Tile Lettering: How to Add a Word to your Tile Flooring

Today I wanted to show you how to add tile lettering on your floor. Customizing your floor with tile lettering is so unique and makes a fun statement by adding a greeting or doormat to your tile design.

Let’s be honest, when I first thought about putting a word in tile, I didn’t have a big cheering section, everyone thought I was crazy… maybe even me. I learned a lot through trial and error, so I want to share my tile lettering tips with you so you can be confident about adding text to your tile flooring.

There are hundreds of ideas out there for tiling a phrase with penny tiles, (like this one from Rooms for Tuesday), but I wanted it inset as you see in vintage flooring or intricate fauxsaics designs.

How to Add Tile Lettering on Your Floor

Note- every tile is unique, this process will be different for each tile, this is a general guideline on how you can achieve similar results.

Watch this video to get the details on how to add a word to tile flooring-

Step 1:

Print your desired design on oversize paper. The ‘hello’ image I used is printed on 11×17 paper, but you can achieve larger designs by having your text printed on an engineer print.

Step 2:

Using a roll of double-sided tape, apply it to all the areas you wish to put tile. Tip- don’t remove the backing until necessary so it doesn’t get dirty and your tiles will stick well. It will likely look really messy but don’t sweat it.

Next, use nippers to clip the tiles to size and adhere them to the paper.

Step 3:

Use parchment (or tracing paper) to create a template of your tile lettering.

Step 4:

Cut out the design to create a template to determine placement.

Step 5:

Using the template you made, use it to determine where your tile lettering design will go. With a coloured pencil trace around the edge of the template. Keep in mind you will inlay your tile and need room for grout so don’t worry if you go outside the lines when cutting.

Step 6:

Use the cutting tool you desire to cut the shape you drew around from your template. I’m not going to sugar coat it, if you are using a mosaic tile this part may be a bit challenging. But planning and having clear cut lines will do you a world of good, slow and steady wins the race.

Step 7:

Cut small pieces with your tile nippers to fit the inside of any letters.

Step 8:

Apply a sheet of clear transfer tape to your tile lettering design. This will hold all the little pieces of tile in their place so you can flip to remove the paper backing and easily slide the tile design into place. Tip: to remove the paper backing place a solid sheet (like plywood) on the front of the design, flip it as you would a cake pan, remove the paper. Then put a second sheet on the back and flip it the proper way.

Step 9:

Line the tile design up and gently slide it into place. Slowly remove the transfer tape and fix the small pieces into place. Allow drying 24 hours before grouting.

There you have it, an easy way to add tile lettering to your floor design.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I would love to see how you add a word to your tile flooring, please share!

Have you ever tried tile lettering on your floor before? Let me know in a comment below!