[Las Vegas] Coverings 2026, held here from March 30 to April 2, 2026, reframed the industry’s focus on tile’s performance benefits to emphasizing its versatility in design. From natural neutrals that captured the brutalism trend to evocative colors, Coverings also brought texture to the forefront of show.
Market Matters
One of the most important tasks of Coverings was to take the industry’s temperature. The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) offered its perspective. Eric Astrachan, executive director, shared that the industry remains plagued by the same ills the housing market faces.
“Tile consumption last year was almost 2.6 billion square feet, but that’s down about 5 percent from 2024. And it’s the fourth consecutive year that the market has contracted. In terms of value consumption or in dollars was $3.76 billion. And that’s down about 0.8 percent. So that reflects that even though the square footage has gone down, the prices have gone up,” said Astrachan.
He highlighted some specific issues, such as uneven construction activity and increasing transportation costs, as contributing to tile’s downward trend. “Clearly, these ongoing issues of affordability is affecting the housing market. The uncertain tariff picture is affecting the housing market and demand for tile,” said Astrachan.
However, said Astrachan, “Despite this year-over-year decline, U.S. production is still significantly larger than imports from any one country. So, U.S. production is 27.6 percent of the total share of U.S. consumption. The next highest share for Spain would be 15.5 percent, Italy 12.8 percent, India 12.1 percent.”
And the TCNA remains steadfast in its role as promoting tile. Indeed, said Astrachan, the group has spearheaded new initiatives to celebrate tile, from the Tile Heritage Foundation tile identification tool (which records historical decorative tile) to its Installation Registry, (which will record and protect masterful tile installations).
He noted these initiatives will help draw attention to tile. “For a floor covering, wall covering, ceiling covering. It’s the only one that really combines art with architecture. Why is the industry not promoting that? Why are we talking about tile — that it’s sanitary, it’s easy to clean, it’s durable, it’s long-lasting, dog nails don’t scratch on it, doesn’t include toxic formaldehyde and PVCs the way vinyl does, it’s not going to kill you in your home, it’s not radioactive like some stones may be — It’s this great product, but we’re not talking about the real reason that people love it and appreciate it: because of the art, because it’s so beautiful, because it’s inspirational,” said Astrachan.
At Tile of Spain, Ryan Fasan, technical consultant, highlighted tile’s position as not only a highly viable export product (indeed, according to TCNA, Spain is the largest exporter to the U.S., making up 21.4 percent of imports. Italy was the second largest exporter to the U.S., with Italian tile about 17.7 percent of U.S. imports by volume) but also a highly renewable one.
In Spain, said Fasan, “New experimental processes that are looking at biomass fracking and all sorts of ways to harvest clean source of rapid, plentiful hydrogen to move it into industrial operations. We’ve got a lot of our glaze and frit manufacturers as well as some of the tile manufacturers in the show floor today that are moving some of their firing processes kilns to renewable electric kilns.”
Additionally, said Fasan, the increasing emphasis on human touch is making tile more attractive to consumers. From bespoke accents to analog escapes, Fasan highlighted that tile is positioned to fulfill these consumers wants.
Tile Talk
Elena Capra, a Coverings Industry Ambassador and principal of Alena Capra Designs, highlighted styles are dominating in the sector. Tailored Craft (featuring fashion elements), Articulated Accents (tactile precision), Brutalish Santuary (raw stone and concrete looks), Artisan Aesthetic and Jade Terrain (green tones) were the trends she pinpointed.
One trend that dominated on the showroom floor, “Brutalish Sanctuary,” Capra noted that this stone- and concrete-dominated style “brings that stripped back version of the materiality of it all. We’re looking at seeing the refined restraint amongst these concrete looks. We’re seeing terrazzo, unglazed.”
That said, Capra shared that despite the name, these tiles aren’t imposing or harsh. “It’s all about a soft look and in a lot of different color ranges too, so it’s not specific to one color palette, but this very stripped-down look. For a main floor throughout, [it gives] a clean feel, but you still want to enjoy movement, matte finishes, and soft — but not bright white — warmer neutrals.”
Indeed, many players at the show are ready for this trend, including Crossville. Terri Marion, product manager, highlighted several collections that combined the soothing, natural looks of concrete and stone visuals. From the Zen-inspired Sand Garden and the brand-new Cleve, Crossville’s soothing sanctuary of collections emphasized calming visuals.
“Our booth theme this year is ‘Engage the Senses,’ and we designed it as a retreat within the show from the show, and as a powerful reminder of the importance that surfaces have to the way we feel. We’re embracing that with [the Crossville’s booth] spa-like feel, said Marion.”
The Cleve collection, a porcelain tile that captures the look of quartzite, also features FeatherSoft technology, providing the tile with a smooth, soft feel with a matte appearance, Cleve’s 4 tones offer the soothing neutrals that consumers seek. The 12 x 24, 24 x 24, 24 x 48 options are accompanied by 2 x 4 mosaic options. The new mosaic, that offers a modern hexagon, “pays tribute to the architectural nature or the architectural feeling of Cleve while still being really organic. This also highlights some of the really natural veining where you get those iron oxide kind of stripes through it that feel really organic and natural,” said Marion.
MILEstone’s Patricia Acosta, strategic brand marketer, noted that terrazzo looks were resonating with consumers. MILEstone’s Terrazzo Allure collection, said Acosta, “Is a carbon-neutral option, so that adds an extra little sparkle to architects, designers, or end users interested or needing that sustainability factor. Its terrazzo designed with versatility in mind — it’s definitely a classic retro look.”
MILEstone’s terrazzo is made for mixing and matching. Acosta noted that the collection can be used to both create patterns as well as be used as a classic, solid terrazzo. Offered in both matte and grip, which is for areas requiring slip resistance, the collection also comes in mosaic.
Articulated Accents is another trend. This trend brings tactile attributes and into tile. Said Capra, “It’s really all about kind of creating tiles that engage the senses. This sort of lifelike enhancement of the tile as a material.”
At MSI’s booth, artisanal details were standouts. The Living Style collection, said MSI’s Emily Holle, director of trend and design, highlighted both the Cordova and Livingstyle collections. “Cordova is floor and wall because of the just almost subtle texture.” She continued, “For Living Style, it is more tactile, but this is still very soft, and still very pretty. And so we’re just kind of playing with what sort of texture are people going to gravitate to.” The collection features 4 cream tones: Travertino, Pearl, Cream and Beige.
Mercia, another new collection, offered handcrafted detailing such as chiseled edges. Holle said, “It’s a nod to the whole clay, terracotta, vintage vibe that we’re seeing people really love. It comes in a floor or wall tile that’s solid in nature, almost concrete-inspired.”
Mixing and matching tiles was encouraged at Porcelanosa. Said Veronica Gripp, Porcelanosa’s brand manager, from Porcelanosa’s offerings consumers are eager to mix and match their selections to capture a personalized design. A variety of black and white mosaics lined the walls of Porcelanosa’s booth, which, said Gripp, “we are bringing the foundation with our field tiles and the reliefs, and this is what brings the glam to the project. This is where we mix and match different textures, different finishes.”
Foundational pieces also stole the show. Wonder’s Dave Godlewski, director of sales, noted that the company’s Taj Opus collection, featuring 12 x 24, 24 x 24 and 24 x 48 sizes in matte and polished and three colors, Palace White, Imperial Grey and Mirage Sand found inspiration in the original Taj Mahal. “So the Taj Mahal graphic, if you looked at slabs or countertops, because of the age — it’s a very old stone — because of the age of it, can actually look dirty. So, we spent a lot of time to clean it up.”
He continued, “Because warm tones are popular right now, and we didn’t want to have any dark shading or variation because there’s variation but it’s very subtle. So, it blends.”
Stonepeak’s booth went above and beyond that the show, encouraging attendees to reevaluate their understanding of what tile is.
Indeed, its booth took attendees to the “4th Dimension”, said Sofie Sabattini, director of marketing, U.S. “The magical journey is inspired by the process of alchemy. You analyze a product and then you restudy the product and then you turn it into a golden product, or a more innovative, new product.”
Stonepeak asked attendees to think of what they understand tile to be, revisit it, and then discover Stonepeak’s tile, bolstered by technology. “So the new dimension is how a modernized, sustainable product can be used in different ways,” said Sabattini.
Sabattini highlighted the Plane Dimension collection, a wall and floor tile. “Plane is our slab collection since 2013. And the additional dimension is the glint technology. You can feel how you have some raised areas and recessed areas.
Stonepeak’s technologies, such as Hypertouch, which allow porcelain to become a responsive interface and Attract, a dry magnetic laying system for ceramic slabs, which also were also on display. “It truly is a way to give new life to the product. It’s springtime and you want to change your floor, you can. You need less install products, require no chemicals and it’s 100 percent recyclable and reusable.
At Crossville’s booth, Sand Garden was installed as a countertop and offered consumers a tactile experience inspired by the soothing practice of drawing lines in sand.
At Geotiles Cerámica in the Tile of Spain pavilion, this RLV Statos tile offered a gentle, lace-like look.
American Olean crafted a tile doghouse which was donated to Michael’s Angel Paws.
At Stonepeak, Tiffanie Harel and Sofie Sabattini
Rodolfo Jacobsen and Veronica Gripp from Porcelanosa
Patricia Acousta with Terrazzo Allure
Wonder’s Taj Opus
MSI’s David Raymond and Emily Holle
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At Florida Tile, the trend of Tailored Craft was on display. Threadscape captured the look of playful fashion and thread-like motifs.
At Ceramics of Italy’s Pavillion, Del Conca’s Faetano brand offered in-demand checkerboard looks.
