Add splash to your kitchen and create flow in your home

There are some wonderful products available in the marketplace for maximizing the wow factor in every element of your home, including tiles and other materials to bring splash into your kitchen – literally, via the kitchen backsplash.

You’ll find the classic white kitchen in many home decor magazines right now (Ikea Canada’s website kitchen home page), etc., but there are other things to consider when wanting to take your likes and longevity into account.

{credit}

For example, I recently assisted a client with their almost whole-home update when they purchased a 1960s bungalow. The kitchen had been updated by a previous owner, and while the colour choices did not relate all that well to what was going on in the rest of the house, it did not make sense for my client to update the kitchen at this time.

This is a ‘before’ shot; ie. the kitchen as my clients purchased it. Notice the choice of a previous owner to install a backsplash tile that matched the floor tiles: please do not do this! Tile manufacturers may (unfortunately) make such products and present them to you in a ‘seems-like-a-good-idea’ way, but in addition to looking cheap, it’s an incredibly boring choice. You’d be better off with a 4” backsplash out of the same material as your countertop and painted drywall.

So – what to do. My clients wanted to put as little money into the kitchen as possible, since many other areas in the home were in greater need of renovating/updating. The “other things to consider” before making my recommendation were:

1) What is going on in the room itself? In this example of my client’s kitchen, I felt that using more modern or white backsplash tiles wouldn’t look right and wouldn't do anything to enhance what was already going on, ie. black granite countertops and blond maple cabinetry.


2) How does the room relate to the rest of the home, or at least the main room(s) nearest it?

In this case, the kitchen – which is adjacent to an open plan dining / living room – is visible as soon as you enter the house. The floors in the adjacent rooms are a medium brown, with more medium and dark browns being used in furniture and accessories.

And I of course took my clients’ overall tastes into consideration: while they lean towards traditional looks, they like an element of funkiness and fun, and a feeling of comfort and accessibility.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I carefully selected 4 individual glass tiles from my samples supply and created a custom-blend glass backsplash tile for them.


Let's break down how the chosen tile enhances the space and creates flow:

• the darker gold tile speaks to the cabinetry colour
• the brown colour speaks to the flooring in the rooms adjacent to the kitchen
• the copper colour complements the black granite and blond maple, while adding some punch ‘n panache (it also very much speaks to the funky styling of the female home owner -- she sports a leopard print coat and fabulous orange handbag!)
• and lastly, the light gold colour provides light, neutral spots for the eye to rest (and allows the other colours to stand out)

I enhanced the ‘pop’ of the copper colour with new pendant lighting over the peninsula (almost an animal print, yes?), and new, unique kitchen stools that have ‘hammered’ copper-looking backs and very funky styling in their curvilinear lines. Just wait ‘til the Tobacco-coloured Levelor natural woven blinds are in – they are going to absolutely pull the whole look together and this kitchen will have gone from ho-hum to drum-drum! (that’s drum roll ...)


These are a picture of Levelor’s natural woven shades from their website.
(Stay tuned for ‘after’ pictures of my client’s home when finished – coming soon! )

I will admit that there were a few nay-sayers when this backsplash tile arrived ... I will concede that it’s different and not the kind of thing you’re going to see in the latest home decor mag, but all – and I do mean ALL – the naysayers were converted after it was installed.

What you can’t see too well in the pictures is that there is a sort of ‘mottled’ texture under the glass; it gives an almost ‘leather’ affect to the tile. I’ve tried to capture it in the below picture.

It also has a beautiful shimmer overlay to it all – making it really glisten in the light (and who doesn’t love a backsplash that sparkles?!).

Above all, this new backsplash has the starring role in a 'crew of items' that are bringing wow into this previously bland kitchen. It highly complements what is going on in the room, ties in what is going on in main living areas near it (creating that flow we want), and it emphatically reflects the personal style and tastes of its homeowners.

That’s what I call success with a splash!

Liz

http://www.elizabethrobertsdesign.ca/

Design Challenge: finding common ground when you and your partner have different visions / tastes

I know a couple who did literally divorce after they built a house together. There’s something about the amount of money we spend and the feeling of ‘permanence’ when it comes to renovating or building a new home that gets to us at the core ... we feel like we have only one chance to get it right, and the last thing we want to do with that chance is compromise on our vision and what we want!

[credit: http://www.suite101.com/]

All diplomacy aside, some peoples' taste is really ... not great. Or they’re stuck back in an era that perhaps brings fond memories, but they want to implement that reminiscent decor in a way that is not appealing.

{this is not appealing, in my opinion}

[credit here-on down: http://www.csnstores.com/]

Whether your partner falls into the ‘design-challenged’ camp, or whether you both have great taste and a good eye but simply have widely differing visions for your space, here’s some suggestions for working towards that common ground so that you don’t have the task of re-building your relationship once all the renos are done:

- Make a commitment to each other to keep communications between you respectful. This will take effort on your part to breathe, stay calm, and be willing to ... (see next point)

- Listen. It can be very hard to stop and listen to someone else’s view point when our paradigm is that they are simply wrong / what they want is not the way to go (for all the valid reasons you have ...).

If you can agree to embrace the next point, listening to your partner – I mean really hearing them and not just waiting for them to finish so you can impart your view – will go a long way to each of you feeling respected and validated.

(Because not feeling seen or heard for who we truly are – and accepted – by our partners can cause us to shut down and become resentful.)

{s/he may like this, but s/he doesn't... or vice versa}

- Agree to disagree. This is cliché but the point here is to agree up front that no one and no one’s ideas are bad or wrong. If you can agree that what’s going on is you each have very different ideas and preferences, it ensures no one feels ‘put down’ which again can lead to resentment.

- Be open to new ideas. Maybe you will never be swayed into what your partner wants, but make a pact with yourself to be open to other ideas.

Step back from the colour scheme and/or specific finishings you absolutely insist are “it” and go back to basics: what is the look and feel you want to have (modern, traditional, ethnic, ‘west coast’, calming, energizing, crisp, soft/romantic, etc.).

{it doesn't get more basic than this}

- Commit to being open to consider different ways that would give you the look you want. Find the common grounds and be willing to compromise.

The notion of the latter can produce an immediate “no way!” reaction, but I’m not suggesting that compromising means you give up what you want and implement your partner’s vision.

(And please don’t compromise with the ‘I get the kitchen and s/he gets the livingroom’ method – the best designed homes flow well from room to room [which does not mean they have to all look the same].)

{maybe she wants this...}

Compromising, when there are widely different tastes, means finding an option that you would both be happy with – to do that, start by discovering and writing down what your common grounds are (see below example).

- Consider working with a designer – one who listens well and who has good mediation skills, in addition to great design skills and creativity.

{and he wants this...}

Design example:

- She wants a light, bright and luxurious-feeling bedroom and ensuite bathroom; one where she can feel pampered by her surroundings, to truly relax and rejuvenate after a long day (she envisions lots of white and water-y blue with silver accents).

- He wants dark and dramatic; one where he can feel sensual and funky (he envisions bordeaux, espresso and black with gold accents).

One common ground is they both want an ‘on-trend’ look – not contemporary, but ‘now’. Another common ground is that they agree the design should consider possible re-sale of the home in 5-7 years.

Working with the above scenario, I would suggest:

- For the bedroom, paint walls an oatmeal/sand off-white; do a feature wall behind the bed, using wallpaper with a backdrop colour that is the same off-white as the paint colour, and has a black damask pattern (you would select the paper first, and then match the paint).

Use both black and white furniture, and accessorize with watermelon, turquoise and a bit of chocolate brown. {Floors in an espresso wood finish would complement well.}

This would produce a look that feels modern and rejuvenating (because of its freshness), while funky because of the creative use of colour and the stunning wallpaper.

{this is an example of the overall look only; not exact re: colours}

[credit most pictures in this post: www.csnstores.com]

- For the bathroom, use the same colour scheme, but don’t repeat the damask wallpaper (you could do a chair rail around the room, paint the lower portion a light turquoise and wallpaper the upper portion with a patterned paper that brings the off-white, turquoise and watermelon scheme into the room).

Bring the black & white palette into the floor and shower tiles, and use black accessories.

Use brushed silver or nickel for the fixtures – they’re a better bet keeping re-sale in mind, and more subtle than shiny chrome.

Above all – do not give up on trying to find a common ground, and certainly do not give up on your relationship. You’re living with the person you are presumably because you love them. Nothing is more important than that.

Liz

http://www.elizabethrobertsdesign.ca/