How to Separate Rooms With Tile

Measure your rooms and transfer the measurements to 1/4-inch graph paper. Draw in your room walls, doorways, windows and cabinets. This will give you an overview of the existing space.

Draw a line at the possible division points for the rooms that should be tile and those whose flooring will be different. Consider curves and angles if there is no natural stopping place for the flooring. Look for cues such as corners, changes in the ceiling or other architectural features to provide clues or opportunities to use the architecture to help you.

Measure away from the front door 4 feet for the minimum tile surface necessary for a foyer entryway. This will provide tile inside the front door and cover the door swing. The minimum width is 6 inches beyond the frame of the door on either side.

Divide kitchen flooring based on doorways and eating areas. If your kitchen has a breakfast bar that separates it from the open space, consider tiling underneath the stools. In this way if children drop food, the tile will receive the spills and be easier to clean.

Separate two adjacent tile floors that are made of different colors or types of tile by incorporating a border or trim accent tile of one floor into the other floor. If both floors are old and look awkward placed next to each other, you can find decor tiles that incorporate both tile floor colors. A good tile installer can retrofit accent tiles and borders in one of the floor areas to create a design that blends the two. At the threshold, cut one of the tile floors back to create an opening to install the new pattern between the different floors. This will unify the floors.