Designers are embracing the earthy appeal trend of travertine, a type of limestone characterized by soft veining, subtle color variations, and textural details. Travertine looks are making a strong comeback in tile design, reimagined in porcelain tile to meet today’s performance and maintenance demands, blending classic elegance with modern durability.
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Making the Cut
Cross-cut and vein-cut looks are the primary visual variations of travertine. The difference lies in the way artisans slice the stone during the cutting process that significantly affects its appearance.
Cross-cut (or fleuri cut) travertine is cut perpendicular to the stone’s natural bedding planes. This results in a more cloudy, swirled, or flecked appearance, with soft, circular patterns and a more uniform texture. It highlights the stone’s natural tonal variation and serves a classic, organic look.
Vein-cut travertine is cut parallel to the bedding planes, revealing the linear veining and layered striations running through the stone. This creates a more striped or wood grain-like look, offering a dramatic, contemporary aesthetic.
Porcelain tile creates these same travertine looks while offering greater resistance to stains, scratches, and moisture, making them ideal for both indoor and outdoor spaces. Travertine-look porcelain tile delivers a sophisticated, spa-like atmosphere that complements contemporary and rustic interiors alike with neutral palettes, including warm beiges, taupes, and creamy whites.
Swirls, flecks, and circular movement define the look of cross-cut travertine.
Wood-grain-look, stripes, and lines characterize vein-cut travertine.
Top Elements of Travertine Looks
- Natural palettes that harken back to Earth
- Textured, matte finishes with depth and weathering
- Indoor-outdoor use for organic flow between spaces
- Large-format plus pattern play for subtle creativity
- Contemporary pairings to craft classic yet fresh aesthetics
Small spaces to large places, residential to commercial, let’s see travertine-look tile in action.
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Soft Sophistication
Cross-cut travertine-look tile creates subdued and chic XXL floor panels. Delicate brown drops paired with beige swirls lend the floor muted movement.
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Kitchen Perfection
Vein-cut travertine-look tile resembles bone-white birchwood grain. The clean vertical layout gives this kitchen a touch of industrial style — ready for preparing anything from special dinners to everyday snacks.
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Sweet Suite Dreams
Travertine-look tile drenches this bedroom in airy style. Different sizes and layouts glow across each surface as the striped vein-cut visual contrasts softly with spherical lighting.
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Sandy Shores
This floor tile flows smooth as a bolt of silk. Champagne travertine-look tile continues outdoors, extending the space into nature with a cohesive indoor-outdoor design.
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Walking on Air
An oh-so-subtle travertine-look floor tile crafts a living space bathed in understated beiges and browns. Travertine’s natural matte finish reproduced in tile adds comfortable sophistication to a modern vibe.
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A Piece of Peace
Vertical travertine-look wall tile in classic taupe expands the room out and up. Alongside a wood-look tile floor, relaxing reading is just one cushion away.
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Neat and Clean
This minimalist sink is aglow with travertine-look tile, gently mottled with earthy tans and browns. Clean angles and dark fixtures are perfect punctuations in this bathroom’s drenched design.
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Subdued Dynamics
Multiple neutral travertine-look tile layouts harmonize in this primary suite. Variegated ivory, cream, and bone shades amplify the array — especially on the herringbone headboard accent wall.
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Legacy of Light
Cross-cut travertine-look floor tile is absolutely earthy in a crosshatch pattern, and this loft has more looks to showcase. The mosaic backsplash and attached patio boast a melange of deep taupes and living greens.
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Desert Debutante
Travertine-look tile elevates this desert oasis to extraordinary heights. Pavers radiate warmth while the outdoor bar nook and walls echo the palette — an ideal balance of rustic and rich.
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Lakefront Luxe
A lighter hue of travertine matches the big air of this poolside stunner. Each eggshell paver carries tonal swirls that move the eye in concert with the cloud formations. Travertine-look tile rated for outdoor use withstands the elements in style from the mountains to the sea.
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Angelic Angles
Opulence without extravagance, this architectural beauty beams with beige travertine-look tile. XXL panels blanket the floor and frame the fireplace surround. We can’t overlook the installation genius of the undulating, woven mosaic accent wall.
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Held Aloft
Travertine-look tile brings the earth inside this urban loft. Dusky beige vein-cut looks mirror wood but have a distinctly calming stone energy. As columns carry the color skyward, the effect is like walking on windswept clouds.
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Contemporary Comfort
This home is a case study in the versatility of travertine-look tile. Accent walls, fireplace surround, patio floor, and a brick-look backsplash all have their own take on travertine. Floor tile with a woven mosaic, reminiscent of a plush rug, is the star of these toasted coconut shades.
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Let the Sun Shine
This variegated travertine-look tile pushes from rust tones to light toffee. Freshly tilled, sunbaked earth springs to mind in the open-concept space. Note the discreet layout shift that forms a tile “rug” beneath the coffee table.
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Posh-Perfect Shop
We’d like to linger in this shop, swathed in vein-cut travertine-look tile, from the floor to the niches, each display holding a herringbone mosaic.
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Casual Fridays
Your 9-to-5 gets a gorgeous makeover in bright ivory vein-cut travertine-look tile. This office design integrates precisely enough visual interest with textural and tonal details in the tile.
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Villa Vibes
The sea breeze beckons beyond this chic getaway, bathed in vein-cut travertine-look tile. The color summons the energy of the nearby sand and the same palette sweeps indoors, illuminating a lush communal room. Can we stay a while?
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Make Mine a Double
Travertine-look tile throughout this restaurant and bar adds cohesiveness from floor to ceiling, bar to patio, drawing the eye from one area to the next.
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A Welcome Reception
This lobby takes travertine-look tile to luminous levels. Both cross- and vein-cut looks — plus a tiny herringbone layout alongside large panels — make it distinct. A kiss of cool greige tops off these coordinated ivory neutrals and moves outside for a wide, welcoming appeal.
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Sumptuous Sunset
The sea meets the city at this rooftop paradise. Stately beige tile with chocolate-brown dollops sweeps across the floor and a mosaic accent graces the wall.
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Saturday, Sunday, Spa Day
This luxe spa is resplendent with travertine-look tile in several sizes and layouts. Warm shades work magic, unifying the room with charm. The designers went all-out with their use of cross- and vein-cut tile looks, yet the shift is decidedly demure. Now, where to buy our day pass?
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Let’s Lounge
This restaurant, bar, and lounge has it all — and tops it with an array of travertine-look tile. A grounding matte surface underfoot is posh and still cozy. The outdoor bar has strokes of deep, luscious brown and an expert use of vein- and cross-cut looks.
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What’s Your Take on Travertine-Look Tile?
Travertine-look tile is a hot trend right now — and for good reason! Timeless, versatile, and durable, it gives you all the appearance of travertine stone without extra maintenance. Where will you place yours?
Stroll through our design gallery for more inspiration!
