Product Wars from Designer Pages

Looking for a fun and inspiring distraction?  Go check out Product Wars from the evil procrastination-enablers at Designer Pages.

It is a perfectly simple idea, beautifully executed.  They show you two different items from a certain design category, side by side.  And you get to choose which one you like better.  Once you have made your decision, you see right away if you are among the ranks of those with obvious good taste or a rebel who goes against the tide.  Make sure to hit the orange tab all the way to the left of the page to change up your categories. 

If you do it for too long, you will start to feel like a Queen ruling over her loyal subjects.  

You! Red Chandelier with the funky shapes -  you please me!  You may stay.

And, you!  Traditional Light Fixture, with glass and nickel-plated finish - I am so bored by you!  Begone!

Try not to let the power go to your head.

Tub Envy

Secret to a Blissful Life:

Step 1:  Rip everything out of your current bathroom.  Or walk-in closet.  Or spare bedroom.  Or, heck, even the kid's room - he'll be fine on the couch.  This is about priorities, people.

Step 2: Install one of these AMAZING tubs from Stone Forest in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Step 3: Reach Nirvana and live happily ever after.

Stone Forest creates a whole line of stunningly beautiful tubs and sinks from natural stone, bamboo, copper, bronze, iron and hardwoods.   See all of the awesomeness here:

http://www.stoneforest.com/kitchen-bath/

Beautiful decorative listellos (and reduced prices)

Lucca Listellos paired with tumbled Durango tile.

A great way to add a subtle, decorative touch to any tile backsplash, floor, kitchen or bath, is to use tiles from our Listello Collection.  Since they have been so popular, this year we decided to reduce the prices of our listellos.   We (a.k.a. Lazy Blog Writer) thought we would recycle a blog post from last year that talks about listellos.  Enjoy!. 

What in the world is a Listello?

If you go to the Products button on our website, you'll see Listellos as one of our categories.  Listellos are border or trim pieces.  All of the StoneImpresssions listellos have printed designs on them.  Usually the size of the tile determines whether a stone tile is a listello or an accent tile.  Listellos are usually rectangular shaped, while our accent tiles are square.

StoneImpressions listellos come in a variety of sizes: 

• 2"x 4"
• 2"x 6"
• 3"x 6"
• 4"x 8"
• 6"x 12"

 

Just like all of our products, you can get any of our listello designs in any size.  Notice that the 4x8 and 3x6 sizes keep the same proportions.  For the 2x6 size, the proportions are different - the design looks a little shorter and wider.

What happens if you like one of our listellos that we show in a 3x6 size, but you need a 2x6?  That is no problem.  We can send you an email with a picture of the listello as a 2x6, so you can see its proportions before you make your decision.   

Listellos add color and interest to a room without overwhelming the whole space with a single design.  You can run a listello across the backsplash in your kitchen and surround it with plain stone or mosaics.  Listellos can be used as unique stair risers, living room flooring borders, and wall caps for powder rooms or the entryway.  See some great examples below:

Belisima Listello on 3x6 travertine in a kitchen backsplash.

 

Amaretti Earth Listello on 3x6 travertine surrounded by a field of 1x2 mosaics.

This stunning kitchen uses two listellos from our Colony Collection.

Crossbar Circle Listellos and Crossbar Circle Accents create an

interesting pattern when used among kitchen floor tiles.

Belisima Listellos used in the kitchen backsplash 

and also integrated into the design of the hood.

Browse through the Listello page of our website to see the variety of listello designs that we offer.  You are bound to find one that you love!

Brrrrr....Baby, it's COLD outside

Here in San Diego we have great sympathy for those of you in other parts of the country  who have been dealing with bitterly cold temperatures and seemingly endless snow storms recently.   We admit that we are wimps.  We start to get chilly when it dips below 60 degrees. "Grab the wool undies, Martha!  It's going to drop to 54 degrees today!"

So we thought we would send good warming thoughts your way with an Ideabook from Houzz featuring cozy winter fireplaces.  You will notice that fireplaces are not limited to living room areas.  You will see them tucked away in the bath next to spa tubs, nestled in kitchen corners or warming up master bedrooms.  If  I could build my dream house, I would want a fireplace in just about every room.  How about you?

Use the tiny arrows below the photos to see all of the pictures in the slideshow or click on the link directly below to go to Houzz and see beautiful full size photos.

Oh So Cozy Fireplaces

Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More»

Home Design and Decorating Ideas:

Kitchen Design · Bathroom Design · Living Room Design · Bedroom Design · Dining Room Design · Patio Design · Landscaping Design ·

Our decorative tiles add a beautiful design element to any fireplace surround.  Since we can do custom sizes and designs, we can work with any size space that you have.

 Tiles from our Modern Collection used in a Fireplace surround.

And in case you don't know about it, you should check out the website Houzz.   We went there to create the Fireplace Ideabook.  Houzz allows you to browse through thousands of photographs of homes and rooms - both indoor and outdoor spaces.  The best part is that you can create your own Ideabooks and save all of the photos that you like.  You can even email your Ideabooks to your family, friends or professionals.  It is the digital equivalent of tearing out pictures from magazines and throwing them all in a folder.  But much, much cooler, way more organized and thankfully less expensive - it's free!  You will get addicted for sure.

Tile Collection Displays

Our Production Elves have been puttering around in the sample and display area recently.  They have started to put together potential new display boards.  Compact in size at 9" x 13" and simple in design.  The boards are black and lightweight, so easy to carry around to hold next to other elements you are considering for your room design.  Some examples below:

Chateau Collection

Marseille in the Truffle color

Cathedral Collection

Listellos from our Wrought Iron Collection

Metal Amore Collection

Labyrinth Collection

We haven't finalized any display boards, but we love how they are looking so far.  And the Elves just won't stop talking about them, so we had to throw some pictures up on the blog.  Now maybe they'll pipe down and get back to work!

The Prodigal Stone Returns

Once upon a time,

Botticino was a bad, bad boy.

(Full story here)  

But he has cleaned himself up and come back into our lives.  He promises that it will be different this time.

And let's face it - we are superficial and our love is conditional.
We only want him back because he's beautiful.  Classic tumbled edges with a smooth, creamy surface always makes us swoon.

Botticino is now officially back as one
of the stone types that we regularly offer. 
Sizes that we stock are:
2x2
4x4
6x6
12x12
3x6
4x8

Other sizes are possible. Call us with any special requests.

Click below for single sheet showing all the stone types
that we carry:

Updated Charts with all Stone Types
 

And you can find the same information with pictures
on the Materials page of our website:

http://www.stoneimpressions.com/materials.htm