Moroccan Tiles

What is zellige?

Zellige is a traditional Moroccan tile made from clay, shaped and glazed by hand. The glaze collects unevenly, so every tile has its own shade, small pits and slightly uneven edges. Laid together, they create a wall full of movement and light that a machine-made tile cannot copy. The glossy, uneven face reflects light differently through the day, so a splashback looks soft in the morning and richer under evening lamps.

Our Moroccan range

• Zellige Bejmat: a rectangular brick shape, laid like a subway tile or in a vertical stack. It suits splashbacks and shower walls.
• Zellige Honeycomb: a hexagon shape for a softer, geometric feature wall.

Both are handmade Moroccan tiles, in colours such as light blue, teal, terracotta, olive and snow white.

Living with handmade tiles

Handmade zellige is not uniform, and that is the reason to choose it. Expect:

• shade variation between tiles and boxes;
• uneven edges and small chips;
• a surface that is not perfectly flat, which catches the light.

Mix tiles from several boxes as you lay them. Ask your tiler to use narrow grout joints and allow for the irregular edges. Many installers seal zellige before grouting to protect the exposed clay from grout stains. These are wall tiles, so keep them off floors.

Where to use Moroccan tiles

• A kitchen splashback in light blue or terracotta.
• A shower wall in teal or white.
• A powder room or laundry feature.
• A niche or the wall behind a vanity.

Pair them with plain floors so the wall stays the focus. See the wider range in zellige tiles and handmade tiles, or colour-match with terracotta tiles and blue tiles. The Bejmat shape also sits well beside subway tiles. Need help planning? Book a free design consultation, in-store at Rockdale or online.