Design a Slate Backsplash of Ancient Mud!

You've felt mud between your toes. Imagine the feel of a slate backsplash made of that smooth, gooey mud turned to stone. Yes, it would be rich-colored, luxurious, smooth and cool to your touch.

Typically a kitchen backsplash made of cool-to-the-touch slate will be a slate tile backsplash. It is not unheard of, though, to put a solid piece of slate behind your stove.

Petrified Mud

You've probably heard of or seen petrified trees...trees that have turned into stone. Slate is sort of like that, but the original material was mud instead of trees. Depending on what minerals seeped into the mud during the millions of years of compression and cementation, the slate takes on a different color.

If you're old enough - not THAT ancient! - you remember that blackboards were made of slate. Or you may love to shoot pool. Good pool tables use a slate bed under the felt. In both instances, slate offers a very smooth surface.

Benefits of Slate

Slate is a great backsplash material for your kitchen. It has a number of benefits.

does not stain
non porous to keep food and grease out
cleans easily
you don't have to seal it
fireproof
available in different colors
naturally beautiful
lasts a loooong time

Flea Market Brainstorming

When you're looking for a slate tile backsplash but don't quite know exactly what, take a look at eBay. Sometimes it's a wonderful "idea factory." You might even find something you love!

Where to Buy

I want to introduce you first to Bass Custom. William Bass, who started this custom shop in Seattle, created a fusion of natural material - slate - with his artistic bent and high-tech background. He etches images onto slate using laser technology. It's gorgeous! He works with stock images as well as custom.

The Evergreen Slate Company in Vermont offers their stone in a variety of colors including mottled green-purple, red, black, green, dark green and gray. The slate slabs sport six different shapes on the edges. The honed finish provides a sumptuously plushy feel to your backsplash.

Beautiful slate backsplash tiles are the forte of PebbleZ of Westbury, New York. They specialize in natural stone for decor. Their offerings include slate from all over the world. You've gotta see the "chaos of colors" Chinese slate they sell. It's simply magnificent! Choose standard or custom size slabs as well as tile.

How to Search for Slate Backsplashes

Tried some search engines already? Check out these searches by clicking on them:

Google : Yahoo : MSN : Visimo : IxQuick : DogPile

Open Directory : Yahoo Directory : eBay

Choices, Choices, Choices

I love options, and you may too, but sometimes too many can get a bit out of hand. Maybe you narrowed your slate backsplash choices to a reasonable number. Want help making the final choice? Try Choose It.