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Have you ever been to Coverings, the tile expo held in a large American convention center every year? If so, you know what it's like to walk through booth after booth of tile styles and trends. Now imagine those two or three exhibit halls times about 10 and you have an idea of what Cersaie, the tile expo in Bologna, Italy, is like. There are very few places where you can see what's coming next to our shores sooner or better than you can at this event. Fortunately, Confindustria Ceramica, Italy's tile industry group known here as Ceramics of Italy, brings a group of North American design- ers, architects and journalists to the show and tours them through the brands that export to our nations. These observations are from that trip and, mostly, those brands. You're probably familiar with many of them already from your favorite European tile supplier. SIZE MATTERS When thin porcelain tile first debuted, it was hard to find a slab wider than 48" – not quite large enough to cover a double-width island, designers protested. Since then, production technology has improved considerably and sizes as large as ABK's 64"x128" inches were on display. There is definite- ly a race to produce the largest slab possible, not specifically for islands, but for building facades, shower walls and other installations. Two of the most interesting tile sizing trends had to do with thickness. Thin tile seems to be getting thinner, with Vallelunga's 3-mm. installation looking very much like wall- paper from the side. For outdoor installations, tile is getting thicker. Tagina is even testing a 3-cm. thickness for driveways, which it hopes to release in the next year or two. The most popular wall tile size in the U.S. now, according to a Del Conca spokesman, is 16"x32". Floor tiles are a complementary 32" square, he noted. Without taking a measuring tape across the tour, this definitely looked to be true. WALLPAPER INSPIRATION Many of the tile looks that were on display at Cersaie seem to have gotten their inspiration from wallpaper designs. The retro patterns and murals on display were reminiscent of bygone years, with historic florals and jungle beasts Hot Tile Trends from Cersaie BY JAMIE GOLD, CKD, CAPS Thin tile in increasingly large size slabs, metallic and brick looks, shades of blue, wall- paper and fabric inspirations, dark looks and industrial flair were all on trend at the recent Cersaie in Bologna, Italy. Wood-look tiles trended dark and rustic, offering tremendous realism. This pattern showed up across the show floor. Bricks were a popular pattern at Cersaie, both rustic and contemporary. Photo: Mirage/Ceramics of Italy member company Photo: Ceramica Fioranese/Ceramics of Italy member company Photo: Ceramica Fioranese/Ceramics of Italy member company Thin porcelain tile slabs keep getting larger. Photo: Casalgrande Padana/ Ceramics of Italy member co. Photo: 41zero42/Ceramics of Italy member company Tile with wallpaper looks was a popular trend at the show. 32 Kitchen & Bath Design News • December 2016 TREND SPOTTING