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Tile tips for your kitchen design

From ceramic to marble, slate to stone, with so many tiles to choose from, tiling your kitchen can be daunting. If you’re completely redesigning your kitchen, it’s tempting to focus more on choosing appliances than the small details like tiles, but they can be the key to your kitchen’s new look and if chosen correctly, will enhance your kitchen beautifully. Here are some things to consider when shopping for kitchen tiles.

Different materials have different qualities

Ceramic tiles
One of the reasons ceramic tiles are so popular in kitchens is their durability. Dropping plates or cutlery, for example, won’t leave a mark. Ceramic tiles withstand lots of traffic and don’t soak up moisture. They can even be slip-resistant with the right finish. Another huge benefit of ceramic tiles is that they are fireproof, which is particularly important in the kitchen.

Porcelain tiles
Similarly to ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles have low water absorption which means they are less likely to be stained. Typically a popular choice for bathroom floors, porcelain is a popular choice for bathroom tiling, although the fact that porcelain tiles are easy to maintain with no polishing or sealing means they are great for kitchens.

Natural stone tiles
Natural stone tiles are popular choices for kitchens due to their wild variations in color and quality. Each tile is completely unique and can look really beautiful as a surface, but it’s important to do your homework when looking for colors. Granite is a popular choice for kitchens, the hardest natural stone and a good natural water repeller.

Color

Create a color scheme
When choosing a colour scheme for your kitchen, a good rule of thumb is to aim for two dominant colors and one accent color, which will enable the room to become whole with separate pieces of color and adds depth to the composition. You may also consider painting your kitchen cabinets or furniture, such as a wooden table and chairs, to match your tile choices.

Choose countertop first
Before choosing your floor or wall tiles, you should first pick out a material and color for your countertops, since they are usually what people notice first when walking into your kitchen. When you come to choosing your flooring, take a sample of your countertop with you to ensure colors are coordinated.

Create contrast
The best kitchen designs have a balance of tones and materials. For example, white is a popular color for cabinets and tile backsplash, but by also using white tiles on your kitchen floor, the room will go from feeling light and fresh to institutional. Try to use a combination of light, medium and dark tones, for example, by matching floors and countertops and having cabinets as a secondary color, or vice versa.

Style

Retro
Retro style kitchens are quickly coming back into fashion and can be the key to making your kitchen pop. Classic and sophisticated, black and white floor tiles are a must-have in retro decorating and also have a timeless appeal that can be paired with more contemporary and traditional style accessories. You can also add a hint of colour by choosing a contrasting tile backsplash.

Modern
If your preference is a modern kitchen, emphasizing grey, black and white in your tile choices will keep your kitchen looking sleek. Pairing granite or marble countertops with stainless steel appliances creates an elegant feel. If you want to design a modern kitchen with a little more color, add a bright mosaic tile backsplash or pick out a vibrant floor finish.

Traditional
The traditional kitchen design is warm and classic and can be interpreted according to your taste. Shades of chocolate brown are a popular choice for floors and countertops, while deep blues and rich reds give a hint of colour on cabinets or accent areas. You might see marble, brick, stone and even wood on the backsplash.

Top 5 tips for making your tile and stone floors sparkle

If you’re looking for a natural look for your floor, which adds character and sparkle to your home, our tile and stone ranges are a great choice. To keep that sparkle all year round, it’s important to know how to clean your floors properly, particularly during the busy summer months. Here we’ve put together our top tips for keeping your floors happy.

Ensure flooring is properly sealed

Your flooring installer should do this, but prompt them to be sure. Also make sure the area between the flooring and wall is caulked to prevent moisture from damaging the floor beneath, which may rot and cause flooring to become soft.

Use the right vacuum

Why? Because sand, grit and dirt are abrasive and can damage your floor’s surface. Use a vacuum, but be sure to use an attachment with a brush or soft surface to avoid scratching the finish. Our Microfiber Cleaning Pad, does just as good a job!

Use doormats at all entrances

Doormats prevent dirt and moisture being tracked onto your floor. While vacuuming is great, keeping the dirt out in the first place is even better! Keep them clean by running a vacuum over weekly.

Easy on the soap!

Damp mopping your tile or stone floor will keep it looking shiny and new. Use soap, rather than detergent, but be sure to rinse well. Too much cleaner or soap can leave a film and cause streaks. Also avoid products containing lemon juice, vinegar or acids, which dull your tiles.

Dry quickly after mopping

What happens when you wet the floor and someone walks through it? The new dirt will quickly set in wet areas, soon becoming hard-to-remove grimes. Use a dry mop straight after to avoid this happening.

Slate A Great Flooring Option

Flooring is an integral part of the house, which can significantly affect its appearance. Hence, it is vital to select the right flooring option for your home, which can make it look more attractive and appealing. Among the various flooring options available, more and more people are opting for slate, for residential as well as commercial buildings. Owing to its versatility and aesthetic appeal, it is increasingly being used in interiors as well as exteriors. Not only is it a feasible flooring option, but is also a great option for the walls, ceilings and roofs.

Slate adds elegance and sophistication to an interior, which other flooring options cannot. This sturdy natural-stone flooring option is formed when minute particles of silt and clay bind under high pressure and temperature. Owing to this process, slate gets its monolithic and ultra-fine texture. It is generally gray in color, but can also have shades of blue or green on it. However, it is also available in other colors like purple, brown and white pink, among others. You can make use of slate’s different shades of color for creating unique designs for your flooring. Along with its diversity in colors, slate tiles are also found in varied shapes, thicknesses and finishes. You can combine these variable attributes to your advantage and come up with different flooring ideas for house.

In comparison to various other flooring options, slate is a more durable and long lasting material. Once installed, it can last for many years and you may not have to replace it with any other flooring; thus, proving cost advantage. Additionally, it also has low maintenance requirements, unlike some other flooring options such as hardwood flooring. Slate is also resistant to dirt, and requires regular mopping with mild detergent cleaning.

The fine molecular structure of slate renders several advantages over other flooring options. Along with being tough, it is also resistant to moisture, which guarantees firm footing and avoids slipping or gliding. Owing to this, slate is a great flooring option for high traffic areas, or areas that are exposed to water, like hallways, porches, kitchen and bathrooms. In addition, this anti-stain flooring option is also bacteria and allergen resistant, thereby reducing the risk of diseases. To top it all, slate is quite affordable as compared to most of the other available flooring options, like marble and granite.

Due to the various advantages offered by it, slate proves to be a great flooring option that can enhance the appearance of any décor. However, an important thing which one should always keep in consideration is that the installation must be done in the right manner. If the installation is not done properly, flooring may be susceptible to breakage.

Since slate is a heavy natural stone, it needs to be installed correctly on a strong, solid subfloor instead of a flexible subfloor. Once properly installed, it will last for several years, without much maintenance requirements. Hence, if you are planning to install new flooring, you should opt for slate, which has become a preferred flooring choice of many people.

To seal use Slate Sealer by Glaze n Seal that offers unsurpassed low gloss protection for slate, quarry, tile, and other dense tile. This easy to apply, fast drying, non-yellowing acrylic provides a barrier against oil, water, based stains, acids, and efflorescence indoors and outdoors. With excellent UV and abrasion resistance.

Solutions for Small Kitchens

Many homeowners face the problem of not having enough space in their kitchens. Due to the shortage of space, one may either collide with things kept in the kitchen or step on someone else’s toe while trying to reach something. Moreover, one does not even feel like cooking in such a small space. Additionally, one also has to adjust various kitchen items in the tiny space, making it cluttered and untidy.

In case you also have a small kitchen and face such problems daily, there are certain useful steps that can help you overcome space constraint. Foremost, you can make use of various designing tips to create an illusion of space. An easy way of achieving this is through proper lighting, such as, take measures to maximize any natural light by keeping the blinds up and curtains back. In case you wish to add more lights, but do not want to take up any valuable space, you can install lights under the cabinet. Apart from this, you can also use light colored walls, curtains, blinds and cabinets, to make the room look more open.

You must also ensure maximum use of available space in a proper manner. Foremost, you should take a look around your kitchen and sort out things as per the frequency of their use. Things that you do not use frequently like juicer or food processing machine, can be removed from the kitchen and stored somewhere else, such as the store room or garage. The next thing that you need to focus upon is the arrangement of things, such as you should keep the cooking utensils and oven mits near the stove. You must keep all the necessary and most used items in an easily accessible place, so that one does not collide with other things or people.

You always have the option of arranging various kitchen items in cabinets that can easily accommodate numerous things. However, if the cabinet is not large enough to solve the space problem, you can install lazy susans and dividing trays in these cabinets. This is also an effective solution in case one is not able to maintain different cabinets for specific group of items. Incorporating ample storage facility is probably the most effective and easiest way of overcoming space problem in small kitchens. Besides, you can even opt for hang up pots and pans that empties a lot of space in the cabinets.

Apart from this, you can also have deeper counters as these not only increase work space, but can also accommodate more items. Additionally, to minimize the use of space, you can select drop table, small sized round table or built-in counter along the wall. It is always advisable to install a large kitchen sink, as it is very convenient and suitable for washing pots and pans.

With the advancement in technology, now you have access to various compact and space saving appliances. Numerous brands are designing products for small kitchens, such as microwaves that can be hung underneath cabinets. You also have the option of choosing refrigerators that are 24 inches deep instead of 30 inches deep.

Making use of these simple measures can help you overcome the problem associated with small kitchens.

Basement flooring options

Choosing the right flooring for your home is vital, but selecting right ‘basement flooring’ is all the more important. When it comes to selecting the appropriate flooring for your basement, it is important to take into consideration all the challenges, especially that of moisture and flooding. Basements generally have high moisture content, which can actually damage the installed flooring. Hence, before you choose any basement flooring option, you need to figure out an alternative for the problem of moisture.

Other than this many basements face the problem of flooding, and there are very few flooring options that can withstand the damages caused by it. Hence, it is advisable to eliminate this problem before you spend money on installing your basement floor.

Basements are generally used for the purpose of storage, hence are not accessed too frequently; though some homeowners also use it for other purposes. The use of basement is an important factor in deciding the right flooring option. If your basement is relegated to a storage area only, then you can select concrete flooring. It is the most common flooring option chosen by many homeowners because of its high durability. Concrete can easily withstand a lot of pressure and last for a lifetime. Though it is inexpensive compared to other flooring options, it lacks the aesthetic value. To overcome this, you can add thick carpeting over it, only if the basement is dry and has no moisture or flooding problem. Carpets are available in different sizes, colors, designs and patterns, which soften the look of the concrete floor basement.

If your basement is not merely a store room, then you can use ceramic tiles for flooring. A good alternative to concrete flooring; ceramic tiles are available in an assortment of colors and can make your basement aesthetically appealing. Moreover, tiles are resistant to moisture, thereby solving the problem of moisture as well.

Tiles are highly durable and easy to install, and can be done so without professional guidance. Another great option is laminate flooring, which beautifully imitates the hardwood flooring. The biggest advantage of using laminate flooring is its sound-resisting capability. This helps in reducing the noise coming from the basement, especially if you are using it as a game room or a ‘mini-theater’. Only precaution that you need to take is to use a high grade laminate that can withstand the traffic as well as moisture in the basement.

You can even opt for engineered flooring which is made up of three to five layers of hardwood. Despite the layered construction, it is thin and you can add extra insulation if you want. It also offers higher resistance to moisture and traffic. Apart from this, you can even use rubber or foam mats. These mats are resistant to moisture and also have noise insulating capability which makes these a good choice for busy basements with high traffic and activity.

Hence, depending upon the use of the basement and budget, you can choose amongst any of these flooring options.

Tag: ceramic tiles

Tile tips for your kitchen design

Different materials have different qualities

Color

Style

Top 5 tips for making your tile and stone floors sparkle

Slate A Great Flooring Option

Solutions for Small Kitchens

Basement flooring options

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