Yesterday we covered beautiful but costly antique tiles. There is a way to get the look without breaking the bank and I speak, of course, of the dreaded….reproduction.

I’m only talking encaustic tiles today since you can find ceramic reproductions just about anywhere. Encaustics originated in 18th century Europe and consisted of marble dust, cement and natural granite colors. Today’s less expensive tiles are made by layering cement and then adding pigment. They may not hold up as well as the originals, but we’re talking a huge price difference! There are still companies that fabricate handmade encaustics to match historic tiles, but let’s concentrate on affordability.

Tierra Y Fuego sells 8×8 tiles for under $10 apiece. I’ve dealt with this company before and keep coming back for more. They call these tiles “decorative cement”. When it comes time to do my brownstone front hall, I gotta get me some of these!

Villa Lagoon has 10×10’s for $9 and ships from Miami. Their “mosaic cement” tiles appear to be more pastel based than the Tierra examples. The website is extremely informative. They tested various sealers and posted all the results here.

And if it’s information you want, Concrete Cottage has everything you’ve ever wanted to know about encaustic tiles. They go over the process and list just about every place in the world where you can purchase these tiles. They also have several links to floor tile simulators.