Tin provides an ideal wall covering for a modern, eclectic or glowing room or a converted industrial loft. The low-toxicity metal corrodes slowly and comes in conventional corrugated sheets as well as embossed tin tiles, materials made for ceilings and barn siding, not interior wall decor. The surprising use of tin on your walls, in the few selected objects to panels of artisan-worked tin, may change the nature of a space.

Wall Cover

Secure embossed tin ceiling tiles on the other side of the bed to make a one-of-a-kind headboard of shiny brand new tile or weathered and distressed old tile. In a dining room or kitchen, cover an accent wall with metal barn siding made of corrugated tin. Wrap the lower half of the toilet walls in corrugated tin, like wainscoting. Fasten corrugated tin to rec room walls behind the bar or pool table. Paint another walls in an intense hue — a bottle green or cinnabar red — and also hang reproduction antique tin signs over the painted walls.

Rustic Backsplash

Do not place the pressed tin tiles on the ground, use them as a backsplash in your kitchen behind the stove or under the cabinets. A tin backsplash between the stove top and also the range hood is simple to wipe down and complements a reproduction period or stainless stove. Used as a countertop backsplash, tin tiles include interest and unexpected pastoral appeal — because tin is typically a ceiling cap, its use on walls is eye-catching. Seal the tin to preserve its shine if new or prevent additional deterioration if it is aged and beginning to rust. Leave it uncoated for organic dulling — tin is water-resistant and also corrodes and rusts quite gradually. (see reference 1)

Punched Tin

Punched tin panels, framed to stand out from the wall, become ambient lighting when you stretch strings of holiday lights back and forth behind the tin so the illumination shines through the holes. Panels of punched tin create old-fashioned decorative inserts in kitchen cabinets or within shutter frames opened back against the walls as kitchen decor. Punched tin is a folk art form and glazed panels, old lanterns, antique tin graters and colanders might be hung in classes on a wall, just as you’d display a collection of paintings or framed photographs.

The Artwork of Salvage

Treat salvaged pressed tin tiles like found art. Collect a number of distressed tin tiles from architectural salvage depots — cracked painted tiles, rusted tiles, different patterns and paint colors. Hang four to six of them in a symmetrical grid to a dining area wall or stagger them, 1 tile at a time, up a stairwell. Do not frame the pressed tin — which appear is too valuable. Utilize the natural border of the tile as its frame; a square will be a self centered wall hanging once you glue a picture hanger or hook on the back with industrial-strength glue. (see reference 1)

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