Winter White Stone
Like it or not, winter awaits us. Well, not so fast. My pals in Florida, Arizona and Southern California are trying hard not to openly smirk as they read. Be that as it may, the seasons march on inexorably. If, like me, you don't reside in the aforementioned warmer climes, then snow is probably in [...]
Authentic Terracotta Tile
We were first introduced to authentic terracotta tile by our old friends at the San Antonio based stone and tile producer, Materials Marketing. In the early ‘80’s, they offered a wonderful array of Mexican produced terracotta tiles that still linger in the imagination. Since then, that company has carved out a great niche in architectural [...]
Classic Blue Tiles
The Classic Blue Tiles of our design imaginations are actually many different materials from many diverse cultures and countries. Let's take a look at a few cultural and national iterations that can be woven into your design plan options. In many design circles, the term "azulejos" is tossed around quite a bit. Naturally, Wikipedia is [...]
Tile Tunisia
Tile Tunisia The North Africa of Hollywood lingers in our minds. Bogart and Ingrid and what might have been, in "Casablanca." George C. Scott recalling a previous life in "Patton", Gary Cooper and the French Foreign Legion of "Beau Geste" and back to Bogart in the sand of "Sahara." The Los Angeles Times said that " ever since Rudolph [...]
Arabesque Tile 2017
There are certain styles that are always relevant inside the design plans of particular designers, architects and their clients. In my opinion, a Moorish theme and the accompanying use of Arabesque Tile 2017 is one of those styles. No one does this better than Country Floors, and all the imagery in this post are via this iconic [...]
Disaster Resistant Container Homes
Natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes seem to be on the rise year in and year out. Adequate preparation can reduce the impact on structures greatly. When we think of how to prepare for these occurrences, what may come to mind, are hurricane and earthquake structures that yield disaster resistant container homes. Containers are [...]
100 Great 20th Century Buildings
My subscription to Architectural Digest yields many nuggets but a recent gem is a heads up that next month Rizzoli is publishing a book. "100 Buildings: 1900–2000". A Pritzker award winning architect, Tom Mayne, compiled this list by sending questionnaires "asking prominent architects to list the 20th-century buildings students ought to know". The book includes photos, [...]
Minimalism in Tile & Stone
Minimalism has long appealed to me for reasons that, even through the lengthening tunnel of time, are still unclear. Is it the lack of clutter? The easy, unbroken visuals in subtle color themes? The lack of ornamentation that seems to focus your thoughts more keenly? Whatever, the personal reasons here are a few thoughts on Minimalism in [...]
Terracotta 2017
Terracotta, can be very easily defined as “baked earth”, and has a history dating back centuries. The typical uses over time have included tiles, mosaics, potteries of all types, roof tiles, drainage pipes and more. The body is usually relatively porous and may have been literally baked in the sun or fired in a kiln. [...]
Geometric Tile Shapes
Design plans featuring Geometric Tile Shapes are making a strong statement. I personally believe they always have been on the scene but we, nevertheless, found something from the UK that was quite intriguing. House Beautiful - UK offered this to us: “Ditch the metro tiles – geometrics and more intricate designs are here! Squares and rectangles [...]
Modern Farmhouse Design 2017
As I think of Modern Farmhouse Design 2017 there is an interesting aspect to the term “modern farmhouse”. If you take both “modern”and “farmhouse”as nouns rather than “modern” modifying “farmhouse”as an adjective, your design plan expands exponentially. One of my go-to sites for commentary is Apartment Therapy. Recently a post on this topic by Julia Brenner [...]
CERSAIE International Tile Exhibition
September has brought more than just football and fall to the international tile and stone community. This week, in Bologna, Italy, an event known as the CERSAIE International Tile Exhibition opens. In the words of the event organizers, “in 2017, for its 35th edition, Cersaie has chosen to have two different images in order to draw attention [...]