Choosing Kitchen Tiles
Kitchen tiles for a backsplash – choosing the right colour can be an absolute nightmare, do you play it safe or be daring?
You’ve decided on the type of kitchen units you want to have plus the co-ordinated worktop, be it granite, corian, quartz, solid wood or laminate and now it’s time to choose your choice of top kitchen wall tiles. What on earth should you pick?
Colour shading for wall tiles
The choice of colour for kitchen tiles will tend to fall into either one of two categories – neutrals or whites.
Neutral shading will introduce creams, browns, beiges, terracotta, pale greens, salmon pinks and similar shades of tiles. These kitchen tile colours are perfectly suited to wood kitchens such as ash, beech, maple, walnut and oak. A popular choice is the Mediterraneo range of kitchen tiles which although ceramic have a travertine effect, with each tile different in design to create the perfect natural stone look. You can either stick to one design which will highlight the light and dark shades within that one colourway or mix the various colours together.
Mediterraneo Range of Kitchen Tiles
For white shading, this starts with the monochrome palette but it can be supplemented by bright colours, ie. white, grey and black plus blues, greens and reds. These colours work well with white kitchens in either a matt or gloss finish. So if you are looking to be daring and make a statement in your new kitchen, check out the Mexicana range of kitchen tiles which are available in a rich blue, red, pearlised white, mid grey, dark grey and black variety.
Mexicana Range of Kitchen Tiles
Kitchen tiles are available in a variety of different formats. What do you need to consider?
Square or rectangular kitchen tiles?
Lately, kitchen tiles have moved away from traditional 6″ square ones (15cm x 15cm) to smaller 4″ tiles (10cm x 10cm), although a few designs are still available in 6″ such as Breda Blanco or the Cuarzo range. There has also been a recent trend towards towards rectangular tiles for a kitchen, either matt or gloss and with either a flat or bevelled finish. Will you be fitting square or rectangular floor tiles – should they be the same shape? Choosing a brick shape tile tends to be a personal choice – you either love them or hate them.
Shiny gloss or matt kitchen tiles?
There is no difference in the ease of cleaning a shiny or matt tile, they will both clean the same, so don’t let this be your deciding factor. A shiny gloss kitchen tile will reflect the light which might be a consideration in a galley style kitchen or one with little natural light. Are all the other surfaces in your kitchen gloss, ie. the worktop, units and floor tiles – don’t forget to consider this.
Hopefully this has given you a few kitchen tile ideas and things to consider when deciding on your choice of wall tiles, you can also check out the full range of kitchen tiles at Creative Tiles and Laminates.
I have just put in a new kitchen.
I have a black range cooker with a black hood.
The units are cream.
The floor black slate laminate and the worktops black.
Lots of LED lighting about.
What colour/type of tiles would recommend and what colour for the walls.
I want a sleek modern contemporary look.
Hello John,
All of your colours are already modern and contemporary so you won’t need much to finish off.
For the walls I would recommend a white or pale cream to keep them neutral and accentuate the modern colours of the kitchen.
For the tiles you could also go black although this may be a little dark given the colour of your floor. If you do go black a white grout is the finish to make them really stand out, see :
http://www.fitcreative.co.uk/product/4020/ktazuner/kitchen-wall-tiles/black-white-grey/azulejo-nero-brillo-kitchen-wall-tile
My personal favourite (and the most daring )is RED for behind the cooker with a diamond white for the other areas, see :
http://www.fitcreative.co.uk/product/4050/ktmexroj/kitchen-wall-tiles/colours/mexicana-rojo-kitchen-wall-tile
After that a cream or white will do the job but go for that WOW with a bold colour behind the cooker.
Good luck with your project.
Just finalising my new kitchen and v similar to above.
White gloss units. Black Matt tops (skate coloured floor and white walls)
And I’ve gone for a red hob splashback as you suggest!
But should the wall tiles above work surface be gloss (I’m thinking of small mosaic effect greys/white/black) or 4×4 larger tiles on the same colours … But Matt?