Splash with Color

Armed with a palette like no other, Modwalls is ready to create your perfect Midcentury Modern kitchen with tiles for every taste.

Looking for the perfect tile backsplash? Trying to decide between contrasting or complementary grout? The experts at Modwalls share tips and tricks for creating a tile look for every taste.

Finding the perfect backsplash is both design bliss and decision overload, especially when you discover that Modwalls, a Midcentury Modern tile company, offers 103 color options. Thankfully Nicole Whitley, president of Modwalls, loves to help clients pair artisanal tile with their kitchen vision.

CHOOSING COLOR

Even with so many color options, Modwalls’ Kiln Ceramic tile is a useful trailhead. “Figuring out how you want to feel when you walk into a room really is the starting point,” Nicole says. “In my kitchen, I want that pop of color to be really bright and upbeat and cheery, so that would lead me to chartreuses and blues and oranges.”

“Figuring out how you want to feel when you walk into a room really is the starting point.”

Maybe you crave a warm splash of sunshine, like Nicole, or maybe you want to relax in cool, moonlit tones. It’ll take some mixing and matching to create your ideal ambience, but you’ll find that perfect pairing. Your instincts are more honed than you think.

GROUT STRATEGIES

With tile shape, size and material to choose, you might feel that grout is inconseQuential. You’re not alone; this underestimated design element is often left until the end. It’s Just filler, right? But you know that isn’t the whole story.

Considering grout from the very beginning will save you stress and help punctuate your design. If you want to show off that chevron, hexagon, or wedge, find a contrasting grout color. Nicole says it will “pop the pattern, pop the textural element and make the geometry stand out.”

On the flip side, “if you’re trying to emphasize the color of the tile … you’re going to choose a complementary color of grout,” Nicole notes. And if you dislike grout lines in general, a

4" x 12" subway tile will serve you best because “it covers a lot more of your surface area with glass.” The color feels unified, without interruption or distraction.

SAMPLE EVERYTHING

The Modwalls team encourages homeowners to test their choices, so bring samples of both tile and grout into your kitchen before finalizing an order. “Things look really different on a website, and we can’t control what people’s screens look like,” Nicole notes. “We do have a wonderful team, and they’re knowledgeable and patient and happy to work with clients for as many rounds as it takes to get them exactly what they want.”

Photography courtesy of Modwalls

THE BRIO GLASS MOSAIC ENCAPSULATES THE VIBRANCY OF MIDCENTURY MODERN DESIGN. THOUGH IT MAKES A POPPING BACKSPLASH, BRIO IS ONE OF THE FEW GLASS TILES THAT CAN BE USED NEARLY EVERYWHERE—INCLUDING FLOORS, POOLS AND FIREPLACES.

ABOVE: LUSH BRINGS A DEPTH OF COLOR THAT YOU CAN ONLY GET WITH GLASS TILE. THIS KITCHEN FEATURES 4" X 12" SUBWAY TILE IN “SURF.” BELOW RIGHT: SMALL PATTERNS MELT INTO THE BACKGROUND, BUT THEIR IMPACT IS NOT LOST. MODDOTZ SET THE MOOD WITH TEXTURE AND TONE.

FOR MORE, VISIT ATOMIC-RANCH.COM. CORKDOTZ IS A BELOVED MULTITASKER. THIS PORTUGUESE RECYCLED CORK DAMPENS SOUND, INSULATES ROOMS, AND ITS ANTI-MICROBIAL PROPERTIES HELP IT WEATHER THE HEAT AND STEAM OF A WELL-USED STOVETOP.

“WHAT REALLY COMES TO MIND FOR ME WHEN I THINK MIDCENTURY MODERN IS GEOMETRY, LINES AND POPS OF COLOR,” NICOLE SAYS. THESE KILN CHEVRON TILES HIT ALL THE RIGHT NOTES, WITH SHARP LINES AND A VIBRANT TEAL AGATE.