Most people think of tile first as functional – entryway and bathroom floors and the walls that surround showers and bathtubs. There are some incredible tiles available today that offer much more than function. They're beautiful, they're colorful and they offer many creative ways to spice up your home with color, that also serves a function.
Why do we think of tile as functional? It's because tile doesn't mind getting wet. When you want to decorate your kitchen, a tile mural like the one shown here offers the beauty of a piece of art, while being practical as it's easy to wash. You can also make matching tile trivet's for serving hot dishes as you take them out of the over … how practical is that?
Tile Tips for Homeowners Who Move
… by Mindy Sommers, ColorBakery and Tina Gleisner, Assn of Women Home Owners
Tile is such an exciting material to work with, we want to share some creative solutions to questions homeowners keep asking over and over. If you have a question we haven't answered, email [email protected] and we'll find a solution for you.
Question: I want a tile mural but what happens if I move?
Mindy often gets asked this question at the ColorBakery.com. She and I were chatting and decided to co-author this article about creative tile solutions for the home, each of us sharing from personal experiences.
Many customers love the idea of adding a tile mural to their home –- whether it’s a kitchen backsplash or major art piece for their living room wall above the couch. The biggest hurdle usually is, what if you want to move and take the mural with you? Or what if you want the option of changing the tile mural out to replace it with something else someday when redecorating? True, most murals are adhered directly to the wall, but they don’t have to be.
Here is my suggestion, and many color bakery customers have done this with wonderful results. If the mural is not humongous (say, three feet or less), you can buy a piece of plywood at your local hardware store and mount the tiles on the wood. Leave enough space around the mural so you can screw (nails not recommended as they can pull out of the wall too easily) the tile mural to the wall properly. The board must be screwed into the wall studs behind the drywall in order to support the weight of the tiles. You can locate the wall studs using an electronic stud finder (learn how to find your walls studs). You can then paint the extra half inch or inch of wood to match your walls, or cover it with a lovely decorative trim. Walla! You now have a portable mural you can take with you when you move!
The tile mural pictured here is called “Languid Journeys”. The design was recolored in blue for a client and the photograph was made available courtesy of Alex in Hong Kong. It is actually the custom when buying a new home in Hong Kong to gut and replace everything including the kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures.
Mindy Sommers, colorbakery.com is a versatile artist, designer and author paving new ways to creatively mix artistic design with tile. Their work has gained recognition on major home decor sites and you will find their products in many of the finest home decor stores and art galleries across the US.
Question: I plan to place tiles in the center of my island but what if one cracks?
Tina discovered this solution many years ago when Corian was a fairly new material for kitchen counter tops. The Corian only came in 2 ft widths so to save money, a design was crafted to place tile in the center of the island with one foot of Corian on either side. The functional benefit is the tile supports hot dishes and so many people have adopted the design.
The biggest fear in creating this counter top layout is what happens if one of the tiles cracks and needs to be replaced. While it has not happened to Tina in the last 15 years, the tile is supported on it's own sheet of plywood which is screwed to the cabinet base below. The tile board can be removed at any time without affecting the rest of the island.
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