Choosing the correct kitchen tiles

The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house, so it needs to look and feel nice and relaxed. It needs to be practically set out and designed around your needs and designed with the correct products. It is advisable to use hard wearing materials for use in a kitchen, as they do tend to get a bit of a knock with heavy pots and pans and also it is

also advisable to get wipe clean surfaces too. Kitchens usually have tiles or a kitchen tile backsplash on the walls to accommodate for these issues. When you are cooking, sauces can spit out of pans onto the walls and if there are no tiles, it causes a constant mess for you to keep cleaning up. Bearing this in mind, choosing the right kitchen tiles is imperative in a modern kitchen. Something to also bear in mind is whether your choice of tile can be used as kitchen floor tiles or that they are purely for use on the walls.

Here at LiveIn|LiveOut we have put together a non exhaustive list of some of the different options of kitchen tiles you may want to consider before you purchase yours.

Design and style of kitchen tile

Kitchen wall tiles come in a variety of materials, styles and finishes. Dependant on your style and kitchen unit doors you may opt for a natural feel or a more contemporary one.

• Natural slate as a natural material is simply stunning. It’s effect is a wall of purple, green, brown and rust – It does require a little more work and forethought before you set them in place on the wall, but when installed correctly look rustic and homely. If you decide to go for natural slate, you will have to bear in mind that they will all vary in colour, shape and texture. This is the beauty of the natural product, so if you are looking for clean lines this will not be the option for you. The tiles will come in batches and before you commit to fixing them to the wall it is advisable to lay a few sections of the tiles out onto a flat surface so that you can choose the most similar depths to ensure a rough consistent level. They will vary in height and by doing this simple pre-test it will make the job of grouting far easier. Natural slate will also need impregnating so that when fat spits on to the wall it will not soak into the natural product and taint the look of them.
• Terracota tiles can also give you a rustic feel, dependant on whether they have been cut or left as the natural material. Terracota tiles are rich in colour and really hard wearing and this type of natural material only improves with age. Terracotta tends to come in many cuts, some of which are; hexagonal, brick shaped or square.
• Travertine is yet another different natural material which will give you a rustic look. The colours are pale and look similar to that of pumice and look stunning in a simply designed kitchen with rich walnut worktops.
• Marble tiles are also very stunning, but will be a little more costly. Marble is very hardwearing and will give you that glossy sleek finish and beautiful clean lines. Marble is taken from the Greek word for shining stone and this is exactly what it is. It is a simply glamorous material and looks very regal in any home.
• There are cheaper alternatives from the natural products and they are usually based around the look and feel of these natural products themselves. They have just been manmade to resemble the real thing. There are some really excellent examples on the market which both look good and look really convincing, these are a great option if you are looking to saving a few pennies and are on a budget.

Custom made tiles and murals

If you are looking to inject a bit of individuality into your home and didn’t want to opt for anything that is available on the market today, then you may want to consider investing in a custom wall mural. You may have your own ideas as to what you may want on the mural – perhaps it is of a beautiful photograph that you would like to make into wall art or it could be a series of designs that you may want to get printed onto tiles and use them as sit alone squares on an Arga back splash mixed in with plain tiles. There are some companies out there that cater for this type of requirement and you can get creative too! Hand painted delft tiles always give a complete package to a country home or if you did want a custom photograph commissioned onto a series of tiles then it can be either screen printed or digitally printed.