Tattoo Your Kitchen Tile

During the overhaul of our kitchen, there were a couple of things that despite my best efforts, I couldn't quite come up with a game plan for. Some things, like my kitchen countertops, were just shrugged off as a bigger worry for another day. But other things, like the decorative tiles in the backsplashes, seemed like there should have been a simple and easy solution to cover.

The decorative tiles in question were pictures of fruit and vegetables, some scattered, and some 4-inch tiles placed in two by three rows together to make a little vignette of produce (see below). When the kitchen was dusty rose and beige and belonged to an elderly lady, they sort of made sense. But now, as a part of my bright and graphic new young-couples' kitchen, they looked disjointed and glaringly wrong.

Enter Wall Tattoos by 2Jane Interiors via Wallies.com. These little adhesive vinyl bits are designed for exactly what I needed - to cover up unsightly tile in a high traffic, heavy use area without the mess of painting or removing tile. With different patterns, sizes, and transparencies, they should fit the bill for your next project. I opted for white opaque Tattoos with a black spherical pattern, which complimented my new kitchen nicely.

The application was a breeze. Each tile came individually backed, so I didn't have to mess with a big sheet of vinyl for one little tile. With just a damp sponge and my driver's license for a straight edge, in about an hour (and quite pregnant) I had covered all those hideous tiles with something simple, clean, and pretty awesome.

We've had them up for about a year now, and they have held up to massive cleanings, hot cooking, both humid and freezing temperatures, endless dishwashing sans dishwasher, and a baby that loves nothing more than to splash his sink-bath water everywhere but on himself.

The directions that came along said they're easy to remove as well, but I don't plan on taking mine down anytime soon.