Whew! Not sure how to follow that exciting, happy news… especially with a damaged fridge still sitting squarely, stubbornly, unresolvedly in the middle of my kitchen. I’m a bit at a loss with this situation as Sears is still being unhelpful and unresponsive and yet we can’t let them just outlast us and neglect us into taking a damaged product.
So I’m going to address those dual issues in this post using the highly advanced and mature tactic of LOOK OVER THERE!
We’re going to look at some pretty pictures of kitchen tiles. This will distract you from the fact that I am actually no where near the point of actually installing tiles and will distract me from the elephant fridge in the middle of the room.
And even though this milestone is pretty far away, I have been devoting a lot of my mental energy over the last 3 months or so to thinking about tile, so I have a lot of ideas and dreams to run by you.
Despite the fact that I am attracted to over the top design and lots of color and pattern, I don’t actually intend on doing something totally crazy a la the extreme design inspiration I shared a little while ago:
While I love these totally mismatched tiles and bright colors, I don’t think my house can really pull it off without seeming crazy. I don’t have the restraint needed to balance it out in the rest of the design and I think it could look like a hot mess.
The tile styles that I am realistically considering fall into four main categories:
The Original Idea: Ornate Patterns
The original idea for the kitchen when Brad and I first talked about making it over was to do a very ornate Mexican Tile. In my inspiration pictures, this has reflected as an ornate pattern overall:
I love that this brings in a little of the “boho” vibe that I love but find hard to express in my design choices that often tend more toward modern and MCM for furniture and accessories. It is also a vibe that Brad likes, which is important. I just worry that it may be a little busy for our packed, open front of house, and that it may feel a little out of place in our 1950s ranch house located in colonial New England… not that that has stopped me in the past.
The Evolution: Graphic Cement Tile
However, as I got deeper into looking at tiles and inspiring kitchens, my love of the ornate Mexican Tile morphed into a love of the still somewhat ornate but more graphic and “cool guy” cement tile.
It feels like a nice compromise between a more modern aesthetic and the color and pattern that we love, and because the patterns are less crazy I feel like they’re less likely to get old for me. This is probably our most likely contender right now.
The Logical Next Step: Geometric Shapes
But I’ve also been drawn more and more to the extension of this appreciation of the graphic pattern of the cement tile – simple tiles in a beautiful color and an interesting shape.
What I love about this is that it is a punch of color overall, so it has huge impact in the space even if each tile isn’t as exciting on its own. It also is most likely to work in our favor for resell value since it is less particular than a pattern, even though that isn’t something we’re really worrying about as we plan to stay here for quite a while.
Returning to the Crazy: Stripes
Speaking of resell value… I just have to throw in something a little more crazy. I know I said I wasn’t interested in really crazy stuff but I have been drawn to a way to combine both the pattern and the saturation of beautiful glazed tile. Stripes!
Am I insane to consider this? It feels risky as it would be all on me to not get it wrong, but the effect could be so striking. Even if cement tile is our most likely contender, this is the one that gets me excited and dreaming. But Brad is no where near convinced.
So that’s what I’ve been thinking about while I wait for this fridge to vacate my house. I’d really love to hear what you think. Which of these would you pick? Which do you think would work best for my kitchen? What advice do you have on good places to buy tile in these categories?
The two tile places with the most interesting tile: Upstairs Downstairs in Acton and Tiles Plus in Natick
I think if you approach it with the mindset that it’s not irrevocable (even if you spend what seems like a LOT of money, it can still be rethought somewhere down the line) that you will approach the decision in a more relaxed way. This is where I launch into “research has shown . . .,” that decisions that you spend a great deal of time on are less satisfactory in the long run. Tile does feel like a big decision though, I understand that.
For your house and colorful style, I truly ADORE the crazy striped idea. Actually, I adore it for anyone’s house. It is fun and interesting and unique. Go big! I think playing it safe and boring would be a big disappointment for you down the road.
As the inheritor of a kitchen with a backsplash that includes 3×3 accent tiles of pots planted with differing cacti that at the time of installation would not have been too jarring or over the top, I would suggest that you practice restraint in your choices for, although you plan on remaining in your lovely home for some time, trends come and go and tiling is not easily changed. Just saying…..lol