Interior Escapism - 3 Mood Boards To Inspire You How To Use Beautiful Antique Tiles In Your Home

This post is a paid partnership with Maitland & Poate

Hello from the Gold Is A Neutral house! Hope you’re all well! This week’s lockdown distraction is coming at you in the form of beautiful antique tiles and lime paints from Maitland & Poate.

I’ve put together an edit of my favourite tiles from their website and worked up a series of different mood boards for the bathroom, kitchen and garden, which will hopefully inspire your own projects.

I love a mood board and spent many happy hours piecing these together, starting with the stars of the show, the stunning antique and reclaimed tiles. I highly recommend it as a lockdown activity to calm your mind. I think the reason mood boards bring me so much joy is because I like order, a plan, a list etc If you’re that way inclined too, I highly recommend mood boarding as a lockdown activity to calm your mind. When a mood board comes together it is so satisfying because it is essentially a visual plan and it holds the promise of what’s to come. Even if you don’t have anything to plan for, you can play around with creating your fantasy rooms. Maitland & Poate are currently offering 25% off their reclaimed tiles so now is a good time to start planning any indoor or outdoor projects you might have in mind.

Maitland & Poate’s terracotta floor tiles

To give you a little more background on Maitland & Poate, they are a London based family run business that started when their hunt for the perfect tiles for their own family home led them to Andalucía in Spain. I can totally relate to this level of obsession having manoeuvred mini breaks to both Morocco and Turkey to feed my rug obsession in the past.

However in this case, their obsession led to a business and Maitland & Poate was born. You can now find Spanish, Belgian and French tiles dating as far back as 1790, alongside beautiful lime paints which compliment the tiles to perfection. Personally it blows my mind that you can have a tile in your home that previously resided in an ancient Spanish farmhouse or Hacienda. Imagine if those tiles could talk! Obviously they can’t, but their unique qualities tell a story and carry a handcrafted heritage. In a world where so many things have become so disposable, I love the idea of having another piece of history built into your home.

Maitland & Poate’s Lime Paint

So without further ado, let’s have a look at the first mood board. I can never resist gingham, particularly if it’s pink gingham so I was immediately drawn to the Cozer tile (1) which is thought to date back to 1905. The pink checked pattern is very soft and pretty and I love the idea of them in a small bathroom, either on the floor, or as a splash back behind the sink. I’ve paired it with the handmade Rosa tile (2) and the gorgeous Roseto lime paint (3) which will bring added depth and texture to the walls. I couldn’t resist the pink concrete sink, which will sit perfectly alongside the encaustic tiles.

With so much pink in the mix, my instinct was to toughen it up with black accessories, including a Crittal-style shower screen and black bathroom hardware. It’s the interiors equivalent of a pretty pink dress, paired with a leather jacket or biker boots, it just works.

Moving on to my kitchen mood board…I am finding myself very drawn to olive greens, paired with natural materials such as wood and marble, at the moment. The hand painted and glazed Alalpardo Verde tile (1) from Morocco would make a striking splashback, in an otherwise chic and understated kitchen. Tiles are a wonderful way of bringing a splash of colour, pattern and interest to a room, if wallpaper is not your thing. I paired it with the Blanco Y Negro encaustic tile (2) which is a modern classic and can be laid in a number of different formations including diamond and chevrons. On the walls, I wanted to keep it simple and understated with the Ivory lime paint (3), and let the tiles do the talking. Again though, I just love the added texture you get from using lime paint. Brass and marble accents and statement lighting finish the room off.

My final moodboard features some absolutely stunning antique tiles. I loved building up all the mood boards, but the lovely weather we have been lucky enough to have during lockdown has made me particularly obsessed with our outdoor space, and I can’t help daydreaming about our new and improved patio, which we will be tackling once our kitchen extension is completed. I mean it hasn’t even started yet so we’ll be waiting a while, but since when have I let that stop me plotting!

I’ve built around an earthy palette of terracotta, forest green and burgundy. have fallen hard for the Terracotta Hex tiles (1), which date back as far as 1890, and absolutely love the character these would bring to a patio, rather than grey slabs or decking. I’ve paired them with the Jara tile (2), dating back to 1915 Seville, and the Cuadrado Verde tile (3) dating back to 50’s Murcia. These would work wonderfully to zone a BBQ or tile a seating/dining area, or as a splash back behind a built in BBQ. Amazone lime paint (4) ties everything together.

I hope you enjoyed checking out these mood boards as much as I enjoyed creating them, and it’s given you plenty of inspiration for any of upcoming projects you may be working on. I’d love to hear what you think? If you decide to have a go at creating your own mood boards, please share and tag me, would love to see what you come up with!

The 25% offer on antique tiles is still running if you did want to get cracking with any projects after seeing these.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

J x