The Spanish word for tile, azulejo, comes from the Arabic (Moorish) word "az-zulay", which means small brick. During their conquest of Spain, the Moors decorated their castles and fortresses with these mosaics as they did in Morocco. Though the designs are centuries old, their beauty continues to grace both contemporary and traditional homes using intricate lines and shapes that compose soothing geometrically symmetrical patterns. This classic look will always be in style. Our hand painted Spanish-made tiles combine these shapes in easy to install rectangular pieces. The tiles in this collection are designed to be set edge-to-edge with no grout space.

Tile wainscoting (or wall coverings) is the traditional use of these tiles. The magnificent Alhambra, a 12th century Moorish fortress-palace located in Granada, Spain features many chambers lined entirely with these designs. For simplification, our wainscoting are composed of repeating units. A single unit is a column made of various stacked tiles. These units are then repeated horizontally every 11 inches to cover a wall space. The height of your wall covering can be adjusted by adding or deleting tile(s) in each unit. Two units of each wainscoting are shown for a better representation of the overall effect.

Click on "DECORATIVE", "SOLIDS", "TRIM", AND "BORDERS" to view all of the individual tiles in a larger format. All of these tiles can be ordered separately to decorate any surface you wish - tub enclosures, fountains, planters, and exteriors. Give waiting rooms and offices new interest with your own unique wainscoting created with any combination of trims and borders. Borders make great stair risers, baseboards, window and door frames. They also make great accents for swimming pool water lines. Borders can also be combined with "SOLID" and "TRIM" tiles for your special project.