Kitchen tile

I love tile. Love, love, love it. I've been picking up tile - azulejos and Iznik and Delft - since long before I had anywhere to put it.

Now I have a kitchen! What to do, what to do? There will be tile on the backsplash, of course, and also tile all the way up the facing wall, starting above the pop-up counters and wainscoting (see previous post) and continuing to the ceiling molding.

One idea - in keeping with the Mission cabinet style - is relief tile. L'Esperance tile, which is designed and handmade in Saratoga Springs, NY, has some lovely things:




















They're 6x6, and they're not so unreasonable as accent tiles. She'll do them in a range of glaze colors (more decisions!).

I lust after the hand-glazed field tiles to match:















Though I could also use stock ceramic field tile, of course.

Almost by accident, I'm buying (mostly) American: cabinet doors made in Pittsburgh, tile made in upstate New York, a bathtub made in Texas (that's where Sanijet's only factory is). That makes me happy.

If I go for stone countertops (a whole 'nother post) maybe they'll be serpentine from Vermont Danby

or New England granite from Rock of Ages (and not just because I love the name!)

By the way, while I was looking for tile online, I found an odd relic of global capitalism: apparently the best place in the world to get antique European tile is Uruguay. Yes, Uruguay. As the seller (who rejoices in the name Weinstijl, in Uruguay!) explains, back when Uruguay was riding high, in the late 19th and early 20th century, the wealthy imported "large quantities of rich material" profligately from Europe. Now Fortune's wheel has turned, and the mansions of Montevideo stand empty. Enter Weinstijl, who salvages their beautiful tiles to resell online. Some of the stuff he has is really stunning - whole sets of tiles like these and these - but imagine the shipping!