Monet's kitchen backsplash tiles

I saw these photos of Monet’s kitchen today, and they astonished me.

Monet lived at Giverney for 43 years, and the place has become almost as famous as the artist himself. The gardens he created there, as well as the surrounding countryside, provided unending subjects for his paintings.

His intense awareness of both color and light were brought inside the house as well. The blue-and-white kitchen, with its glass-paneled door and uncurtained windows made the most of the natural light.

Most of the kitchen was tiled with these two blue-and-white designs. The tiles were made nearby, in Rouen. Tile was (and is) easy to clean, and the glossy surface increased the working light in the room. It makes me think that I might tile large areas in my kitchen, because I prefer natural light when I can get it.





I like the way the basic tile is repeated in the patchwork collection behind the huge stove, tieing these other blue-and-white patterns into the larger room.

I wouldn’t ordinarily consider such a ‘busy’ tile as a backdrop for other colors and textures, but look how great it is behind these copper pans!






I love these images of Monet’s kitchen, and I think I can learn a lot by looking at the way the colors vary but harmonize. The photos are from Monet's House. Great book! The use of color in each room just amazed me.