Tile is easily the most versatile medium for decorating your home. With abundant shapes, colors and materials to choose from, you can personalize any space to suit your style. Plus, tile brings a weightiness to your home decor. Whether it’s natural stone, ceramic, porcelain, glass or metal, tile fills even the most humble of homes with elegance, style and substance.
What are the possibilities of decorating with handmade tiles? A large number of artisans now create handmade tiles, so you can select from simple, hand-painted “peasant” designs to whimsical animals and shapes or exquisite pieces of fine art. Because handmade tiles are inherently small, your opportunities to decorate with them are endless. Not restricted solely to floors, backsplashes and shower walls, handmade tiles lend themselves to any number of interesting locations. Below are some design ideas to set a spark to your own inner decorator.
Backsplashes (of course!)
Since backsplashes are rather limited in area, a great idea is to run a single-hued tile over the whole wall or kitchen but add handmade accent tiles behind the stove. A diamond pattern with square tiles or a mosaic of small geometric shapes set in a field of subway tile will grab the approval of any guest and give the chef something to gaze upon while stirring the sauce.
Fireplace Surrounds
If your fireplace has no mantel, a line of tile up and over the firebox relieves the monotony of the wall and competes with the fire for your attention. If you do have a mantel, installing tile across the face of it can take it from ordinary to extraordinary. Do you have a stone or brick façade around the fireplace? How about insetting unique handmade tiles in a random pattern within the façade in contrasting colors or hand painted designs?
Stair Risers
If you have hardwood or tile flooring, handmade tiles across the stair risers make the frequent treks up the stairs fun and interesting. Use artisan tiles that carry the color scheme and theme of the adjacent room to the next floor.
Floors
Even commercially-produced tile floors are enchanting in any setting. But insetting handmade pieces of unique shapes and colors can make the floor pop under your feet. Consider a mosaic of geometric shapes, mural scenes or angular diamonds. Maybe a neutral color in the field with a border of another shape and color would render a cozy feeling to your dining area.
Bathrooms
When properly sealed against water, handmade tiles create a truly unique shower enclosure, floor or wall art. Worked into a classy but more ordinary background of field tiles, use handmade tiles to accent and contribute splashes of color on the floor or around the mirror. Use it on the countertop, too, and blend your accent theme together. Unique tiles at eye level in the shower give you a feeling of living in a luxury resort.
Outdoor
Handmade tiles inset into your stucco will delight your guests and anyone who comes knocking. Border the door or set them in a clustered pattern nearby to capture their admiration for your taste.
When it comes to decorating with handmade tiles, you really can’t go wrong. In this age where products are advantageously mass-produced, everyone now loves to see something unique and off-the-grid that has been lovingly and patiently built by the hands of artists. We invite you to come visit one of our showrooms nearest you — you can find our locations here. See all of the amazing products we carry and consult with our in-house design representatives for even more decorating ideas.