Florence Leung Lai-ping has seen it all. From the client who insisted on tiling an entire room - wall, ceiling and floor - in the same rose pattern, to the woman who loved green so much that she insisted on covering the interior of her flat in a bright shade of it.
Ms Leung, who has been in the tile business for 25 years, manages Toscana Ceramica, one of the many tile suppliers lining Wan Chai's Lockhart Road.
'Normally Chinese people don't like green so much. But this customer really wanted it. Although the contractor warned her against it, nobody could change her mind,' she recalls.
At least the customer knew what she wanted. The choice available is so overwhelming that home owners often do not know where to start. The Tile Association, based in Britain, divides tiles into five main groups: glazed and unglazed ceramic tiles, quarry and terracotta tiles (both made from natural clay), porcelain tiles (hard-wearing ceramic tiles), glazed and unglazed mosaic tiles (made from porcelain, ceramic, glass or natural stone) and natural stone tiles made from anything from limestone and marble to granite and slate.
Newcomers to Hong Kong are often baffled by the proliferation of high-rise buildings apparently covered in 'bathroom tiles'. But architect Joseph Sy of Joseph Sy & Associates, says this is a practical rather than a cultural phenomenon.
'Hong Kong is a practical place. People simply do what works best. Tiles protect against wear and tear and are self-cleaning.'
Adrian McCarroll of architectural firm Original Vision says tiles add a necessary extra layer of waterproofing to buildings in Hong Kong's harsh climate. But as adhesives deteriorate after 10 to 15 years, in many cases now tiles are removed, buildings are rendered with waterproof cement and then just painted.