Choosing Kitchen Tiles for your Home

Whether you are renovating your whole kitchen with new units, appliances and tiles or just re-vamping certain areas it pays to get it right as far as your tiles are concerned.

If you make the right tile choices you will be amazed at what a difference it can make to this very practical room in your home. There are a host of tiles suitable for your kitchen on the market, but what should you be looking out for?

Choosing the Right Colour's

The first thing to think about is colour, do you want your tiles to make a statement? Or would you rather that they blend into the rest of your room seamlessly? Colours that compliment your kitchen units and work surfaces work well, the image below shows how you could use three different colours in a brick-bond design to really tie in the colours of the room.

Alternatively you may prefer to keep it all in one colour, if this is the case you could simply break up any expanse of tiles with some carefully placed insert tiles (these typically have the same background colour as the surrounding tiles but have a design on them) or you could use mosaic borders to create more of a feature at eye level.

How Big or Small to Go?

The next consideration is tile size, most kitchen tiles tend to be in a fairly small format such as 148 x 148 mm or 100 x 300 mm is also a popular size for kitchens. It is often down to personal preference and down to room logistics but the main reason smaller tiles are used in kitchens is because they are often only tiled above work surfaces, into window ledges and up to cooker extractor hoods so by using a small format tile it decreases the amount of tile cutting required, which, usually gives a much better end result.

Tile Properties

Tiles are designed to look beautiful but they are also very practical, if cared for correctly, kitchen tiles will provide a clean and hygienic wall covering for your kitchen. It is worth remembering that tiles used in this area will also be subjected to countless splashes of oil, pasta sauce and other substances as well as steam from the pans on the hob so it is important to pay attention to the texture of the tiles. A smooth gloss tile will be much easier to keep clean as it is glazed and shiny meaning it will be more difficult for food and grease to adhere solidly too it. Some tiles used in kitchens have more of a rustic, matte finish, this type of surface is fine so longs it is not too textured. In my experience overly textured tiles tend to acquire dirt and grime more easily, however, if you are prepared to spend a little extra time cleaning with a bowl of hot soapy water then they may be a great choice for you.

Have fun with your kitchen there are some stunning ranges of kitchen accessories on the market. From brightly coloured salt and pepper mills, to stunning kettles right through to well designed utenstils these are designed to add fun, colour and style simply by placing the items strategically on the work surface. Stick to an accent colour and then expand on this bringing in items to compliment the colours of the tiles, units and work surfaces.

Happy Tiling :-)