworker, Kate Spencer, whom the tile industry lost and is still mourning.