Thursday, March 6, 2026 from Floor Covering Weekly

The International Surface Event (tise) 2026 was a window into what tile suppliers will be offering this year. Here is a look at style and design trends identified.

Bigger, Bolder Formats

Large format tile still reigns supreme, treasured for its appealing lack of grout lines and increasingly attractive visuals.

Said Shelly McNeal, director, products and merchandising for Arizona Tile, “We’re really focusing in the next few months on the larger format of 5˝ × 48˝.” Of Arizona Tile’s offerings, Authentic Lux was on the showroom floor, alongside soothing travertine looks, pops of color and wood looks.

Terracotta looks with tactile components from the Cotto Toscano Series were popular, especially when coupled with their R11 anti-slip rated for indoors and out. “When water hits it, it creates that texture so you can use it inside and outside,” said McNeal.

McNeal noted that Arizona Tile’s ability to quickly fulfill orders was also something the company was focusing on. “We work closely with the factories that produce our products. And we have the ability to modify and change things to make it fit the look that we’re trying to achieve.”

This helps Arizona Tile, McNeal noted, stand out in a trendy crowd, being able to make products their own.

Handmade Looks

At MSI’s booth, Emily Holle, creative director, showed a variety of products that spoke to personalization, a critical consumer trend. “People are looking to personalize their spaces,” she noted. And because of this, “People are loving MSI’s Zest tile. [Inspired by] Zellige tile, which is handmade. It’s very porous, a lot of undulation to it. It’s very expensive. And so we worked with inspiration of Zellige. Zest still has that undulation to the surface. A little bit of a shimmer to it — it’s not shiny, but it’s got some luminescence to it that’s really pretty. It glows.”

As well, Zest offers a realistic touch that captures the movement and texture of natural stones. Additionally, large formats were a draw, especially high-performing Cordova and the Malahari along with Girona and Elbe.

“It is virtually indestructible. A lot of people are gravitating to it. Residential, we’re using it in primary bathrooms. A lot in the sunshine belts like Florida and Texas and California love these large format tiles from a residential perspective. But with these being large format and upper end goods, we’re also pushing to some commercial spaces, which is great to see some of these foyers and lobbies and restaurants. These come in 48˝ × 48˝ and 24˝ × 48˝. This can withstand whatever the elements — it should live forever.”

Another exciting addition to the MSI booth was new colors to Acoustic Panels, which both beautify and reduce noise. Jade, White, Navy and Dusk were on display.

These new expansions to the acoustic wall panels are part of MSI’s growth strategy. “Part of the reason why MSI continues to grow is that we’re diversifying. We’re not afraid to try something new like [acoustic panels]. And we need to get our dealers thinking that way, too. Why not try a little bit of a different category, do something new and grow a business you never had? It might even open up your doors to a more commercial space — all of a sudden you have hotels wanting to work with you to do the headboard wall.”

Visual Impact

Imbuing tile with high-performance qualities was the game over at Crossville Tile, an AHF Products’ brand. Portland Cliff featured an exciting new technology. “This one’s called Visual Touch. What it’s done is it’s multiple layers of glaze that we do to build up and create the cleft look so you can actually feel and see it — you know the different veining and the inclusions and such which is very new for us and very new to the industry honestly,” said Adam Wilkes, regional manager at Crossville Tile.

He continued, “It’s proprietary to Crossville. It creates that realistic antique stone look. So all the benefits of porcelain, so it doesn’t stain less likely to scratch, break, all the good things that you want.”

Portland Cliff is available in a 12˝ × 24˝ and 24˝ × 48˝, as well as mosaic options, for consumers seeking softer fills, said Wilkes. “Rounds and curves and softer edges are becoming more and more popular. So this is our entry into that arena,” he shared.

Portland Cliff offers a warm toned neutral with subtle veining and also features Crossville’s ultra-soft yet nonslip FeatherSoft finish. “The digital printing is unbelievable. This is so high definition. You don’t see a pixelation in there,” said Wilkes. Available in 24˝ × 48˝, 12˝ × 24˝, Portland Cliff also features mosaics for that softer, more cohesive finish.

Wood looks in Rural Retreat as well marble looks such as Taj Mahal from Sociale (created from an actual photo of Taj Mahal) were also found in Crossville’s booth.
Alongside the performance of these products, Wilkes noted the fact that Crossville’s manufactured in the U.S. is something “we need to preach from the highest mountain tops. We’re making some of the highest technical products in the entire world right here in our backyard. And we’re proud of that.”

Crossville’s product lines at the show reflected consumers want and need for soothing, grounded pieces, said Wilkes.

As well as indoor and outdoor compatibility. “The outdoor market just exploded. So as, you know, luckily for us, we had that’s already started the process of almost every single one of our introductions comes with an exterior tile. Bringing the outdoors inside and vice versa, having a seamless transition from inside to out, is continuing to grow. And so you’ll see in most of our launches, we’re doing interior and exterior finishes to capture that,” said Larry Browder, vice president.

Tactile Tech

At Dal-Tile’s booth, said Patrick Warren, vice president of dealer sales and showrooms, the team was sharing five things with the nonstop crowds. Product leads these five, said Warren. “We have a product development that’s off the charts. I would say our last three to four years has been our best product development ever — size, countertops, everything. The second piece of that, super important, is our innovation on product, specifically technology.”

Technology, Warren shared, allows Dal-Tile to create products like Sand and Stone, an ultra-realistic porcelain that captures the texture, look and feel of natural stone.

Dal-Tile’s three proprietary technologies, Reveal Sync 3D, which digitally prints naturalistic looks, StepWise, 50 percent more slip resistance, and Microban, which eliminates 99 percent of the mold, mildew and bacteria growth for the life of the tile, were all highlighted by Warren.

Along this high-tech, the fact that 80 percent of Dal-Tile’s products are made in America was another feature promoted by the company — 73 styles which are tariff-free, said Warren.

To ensure that Dal-Tile helped capture the look and personalization that consumers want, its Dal-Tile Stylizer was on display thanks to a large touch screen attendees could interact with. “It’s all powered by RoomVo. You can upload your room or you can select one of our predetermined ones.” The importance of this, said Warren, stems from the fact a consumer is five times more likely to purchase their selections if they can visualize it.

Lastly, said Warren, “Number five is dealer readiness. Very important to me. So we know consumers are coming in, and better buying customers, meaning they are people with more disposable money, income or available resources, are going to buy no matter what. We have to make sure dealers and contractors are prepared.”

He continued, “Our sales team is designed to do that. We’ve done a reorganization recently where we have now 43 market managers in the market that are allowed. They focus specifically on a market, own all the sales and all the buildings so that that market grows and that’s how we measure their success.”