Modern Kitchen Tile Design Ideas

Modern ceramic tile designs and colored grout give a dramatic decorating effect to the kitchen.

Tile has been around for many years and has been used in various areas of the kitchen. With all the new materials for tile, you can easily create a modern design. Use your imagination to develop the perfect tile design that suits your style in your kitchen.

Backsplash

The most obvious use for tile in the kitchen is for a backsplash. The choices for tile have come a long way and now include modern materials like glass and metal. Glass tiles, made from recycled glass, come in finishes ranging between glossy to flat. Creating an entire glass backsplash or just adding a few intermittently with ceramic tiles produces a sparkling accent to the rest of the kitchen. Glass tiles paired with large windows or glass-front cabinets put more focus on the translucent effect.

Metal tiles can be found in stainless steel and copper. With the popular stainless steel appliances and countertops, metal backsplashes in various textured tile designs creates a perfect match.

Countertop

Even though there are many other countertop choices besides traditional tile, many homeowners still admire the timeless beauty of tile countertops. Tile for countertops is made from ceramic, porcelain or granite. The biggest problem of tile for countertops is keeping the grout clean and sanitary. It is imperative to properly seal grout. Using larger tiles means less area of grout and therefore less cleaning and sealing. Colored grout is also a popular idea instead of using white grout, which shows stains and discoloration.

Wall Designs

A beautiful mosaic or other tile design adhered to the kitchen wall is a masterpiece that never goes out of style. Place the tile design above your backsplash behind the stove or on a plain wall. Mosaics and tile designs can follow a decorating theme in your kitchen or just be and abstract arrangement of tiles. Surround a kitchen fireplace or window with a tile design that draws attention to a specific area of the kitchen to display the mosaic or favorite art. Create a picture frame of sorts out of tile that encases the mosaic or a window and is used in place of a traditional wood window frame. Add ceiling spotlights to shine on your tile design.

Floor

Faux hardwood porcelain tiles offer a great flooring option that looks like real wood but is more durable and less fussy than wood floors. Faux wood tiles come in 2-, 3- and 4-inch planks and are a perfect solution for kitchen floors with a lot of traffic. Traditional ceramic tiles in large squares arranged on the floor also give a modern look. These tiles, although gorgeous to look at, may be cold and hard on legs and feet for standing on for long periods of time.

References

• HGTV: Style Your Kitchen with the Latest in Tile
• HGTV: Choosing Countertops: Tile