Give Your Home a Facelift Using Stainless Steel Tiles

We have all seen how stainless steel appliances and fixtures can transform our kitchens into modern, sleek rooms that we want to show off to everyone who walks through the front door. However, stainless steel is not just limited to the kitchen anymore! Stainless steel tiles are showing up in more and more places – from the kitchen to the bathroom to even the family room and bedroom. What's the story behind these tiles and how can we use them to give a facelift to our house without breaking our bank account?

Stainless steel tiles are just what you might think they are: tiles designed for both flooring and wall use. They come in a wide variety of finishes, from shiny and smooth to more mellow satin finishes for a muted look. They original concept of metal tiling (including stainless steel) owns its heritage to bathroom designs. Commercial builders looking for ways to make public restrooms easier to maintain and clean used stainless steel tiling for both backsplashes for sinks and for the flooring itself.

Home owners have recently discovered the magic of stainless steel tiles and they are now showing up almost everywhere. In the kitchen they can be found on walls and behind counters providing both backsplash protection that is easy to clean and maintain (not to mention resist rusting) and also on floors to be apart of mosaics and patterns to bring kitchens alive. Though it is rare to see an entire floor or wall covered in stainless steel tiles (after all, we don't want to give the impression our homes are non-descript commercial buildings), designers do use them as accent pieces and as a part of patterns that may co-exist with copper and other metallic tiling.

Don't think that the stainless steel tiles are just plain metallic tiles with a standard finish. Today, they come in a wide variety of finished from woven stainless steel to even pigment impregnated steels that can give you rich blues, wonderful reds and a wide variety of other colors, all while maintaining the excellent properties and long-life spans of stainless steel.

Stainless steels tiles are also finding a home outside the kitchen. Fireplaces and bathrooms are the next two most popular places in a home you will find them. For a fireplace, stainless steel tiles provide not only heat protection to the surrounding floor but can also serve as a striking accent to both the fireplace and the fire within. For bathroom usage, they provide an easy to maintain surface for countertops and as a backsplash to protect walls. Even some shower and tub manufacturers are now starting to roll out setups that feature flooring made of stainless steel.

Stainless steel tiles provide a lifetime of beauty and enjoyment. Thanks to their alloy makeup, they can literally last for decades without having to worry about replacement or repair. Usually protected by a top coating containing a thick layer of chromium (the element that gives stainless steel its “stain less” property) they can resist years of abuse and weather without rusting or showing deep scratching or abrasion.

Stainless steels tiles can breathe new life into your home either as an accent or as the main flooring surface. Creative ideas abound, as highlighted on a recent episode of The Learning Channel's “Changing Spaces” where a dining room wall was completely redone using muted steel tiles to bring out the richness of the dark colors while providing a modern look to a house that was over 60 years old.