Kitchen Remodel: Custom Tile Mural Backsplash
When we decided to remodel the kitchen, one of the first projects I thought of and one of the last ones to be completed was a custom mural for over the stove. I knew right away which picture I wanted to use. It was the Dream of St. John Bosco as depicted by artist Matthew Brooks. Not only do I love the prophecy behind this painting, but the brightness and contrast of the colors that Brooks rendered it in were stunning. I knew this would be a great piece of teaching art to have in our homeschooling household.
However, I was not sure how to go about getting it on the wall behind my stove. At first I wondered if it was possible to place a copy of the print behind a layer of protective glass, or if it would be possible to have it printed on a piece of aluminum that would withstand the high heat behind a stove. But those did not seem like practical options. What I did not realize was possible at first was the that you can have your own custom-designed tile backsplash made from a high-resolution image.
I got in touch with Matthew Brooks and received permission to use his work for the mural for a modest stipend. He agreed to send a high-resolution file directly to the tile design place, once I decided on one.
I tried a couple of different online providers of custom screen-printed tile murals, but the one that was most responsive and pleasant to work with was Tiles By Design out of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Matthew forwarded them the needed file, and Lori at Tiles by Design e-mailed me a proof showing me how the image would look divided up into individual 6" tumbled-marble tiles (I wanted the slightly rough look of the tumbled marble so it would seem more, well, ancient I guess). I placed the order, and within a few days I received a small but very heavy box of tiles, miraculously all intact.
Now that I had the centerpiece of the kitchen, I could finally begin choosing the rest of the design, like the cabinet finish and countertops. Everything was chosen to go along with the mural, even the tile-look laminate flooring which is in colors reminiscent of the ocean.
The backsplash tiles, of course, were the last things to go in. I ordered the stone-look tiles that I had installed over the rest of the countertops from a nearby town, and their installer was able to put in the mural as well, creating a rough border around it with half-pieces of the stone-look tiles. In the end, I was very pleased with the results! Here you see the mural and some of the surrounding kitchen, even one of my kids for whom the mural was chosen.
Above is a view of the backsplash with the island in the foreground. The countertops are quartz. The sunlight coming in the corner window from the kitchen sink area is rather blinding.
Here's the mural shown with one of the reasons I chose this image... I like my kids to be surrounded by teaching images, and this tells a vivid lesson about the nature of the Church:
