Decorative Tile Backsplash For Your Kitchen Masterpiece

Photo Via: WSJ

Since kitchen renovations are the core part of our business, we are always on the lookout for new trends to help make our kitchen designs as stunning as we can for our clients. So our course we are swooning over ourselves with some of the new trend in backsplash options presented by our sponsor Rustico Tile and Stone, a leading online retailer of natural stone tiles, at wholesale prices to boot. Brace yourself.


A growing trend in kitchen home décor is decorative tile used as backsplashes – bold, colorful, metallic, and beautiful!  Gone are the days of boring, monochromatic stone or ceramic blends.  Kitchens are making artistic statements with the use of colorful Cement Tiles, metallic Copper design tiles, and hand-painted Talavera tiles.  Rules are made to be broken and that’s easy to do with these fun backsplash ideas!

Cement Tile Photo: HGTV

You might ask - Why do I need a backsplash?  The wall in your kitchen behind the stove and along the counters needs to be covered with a protective barrier so it doesn’t get stained from spills and splatters.  A “good” backsplash serves as a prime ingredient into the mix of your kitchen décor and functions to protect your walls from damage.

Cement Tile Photo: Hooked on Houses

Form meets functions with Cement Tile.  Made from mineral pigmented cement, the options are endless with the ability to customize cement tile designs.  Each tile is hand-crafted, so if you don’t see the color scheme in a design that fits your needs, you can have it created in colors of your choice.  It’s really simple – as long as you have some time to wait for cement tiles be to custom produced, you can get exactly what you want.  There are designs to accommodate many home décor styles including modern, Mediterranean, vintage, and traditional.  A typical cement tile comes in an 8x8-inch size.  When installed, four tiles create a pattern measuring 16x16 inches.  Cement tiles come in a variety of sizes for backsplashes and are relatively easy to install.

Patchwork Cement Tile Photo: Rustico Tile and Stone

Patchwork Cement Tile Photo: Ideas For Interior

This patchwork cement tile pattern is a mixture of random tiles in a cohesive color palette.  Patchwork tiles are a growing trend in interior design.  Not only does cement tile add beauty to a kitchen, but it also provides a durable surface barrier to the wall.  Since cement tile can be sealed (recommended), it will withstand those unsightly splatters and is easy to clean.   

Photo: Rustico Tile and Stone

Consider adding some bling to your kitchen by mixing in metallic materials.  Whether you’re renovating a hacienda-style home or tweaking a Tuscan country estate, add a copper tile backsplash for a classical display.  Copper is also easily cleaned, very durable, and comes in several patina finishes.  And it ages like a fine wine!  The natural patina color of copper evolves as it is exposed to oxygen and ages.  If you don’t want the copper patina color to change, it can be waxed periodically or coated in epoxy.  Copper also heals itself.  If you accidentally scratch the tile, the components in this metal will repair the surface with time. 

Copper tile photo: Decozilla.com

Check out hammered copper for an old-world style home or mix copper with stainless steel appliances for a more modern look.  Pair a copper tile backsplash with a fabulous hammered copper farmhouse sink, and add inserts into the floor for an overall effect.  And just like cement tile, copper tiles come in a variety of sizes and options of design.  You’re sure to find a design and patina color that will be perfect for your backsplash.

Talavera Tile Photo: Remodelista

A kitchen backsplash doesn’t have to be created with square and rectangular shapes only.  Check out some decorative tiles shapes for an added touch of artistry in painted Talavera tiles.  This Cross pattern in Talavera embellishes a traditional style home and keeps things light and bright with the sunshine yellow colors.  Geometric shapes like hexagon or colonial are great for modern and upscale areas.  Or why not try some painted talavera tiles to create a mosaic pattern?  This bright talavera below is 4x4 inch in size and pairs well with the antique saltillo tile flooring and cantera stone counters and accents.  In contrast with the light colored walls and cabinets, the overall aesthetic is modern vintage.  Talavera tiles clean up easily with a quick wipe and since the paint is usually a gloss finish, there is no need to seal the tiles, only the grout lines.

Talavera Tile Photo: Rustico Tile and Stone

Once you’ve selected the perfect tile for your space, make sure to order 15-20% overage for waste, cuts and borders.  Small spaces like backsplashes use up waste in precise cuts.  Grout choices are endless and the grout color is just as important as your tile selection.  Choose a contrasting grout color to accentuate single tiles.  Or opt for a grout color similar to your tile color for a blended look.

What great inspiration and tile tips for your next kitchen project from the folks at Rustico Tile and Stone
Happy tile shopping as you tackle your kitchen project. Please feel free to share updates/photos of tiles purchased for your own project so we can feature them here or over on our Instagram page. Cheers to a great weekend everyone!

At Last. My Kitchen Reveal!

Hooray! At last, we took some professional pictures of our kitchen, which is arguably the favorite space to hang out in our house, and where Xavier has decided he's a little chef. 

Lord Jesus, where do we begin with this kitchen? How about at the very beginning? As in this is the kitchen I walked into when my heart told me last summer that this was the house for our little family. 

Fun fact: Our Realtor Benny gave me the thumbs down sign when we first saw this house, for many many reasons, including the fact that there was a gaping hole in the living room ceiling from obvious water damage.

For me, a renovation nut, that gaping hole and this horrible kitchen were a dream come through. The possibilities were endless.

 

It was a challenging space for many reasons:

1. It was at the front of the house which I didn't really care for but I could live with that.

2. I'd wanted a kitchen with a large island so the hubs, who loves to cook, could have a major prep, space but the powder room is right next to the kitchen which means I could not gut the whole space to achieve that island. Oh, there was also a load bearing wall. Sigh. Double sigh.

3. I am fanatic about kitchen sinks being under a window. As you can see here, the view from the sink was a wall. Yes, a wall to look at as you washed dishes. Great.

But guess what? It had a gas range. Say what now? A gas cooktop was a huge dream of ours so despite the laundry list of challenges, this little kitchen was a winner in my eyes.

These were my initial plans. Gut the pantry and create a wrap around countertop with a small island with seating for three.

Or no wrap around counters, but a larger island instead of a peninsula  because I wanted a waterfall edge on both sides. 

Those plans were derailed when we discovered a load bearing column (it's where we now have Xavier's growth chart).

I was devastated. Translation: I bawled like a baby! But it all worked out because we now have a kitchen we love. 

Priority number one was to relocate the sink to the window, not a cheap thing to do, but thankfully I got the family discount from my plumber.

 
The existing window was also too low for a sink, so we had to raise the wall up and install a new window. Again, no simple feat but there was no way I was gonna spend my years in this house looking at that wall as a view! PS, fresh flowers always make my day and are a weekly splurge. 

We did manage to squeeze in a large peninsula with enough prep space to cook, something I really wanted for the hubby. We did so by relocating the refrigerator to the wall with the slide in range. This just made much more sense, as the previous location blocked the view of the kitchen from the family room.

A single pantry next to the refrigerator added enough extra storage. 

 If you know me well, then you know that a glass of wine is dietary staple so a wine/beverage station was a must have. 

We could not fully connect the family room with the kitchen because of the existing powder room, so we created matching cut outs through the adjoining wall to offer some connectivity and for easy passing of a drink or two to guests. You'll get a better view of that pesky issue here in a photo of the hubs created our first Thanksgiving meal here last year.

And yes, that pretty much sums up how I feel about wine.  

   The adjoining wall next to the beverage area, has become a great space to display Xavier's artwork. 

Let's talk about these floors shall we? I've long been obsessed with a herringbone tile pattern, and knew I wanted it in the kitchen. They remain a fave after a year of living here. And hats off to my installer Luis, for his flawless efforts which we chronicled here and here.

 My heart sings when I see this backsplash. That selection was another challenge as we needed something simple, yet dramatic to play well with the veins of the granite, chosen here by you guys!

One of the greatest joys in creating this space, is to watch the little man develop a passion for cooking. He fancies himself a chef and rushes for his little stool to help whenever he sees us getting ready to prepare a meal. 

And I think it's pretty clear that orange is my favorite color hence the pops of color seen throughout this kitchen. 

Photos by Mark of Sublime Photos.

And there you have it folks. Thanks for waiting patiently for this long overdue reveal. Running our insanely busy design business has made it difficult to pause to share all the photos and details from most projects these days, but I do miss connecting here often. 

Do know that you can follow us over on Instagram for more frequent snippets about our projects and my life in general.

Hats off to the NWD team who worked tirelessly at night and on weekends to help us get this kitchen done, all while working on our many other projects. Hats off as well to the little brother Shomari who flew in from Jamaica for two weeks to help as well. This space was a true labor of love and we are eternally thankful.

Shop the Look:
Paint Color - Sherwin Williams - Serious Grey
Flooring 
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen Faucet
Back Splash
Bar Stools
Orange Dish Towels