Disclaimer: I was sent the Tapestry Tiles to review free of charge, but words and pictures are mine. This post contains affiliate links, see more information here.
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One of the more simple house projects we decided to take on was the fireplace.
Elsewhere in the house there’s an open fire in the main living room, and a beautiful stove in the hall, yet in the front room – which we are making into an adult-only living space for spending our evenings in – there was a very modern gas fire with a very basic chrome trim. It looked out of odds with everything else and didn’t even match the grate, let alone the big, traditional mahogany fireplace surround.
We had thoughts of getting rid of the whole fireplace; surround and hearth included, and getting a Victorian-style cast iron tiled fireplace to replace it with. However when we starting putting some of my owl tat (pro tip: never tell people you like owls unless you want owl tat for every birthday and Christmas until you die) up on the mantelpiece we decided that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all…
Particularly when we realised that replacing it would be very messy and extortionately expensive.
Luckily, Google told us that the particular model of gas fire we had was fairly new and there were a whole range of different fascias which you could just slot on. We managed to find a new, black cast iron fascia available locally for a fraction of the cost of a new fire. Not perfect, but a massive difference.
However it still wasn’t sparking joy, so when I was offered the chance to collaborate with Porcelain Superstore, we decided to tile it!
Choosing tiles for the fireplace
Firstly, we asked for some samples from the Porcelain Superstore website. You can order four sample tiles per person and they are delivered quickly so you can see how they work with the colours in your room before you buy a pallet load of them. NB delivery is free for orders over £500 and £36 for under £500, although there is a £15 delivery option if you buy under 18kg of tiles.
We had decided on the paint colour we were going for; a deep sage, almost teal-like green, so chose tiles which were similar shades or we thought would work with it.
The scale tiles would have been far too big, and the crackle subway tiles were all slightly off colour-wise, so we decided to opt for vintage-style Tapestry Black Patterned Tiles.
Each individual tile measures 11 cm x 11cm, however they come delivered in 33cm x 33cm sheets of nine different tiles with ten to a box costing £38.28.
There are several different layouts, but you will want to plan where the tiles are going before you start tiling so you don’t end up with matching patterns which will drive you mad forever.
We laid the tiles out, put masking tape where we needed to make the cuts, and borrowed a tile cutter.
Despite our reservations, we managed not to crack any tiles or go too wrong so we managed to tile the fireplace using just the one pack of tiles, with some left over for coasters (and enough for another project…).
The tiles were then stuck on to the back of the fireplace with tile adhesive using 2mm spacers.
When it was all dried and the spacers were removed, we grouted the tiles using a medium grey grout.
The total cost including the tiles, grout and tile adhesive would have been just over £50 and I really like how it turned out. It’s completely changed the look and gives a bit of a vintage vibe without the cost of a brand new fire, and makes the room look less dull. It shouldn’t matter what colour scheme we opt for in future as the black and white is neutral.
And, if we really get fed up of them, we should be able to get them off without too much of a problem and re-tile.
Let me know what you think!