Salvaged Heath and McIntyre Tile DIY abmatic

Salvaged Heath and McIntyre Tile DIY
abmatic

Lucky enough to live near tile manufacturers Heath Ceramics and McIntyre Tile, Abmatic redid their parents' kitchen and bath in salvage tile from both...

Heath sells second-quality tiles at a steep discount and McIntyre has a similar sale that's held just once a year. Armed with a colorful array of tiles salvaged from both manufacturers, Abmatic created handlaid patterns for the bathroom floor, kitchen countertop, and backsplash. For the rundown on the full project and many photos of the process, go to Abmatic.

Comments (17)

Beautiful!

posted by merl on March 18th 2009 at 4:27pm
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wow. stunningly beautiful. this is inspirational.

posted by wc_canuck on March 18th 2009 at 4:29pm
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Oh, so pretty

posted by bepsf on March 18th 2009 at 4:36pm
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Great inspiration! I'm such a fan of color!!

posted by buffalove on March 18th 2009 at 4:46pm
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I'm sorry, but I thought this was some sort of hideous before. Yuck!

posted by dennisd on March 18th 2009 at 4:52pm
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A bit too hodge-podge for me.

posted by chartreuse on March 18th 2009 at 5:05pm
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ohhh... i love the color. and the different shapes. i'm all over this. of course, with a kitchen/bathroom with that kind of tile, everything else has to be subtle and plain, but i think it'd be worth it...

posted by lkb on March 18th 2009 at 5:26pm
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I love it, and wish more people would go in this direction.

posted by AustinSarah2 on March 18th 2009 at 5:35pm
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F'g atrocious. Are you people serious? Who comes up with this sh_t?

posted by rapidtransitman on March 18th 2009 at 7:52pm
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Yeah, this is like some bad hippie quilt only on a counter top.

posted by dnice on March 18th 2009 at 8:23pm
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I think the execution could be better, but I love how it looks anyway. I think just a little more color coordination would be an improvement.

posted by matchbookhymnal on March 18th 2009 at 8:47pm
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Beautiful and idiosyncratic. The lack of tiling skill is more than covered by Abmatic's excellent eye for colour and harmony. I'd be delighted to have a kitchen like this.

posted by Blandwagon on March 18th 2009 at 9:46pm
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I agree, Blandwagon. I think the color work here is pretty sophisticated and I love the way the color stories move from one to the next. I think this is an excellent example of utilizing available, local materials and putting them together in a completely personal way.
The results are beautiful and unique, and that can never be bought from a catalogue.

posted by merl on March 18th 2009 at 10:23pm
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I rather like it as a backsplash, but not as much on the counters (I think I dislike the wide border, plus I prefer a cleaner look for work surfaces). regardless, it's a very nice diy.

posted by foodefafa on March 19th 2009 at 12:26am
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I did custom color tile for a client and kept all of the strikeoff tiles I got to get the color right. They are all subway tiles and am planning on eventually mixing them with white subways to to a shower/bathtub surround. I will be a similar look but with a bit more continuity.

posted by jfinteriors on March 19th 2009 at 9:13am
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I'm kind of torn on this.

On the one hand I like the kitchen backsplash, and how it feels like a colorful gradient.

On the other hand I really dig the brown tile that this replaced. I think what the kitchen needed is/was a new floor, not a new countertop.

The bathroom floor picture (shown at the site) feels way too disjointed to me.

posted by matsayswhat on March 19th 2009 at 2:48pm
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This is lovely. I bet the parents love it even more because it's a work of art from their kids.

posted by heather77 on March 19th 2009 at 4:19pm
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