From 21 to 25 September Bologna hosted the 43rd edition of Cersaie, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings. This year’s manifesto spoke of a more open and dynamic contemporary space, able to change along with the way we live. The new collections confirm it: floors and wall coverings are no longer the backdrop of the home, but a design tool.

Surfaces you want to touch

The smooth, uniform tile is giving way to surfaces you can feel under your fingers: micro-engravings, terrazzo grains, fluting, waves, bas-reliefs. Technology makes it possible to match relief and pattern, so that veins, fibres and mineral inclusions become tactile too.

The point is not to copy nature but to reinterpret it. Stone, wood, concrete, fabric and clay are translated into essential marks and calibrated irregularities, with the durability and easy cleaning typical of ceramics. It is the same direction we saw in April at Salone del Mobile: material is back in the spotlight.

Light draws the wall

A textured wall covering changes throughout the day. Under frontal light it looks almost uniform; when light arrives from the side, grazing, it reveals shadows, depth and subtle variations. The finish matters too: matt absorbs and softens, satin creates delicate reflections, gloss intensifies colour and depth.

For designers this means planning wall coverings and lighting together. A blade of light built into the false ceiling or a signature lamp such as those by Davide Groppi can turn a fluted wall into the focal point of a room, with no need for added decoration.

Earth colours, in a quieter key

The Cersaie 2026 palette looks to the landscape: sand, limestone, mineral grey, clay, ochre, terracotta, rust and tobacco, alongside olive, sage and moss green. Compared with the saturated tones seen in Milan in the spring, these colours are softer and less intense.

Pure white is losing ground. Beige becomes a base rich in nuance that spreads light more warmly. And tone-on-tone compositions replace sharp contrasts: floor, walls and furniture are tied together through small differences in texture, opacity and colour temperature.

Geometries and small formats, alongside large slabs

Geometric decoration is back, with a freer language: strips, small bricks, modules and small formats laid in different directions to create rhythm. The pattern organises space: it highlights a functional area, accompanies a wall vertically or breaks up a continuous surface.

This does not replace large slabs, which remain the choice for continuous surfaces with few joints. The two coexist in the same project: large, essential fields and more expressive details where they are needed, for example in a bathroom or behind the kitchen worktop.

Inside and out, without interruption

Wood- and stone-effect porcelain stoneware makes it possible to use the same material, or two coordinated materials, from the living room to the terrace. It is one of the most effective ways to make a home feel larger and more open to the landscape, especially in Ticino, where outdoor life lasts for much of the year.

The porcelain stoneware surfaces by Mirage, a company that has been producing floors and wall coverings for residential, public and commercial spaces for over 50 years, lend themselves perfectly to this continuity. Where the warmth of real wood is wanted, the Swiss parquet by Bauwerk pairs with ceramics, which remain the choice for the areas most exposed to water, such as bathroom, kitchen and entrance.

The bathroom as a trend laboratory

The bathroom remains the room where these ideas show best: textured coverings in the shower area, earth colours, small formats for the niche and large slabs for the floor. Glass completes the project: the glazing and shower enclosures by TaccaGlass let the surface take centre stage, and the ceramic sanitaryware by Alice Ceramica works in harmony with floors and walls.

The lesson of Cersaie 2026: calibrate, don’t accumulate

The most interesting trend is not a colour or a format, but a method: dosing effects. A strong relief is balanced by a uniform colour; an intense colour is refined by a barely perceptible texture; a light surface gains depth through subtle engravings.

That is why floors and wall coverings should be chosen at the start, together with the architecture and the lighting, not at the end of construction. With Architectural Things we guide clients in choosing materials, samples in hand. Contact us to design the surfaces of your home.

Read more: Architecture and mental health: how spaces influence our balance.

Sources: Cersaie 2026: new trends for ceramic floors and wall coverings – Arredamento.it · Cersaie 2026 and its manifesto – Cose di Casa · Guide to Cersaie 2026 – Ingenio