During a trip to France last year we visited Monet's House and Gardens in Giverny. The Garden are spectacular - you can see Monet's water garden, the location of his famous water lillies paintings. My particular interest at this time however was the house. I was looking for decor ideas for my house, and I eagerly took in the details of the decor. The floor tiles in Monets Kitchen are Tomettes. These are French traditional hexagonal clay/teracotta tiles.
Monet House Giverny - Tomette Floor Tiles in Kitchen
I was and still am in the process of renovating my house so I decided to try to create the tomette look in my kitchen, however finding tomettes online was not a simple as I had hoped. It is possible to buy vintage tomettes, reclaimed from old french houses. The picture above is from lascombesmateriauxanciens.com a french website that supplies vintage tomettes.
In the end I got new teracotta hexgonal tiles, my contractor found a source in Portugal and had them custom made. I love the vintage look, but even the vintage tomettes were new once.
Caring for Tomettes:
This is the traditional way to care for tomettes,
- Once a year, rub with a mixture of water and soda.
- On a weekly basis, clean with household soap and let dry without rinsing.
- Apply linseed oil to the tomettes for a rich glow