2. THE ONE WITH NO CABINETS
Carrying on the theme of stepping away from classic kitchen cabinetry, this trend goes beyond tiles and considers kitchen design as a whole. “It’s not unusual to see a kitchen with an antique feature or two – a glazed antiqued dresser here, an old and rickety plate rack there – but what is lesser seen in the UK are kitchens that are totally unfitted and a mix of freestanding or custom-made pieces,” reflects Grazzie.
It’s those traditional kitchens, seen more on the continent in charming homes across Spain, Greece, Italy and the such, where this design language is spoken with ease and effortless enthusiasm. It could be a concrete run with spaces carved out and shelving inserted for storage, wooden pan racks suspended from the ceiling, floating wooden or stone shelves on the walls and an 18th-century mahogany dresser filled with crockery and glassware – and it’s a kitchen look that works a total treat in homes much less sun-drenched too. So do away with coloured Shaker kitchen cabinetry, design a kitchen that lives life on the rustic side, and then style it up with tiles that bring that tale-as-old-as-time look to life.
The Tiles to Do it With
Nonna’s Kitchen: our just-launched tile collection from the Ca’ Pietra studio, this small batch design is handpainted in the UK and was created with that exact trend in mind: recreating quintessential kitchens of Italy’s pasta grannies.