Oh, there are so many details to think of when remodeling the
kitchen. So many parts, pieces, materials, and the people! Who does
this, who should do that? Between the architect, interior designer,
contractor, kitchen designer, there are way too many cooks in the
kitchen!  Things can easily be missed.

Hi there, it’s time for notes from the kitchen designer!

Take
this kitchen. This is a nice kitchen. I designed the kitchen, those
niches around the kitchen, lots of good detail for a family who wanted
to celebrate an Italian theme. In a big way! The client hired an
interior designer, who took over the tile work in the kitchen. That’s
fine with me, the client is the boss! To my dismay, (at first horror,
but maybe that’s a bit dramatic) upon seeing the tile medallion over
the cooktop, after my inaudible gasp, I just sighed.

Out of proportion…..Out of Scale…..Out of balance

First
off, the medallion should have been smaller, if a medallion was called
for at all. What about a rectangle or a rectangle with an arch at the
top to more logically follow the lines above the cooktop? The top of the medallion is
hidden above the hood! This is not just unfortunate, this is bad
design. An expensive mistake.  An obviously ineffective focal point. A
completely needless mistake as well.

Take the other image of
the ovens (unfinished). Notice the niche, and notice that the tile extends beyond
the niche.  And, notice the very small amount of tile on each side of the decorative tile. There is no relationship
of "lines" running vertically, as, of course, there should be. We call
this a "frame of reference", to find like minded design elements to work off of. In this case, there is no frame of reference. The tile should have been situated next to
the oven to line up with the niche, and if that could not be done, a
different tile should have been selected to make this work, as the
niche was in place already.

SO, how could this have been avoided? Very simply. Two ways. First, the client could have asked to see tile designs that the interior designer has done to evaluate tile design experience. Just like I, as a kitchen designer, do not do fabrics and furniture, because it is not my area of expertise, many interior designers do not do tile work, and if it is done only on occasion, bad things can happen!

Secondly, the client could have asked for drawings of how the tile would look. This would be another chance to expose potential design flaws.

Be careful with tile out there!!