Today on this Interior Design blog, we are going to discuss picking out a backsplash for your most used rooms: the Kitchen and Bathroom. If you feel overwhelmed, you're not alone. Listed below are five tips on how to create a stellar room through your backsplash.

First: Create a Budget and Stick to It. One of the most important aspects of remodeling or renovating your room is the cost! Take time to determine how much you can reasonably spend on this room, and stick to that budget. You'll be grateful later. It can be really easy to fall in love with a certain type of design and justify spending more than you can comfortably afford. Shop around, compare prices and use sample pieces to determine what helps that room look stellar.

Second: Take a Look at the Scale. How big is your space? If you choose a tiny tile for a large room, chances are it might look too delicate or simply out of place. If you don't know how to compare your space, take a look online or my examples below. Big and open floor planned rooms have larger tiles, and typically (because bathrooms tend to be on the smaller side) the restroom in your home will have a more simplistic and smaller scaled tiled.

Still lost? Select your Countertop First. If you still feel daunted by all the options, try focusing on the countertop selection first. This is your workhorse in the kitchen and can constitute a good chunk of your budget. Generally, there are fewer color and pattern option for countertop materials, whereas backsplashes are practically unlimited. Also, keep in mind that your countertop will be paired with your backsplash. Save a sample of your countertop and take it with you shopping. Or if you already have a countertop in place, and no sample, take a well-light picture with your phone and compare as you go!

Next: Stay in the Same Color Tones. A great way to make sure your kitchen or bathroom looks cohesive, is choosing stones and splashes that are in the same color pallet. Whites with neutrals, browns with beiges, blues with lighter greens and so on. If your lost on color, simply take a color wheel in with you and choose a backsplash that is color partners with your countertop material. See example below. 

Finally: Hire an Expert. Some homeowners just have plain difficulty with DIY projects. All too often you are asked to make too many decisions in a short period of time. Do yourself a favor, if you are prone to giving yourself a panic attack on projects like these, and hire someone you trust to engage in your home renovation. It will take time, but loving the space you live in is worth it.

A friend once told me to never wear black with brown. Still to this day I find this perfectly acceptable. Depending on shades, black and brown can look extremely classy together. However, what will forever remain a classic look in the world’s eyes is black and white paired together. We can trace the trend back to the early Egyptians, then a reappearance in the Art Deco period, and now in the 21st century we are finding ourselves gravitating towards clean lines, bold design and drastic color. Listed below are a few simple ideas on how to incorporate this trend into your home.

Bold Stripes. By adding thick stripes into your home you create the illusion of a wider space. In addition the black and white combination is both playful and modern. A great way to accessorize your new walls is with a black or white frame and large white matte board surrounding your favorite photo or art piece.

Eating Habits. Create the appearance of a clean dinning room or kitchen with a white surface and black chairs. Before purchasing new counters, test them with mustard and wine to ensure that once you wipe it off the counter a stain isn’t left behind. When you discover this wonderful countertop, or table, you will discover that fewer messes are left behind. With your white surfaces, black chairs deliver a great pop of contrast. If you are afraid of messy children ruining your nice countertop, or table: the opposite can be accomplished as well with a dark or black wood table or stone countertop with white chairs. This time ensure your chairs are easy to wipe off or throw in the laundry!

Pillows. Any design trend nowadays can be done on a budget through the smart use of pillows. One of the things you need to consider about pillows is the interior filling. When purchasing pillows you are paying for: fabric, stitching and the interior filling. Many of us like down inserts; however, at my household we have nothing with down feathers, due to my husband’s allergies. Remember through any designing you do throughout your home, guests will eventually enter, be guest conscious. Think of allergies, of the elderly and of children. The next step is picking the fabric. Make sure – if you already have the walls painted black or white- that the pillow fabric you choose is the same shade. Take a sample of the fabric home to compare for the best results.

Art. This is easy. Find art, any style, with any additional colors, and just make sure the main colors in the art are black and/or white. Hang it up where your guest can admire it and you are already a trendsetter.

As an Interior Designer you are asked quite frequently about your professional opinion on the aesthetics. “How do you think it will look?” If you’re choosing a new roof for your new or existing home, aesthetics are important, but so too are the material’s cost, weight, how it will wear, and installation requirements. Having personally installed a roof I did a bit more research to make sure that everything was taken into consideration.

The opportunity we had with this new home was to acquire a new roof. The options were not endless, however. We had approximately twenty choices, of the same material in the same monochromatic color schemes for every shade available.  If this is the case with you and your homebuilder see it as a challenge to paint a prettier picture. Pick a neutral roof; this will give you the most options. Then decide what you and your family’s personality reflects. Listed below are a few examples, and pictures of the options I gave my client for their selection.

Classy: White and pastels or black. If you are a classic, you probably tend to invite your friends and family over quite frequently. Your dinners are also probably not your casual outdoors barbeque. So, accent your home with your elegant style with a bright off white and settle colors. Black will make your home pop, in the best way possible. Similar to how candles lit on a table. Pastels will give your home a softer feel, more delicate; like a fancy Easter Dinner.

Spontaneous & Fun: Colors with a neutral roof! You are crazy, and your family and friends for the most part love that about you. So show off your spunky personality with your homes exterior. In the option listed below a fun combination of reds and oranges are chosen. If you decide to paint your home, try to base the color pallet off of something you would see in nature. An example being, a colorful picture of the ocean has many blues, greens and light beiges.

World Traveler & Traveler at Heart: If you earn to see the world, a classic and settle home exterior is for you! The beauty about homes, is that they are different everywhere you turn. But no matter where you go nature is sure to be found. In option three below a beautiful home looks like it could be located in a variety of destinations. The key, all the lush greenery! Plant multiple topiaries and keep up on their shape for your home to come together magnificently.

Foodies Unite: If you are like my family, good food is extremely important; and who knows good food better than the Italians and Spanish! The key to putting together this home is to create a warm feel. You will need pastel accents, rich colored trim, and outdoor lighting. In the option four listed below, you will see a rich gold/mustard color is used on the home in order to accomplish a true homey feel.

Beach Lovers: You know where your heart is at, and it’s located within a few feet of the ocean! A coastal home is simple you’re in luck! In order to accomplish this home you need accents of blues and whites. That’s it. Choose where you would love to put them, you can’t really go wrong!

Nothing welcomes your guests to your home better than a bold, beautiful color on the front door. Many people have no trouble picking out a fun color to paint the door, but you don’t know what to do with the rest of the exterior look! What about the trim?

The key to working with bold colors is to limit them to elements you really want to stand out. Which makes the front door the ideal place to feature a vibrant color! When selecting the supporting hues for trim, vases, and more –don’t try to compete for attention. Check out the photos below and learn what your door color says about you!

Red/ Pink: This color tells the world to “Look at me!” You are youthful, bold, and full of excitement. You are not afraid of standing out, or saying what’s on your mind. Any plant by this door is bound to make a stellar impact.

Orange: You are friendly, cheerful and confident. This color is great to accent with dark blue vases or home address numbers.

Yellow: You are optimistic, and your guests will find a sense of warmth before even entering into your home. Try planting deep purple flowers in front of your home for an even greater impact for your guests.

Green: This color represents peace, growth and health. Whether or not this is true within you home, your front door will reflect the nature in your neighborhood.

Blue: This color represents trust, dependability, and strength. White or light/warm grey trim works best with this door. Try adding dandelions or using a yellow or orange knocker on your front door for a nice settle touch.

Purple: You are creative, wise and imaginative. This color reveals a “free spirited” person who is comfortable taking risks and thinking differently and dreaming big.

Remember, the terrific thing about having a paintable front door is the ability to change your doors color over time! Having the ability to paint your front door allows you to update your homes exterior while sharing your evolving personality with the neighborhood.