">HomeOwnerNut

I have a love for tile– stone, ceramic, painted, patterned, and any other way you can imagine– that no amount of hours spent on my hands and knees grouting my basement floor can diminish. Apparently. And believe me while I tell you I’ve been testing the limits of that theory in the last couple of weeks.

While I was writing an article about how to tile a floor without screwing it up, it occurred to me that actually, tiling is so easy that it may be possible you can’t screw it up.

And, that idea just died a miss-matched, grout filled death.

Let me revise that statement – using the proper tools, and spending just a small amount of time learning about the technique ahead of time– and it would be very hard to screw up the actual laying and grouting of tile.

That being said, sometimes even the best of us tend to go a little crazy when given free reign over the design of things. I think the best plan of action if you’re tackling your first tile-job is to start with a little inspiration that will lead you to a place of tile AWESOME and not, um…  the alternative.

In the Kitchen:

Stone and ceramic mixed in non-traditional sizes. Nevermind cooking in the kitchen, this backsplash makes my mouth water.

Something else that looks good enough to eat? The floor to ceiling ceramic around the stove in this Victorian home (courtesy of Hooked on Houses) .

In the Bath:

Mixing tile with bead-board to add a splash of something special to this bathroom? Genius! (And not just because I’m totally stealing this idea.)

Or, for a more nature-inspired spa-like feel, standing river rock. And hey, no grout… coming from someone who is still pulling gray clumps of sand out of her hair, that’s got to be considered a bonus.

Everywhere else:

It’s not just about 12×12 square tiles anymore. These Ferroker tiles come in large sizes and with metallic finishes that can be used anywhere in a home.

Move over wallpaper (does anyone actually wallpaper anymore?)  Yakara wenge tiles, also in 12×35  make a great alternative to painting or papering walls.

And don’t let a couple of bad mosaics ruin your creativity. Here is some information from Motawi Tile on assembling tile quilts and murals.

The possibilities are endless. Just don’t let them end like this:

* Thanks to uglyhousephotos for proving to me once and for all that yes, you sure can screw up tile if you try hard enough.