What are Zellige tiles? 5 ways to use Zellige-style tiles in your home

Perfectly imperfect

Zellige tiles are having a recurring moment in the world of interiors, but if you’re wondering what Zellige tiles are, we’re here to give you the low-down on this trending tile style.

These hand-made Moroccan tiles are traditionally made from natural clay using centuries-old techniques. Their appearance is rustic, unique and flawed, resulting in a perfectly imperfect yet authentic tile. Often, their contoured surface is covered in a rich, gloss-like glaze, allowing them to effortlessly reflect and bounce light around a space. Zellige tiles are available in a wide variety of colours and sizes, making it easy to bring a feeling of rustic elegance into any space in your home.

Originally Zellige tiles hail from Northern Africa, and were produced in lozenge and star shapes. Now, in western homes, they are typically presented as simple squares or rectangles, tessellating together more effortlessly.

Here at Mandarin Stone, our Zellige tiles may not be made of Moroccan clay, but as our Marketing Director Louisa Morgan explains, our Zellige-style tiles play host to even better credentials, making them perfect for the modern home.

“Our Zellige-style tiles offer the rich, handcrafted look of traditional Moroccan tiles, but with all the practical benefits of porcelain. They’re more durable, easier to maintain, and suitable for a wider range of settings, including wet areas. These tiles still capture that beautiful variation in tone, texture, and light reflection that makes Zellige so distinctive.” – Louisa Morgan

If you love the character that Zellige tiles bring to a space, our practical porcelain and ceramic Zellige-style tiles capture all the charm of the traditional tiles, with added durability and ease. Using them in a shower space or behind a bathroom basin is no problem at all.

We’re sharing 5 ways to use these lust-worthy tiles in your home, so read on for inspiration.

1. Bring a tactile touch to your kitchen

To effortlessly achieve an artisanal feel in your kitchen, our Zen natural gloss porcelain tiles offer the perfect backdrop for your interior while adding subtle interest with their light-catching gloss finish.

Louisa explains, “Our Zen Zellige-style tiles bring a unique blend of texture, depth, and character to any space. Hand-crafted in appearance, with subtle surface variations and a rich glaze, they reflect light beautifully, making them perfect for adding warmth and artisanal charm to both contemporary and traditional interiors.”

Paired with simple yet traditional kitchen cabinetry, these off-white Zellige tiles offer a contrasting statement, ideal for a space at the heart of your home.

2. Herald a herringbone layout

Although Zellige tiles are often seen laid in a more traditional brick formation, if you’re opting to use yours over a large expanse of wall, laying them in a herringbone format is a great way to add interest and energy to your space.

We love how our Brixton White Gloss Porcelain tile brings both a modern and artisanal feel to any interior space. This glazed brick porcelain tile introduces an industrial feel with its unique white hue and subtly metallic red base.

Suitable for both floors and walls, we suggest keeping the grout simple and understated with Antique Ivory or Winter White, but we also offer an array of other shades that would complement them just as well.

3. Bounce light in a bijou bathroom

Our ever-popular Hoxton tiles have a Zellige-style tile quality at their heart and offer a way to add rich, jewel-toned colours into your home. With their striking gloss finish, our Hoxton Bottle Green Gloss Porcelain tile uses their lustrous glazed finish to reflect light in even the smallest of spaces, making them perfect for bathrooms of any size.

The Zellige-like tonal variations of the Hoxton tiles make them perfect for a floor to ceiling shower space, where butting them against each other truly lets them make a statement. Ideal for both industrial and contemporary homes, they represent our modern take on a traditional tile.

4. Welcome warmth in an entrance way

There’s something about our Zellige Coral Gloss Ceramic tile that enlivens any interior. Be it their rich, warming colours or subtle gloss finish. Made to closely mimic the traditional Moroccan tiles, these Zellige-style tiles feature deep terracotta tones that would work wonderfully in an entranceway, especially when paired with our Rosso Di Scacchi Tumbled Marble tile on the floor, as shown below.

But if their coral shade doesn’t pull at your heart strings, then we have 11 other beautiful colourways of Zellige tiles in our collection that are suitable for wall application in kitchens, bathrooms or living spaces.

5. Dive into colour drenching

Our final idea for using our Zellige-style tiles in your home is to embrace colour drenching. Colour drenching transforms a space through depth, texture and light using one hue across walls and surfaces to create an immersive, cohesive feel. The handcrafted nature of a Zellige-look tile ensures the finish never feels flat or uniform.

The mint, sage and sea green hues in our Zellige Mint Green Gloss Ceramic tile offer a refreshing blend of soft, organic tones to add character to any space.

Or, for a moodier look, use the navy or black variations to colour drench your space, creating a contrast alongside other tiles or a sophisticated statement when used alone.

Where do you think Zellige-style tiles would work in your home?

For more inspiration and ideas on how you can use our Zellige-style tiles in your home or space, browse our extensive tile range and view real-life My #mandarinstone projects. You can order online or at one of our tile showrooms across the UK. See our lookbook or contact us on +44 (0)1600 715444 to learn more.