Choose the Right Kitchen Backsplash

When designing and selecting materials for your new kitchen backsplash, consider functionality along with beauty. Maintenance is a turnoff for many homeowners. Once installed, they want it to take care of themselves. Materials such as ceramic or porcelain tile, stainless steel, glass and stone can be crafted into beautiful backsplashes that require little or no maintenance. Altering how an older backsplash appears or designing one from scratch serves as a quick and efficient method of brightening up your kitchen without extensive work.

When selecting a kitchen backsplash, it is important to consider the kinds of fixtures, not appliances, you have in your kitchen. Since the appliances will be replaced over time, they are less essential to bear in mind. The fixtures, being more permanent items in the kitchen, are important to remember. A tile or tint of glass may match a paint color in the room, but if it clashes with the finish on a light or cabinet door fixture, the work will not look professionally done.

A desirable aspect concerning the use of tile as a backsplash is the large selection of colors, sizes, shapes and textures that are available. You could even request a custom painted tile job to match any design theme you have or want in your kitchen. Also, tile is easy to install and clean. Multiple experts of design suggest that if you have a tiled floor then you should choose the same tile for your kitchen backsplash in a smaller size. This simplifies things if you have trouble making design decisions. Similarly, if you have a natural stone countertop, continuing the counter up the wall makes a simple, consistent backsplash in your kitchen. Stone does require occasional resealing, but the small amount of maintenance is made up for in the beauty of stone. For country kitchen styles, metal backsplashes work very well. Fixtures in the room should be noted when selecting appropriate metal tiles so they do not clash with one another.

Trendy choices are available, as well. Stainless steel backsplashes create a modern, sleek look in your kitchen. This might be one case where considering the appliances could be important. Stainless steel refrigerators, stoves and dishwashers are common and in style. Stainless steel backsplashes act to compliment these appliances. One fresh design trend used everywhere these days, including kitchen backsplashes, is glass. It is often a good decision to install glass tiles to extend all the way up to the cabinets from the counters. Glass is easy to maintain and is scratch resistant. With the numerous choices on the market, you should find no limitations in selecting just the right material and style for your kitchen.

Listellos and Decos Add Emphasis to Your Tile Backsplash

Listellos and decoratives, or decos, are ornamental tiles designed to create a distinctive look. Differing shapes, colors, textures and materials provide contrast within a series of tile work. A limitless variety of tiles can be used including travertine, granite, marble, slate, glass, and porcelain. They can be used in borders, backsplashes, floor medallions and murals.

A Listello is a narrow tile used to accent an otherwise generic set of tiles. Listellos were used anciently, as far back as 400 BC. Back then it was used as long narrow bands running along the façade of a building. This ancient idea is used in modern times as a scaled down, decorative border, usually used inside the home in conjunction with other wall tiles. A deco is a dramatically designed tile used as an accent among other field tiles. Used often on fireplace mantles, wainscoting, or as floor medallions, decos add areas of interest amid analogous tiles.

Kitchen and bathroom decoration is the number one equity builder in a home. Listellos and decos can dramatically change the most uninteresting tile layout into a design statement with a worthwhile investment. Listello borders provide a center of interest and much-needed emphasis, the level of which is determined by the scale, color and design of the listello. What kind of effect do you want to achieve? A bold selection will seem daring while a subtle, smaller scale choice appears more graceful. To help save money, consider using listellos and decos with a cheaper assortment of field tiles. The combined effect will still look elegant without straining your wallet.

When selecting a color scheme, consider the amount of emphasis you are going for. If a dominant emphasis is your goal, high contrasting colors within the same space could be ideal. Alternately, if a more subtle emphasis is desired, matching listellos and decos to the surrounding tile or choosing muted tones will be the way to achieve that look. Saturation, or color intensity, can give the illusion of depth. A warm color or light tone will seem to project while a cool color or dark tone will appear to recede. Decide on the effect you would like to create and match other colors in the room to this decision. Start with something monochromatic, or all one color, and see what looks best. When it comes to enhancing your home's tile work, installing listellos and decos is the way to go.