While in Spain over Christmas (you can read about that here), I fell in love with the colourful tiles that the Spanish use all over their houses (both outside & inside). They reminded me of the tiles I had seen in Portugal a few years ago, full of colour and intricate patterns.

The balconies were usually pretty exceptional – covered with tiles, potted plants, and sometimes even decorative plates. Check out this balcony from Granada. It has been officially voted the best balcony of Spain for something like 3 years running:

You can spot the tiles even on the underside of most balconies. Amazing, huh?

As you can guess I wanted to buy some tiles while we were there, but the ever-practical Dan reminded me about baggage weight limits and the fact that we are living in a London flat at the moment. Not the time, Gemma! However, when we are back at our Ottawa home and get around to building our backyard deck, I’m definitely going to try and incorporate some of this fun, Spanish flare.

What do you think? Is it colour and pattern overload for you, or are you loving it as much as I am?

Tags: colourful balconies, pattern tiles, spain, tiles

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 at 7:08 am and is filed under inspiration, landscaping, outdoor spaces, travel and adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.