Happy Hour

Even seasoned designers know that with so many options in stone and tile, it is difficult to explore every product line on the market. That is why it is important for dealers and showrooms to make the exploration process fun and interesting for designers and buyers. MCA Systems, our dealer in Houston, Texas did just that. They extended an invitation to 10 designers from By Design Interiors Inc. to join them for a product presentation happy hour. It was hosted by MCA’s talented Micki Barnett. She planned a presentation that featured our new Carrara Collections and even outlined how to order and install. Our Carrara display boards were showcased and individual Carrara tile samples where placed throughout so the designers could touch and feel the stone. Micki commented that the designers "...were all like kids in a candy store. They couldn't keep their hands off of the carrara." The evening was complimented by delicious goodies to snack on and a gift bag with our new Carrara catalog placed inside. All of which was prepared by Micki herself. The turnout was impressive and everyone had a great time. MCA is planning more Happy Hour presentations in the future. We thank Micki and MCA for using our new Carrara Tile Collections in their presentation.

Spring Cleaning

It is now Spring time and everything is in bloom, including our homes and offices. Unused clothes, appliances, and materials are cluttering up our homes and taking up valuable space. It is tempting to just toss these items in the trash, but wait! There is a simple and sustainable way to solve this problem. Donate, Donate, Donate! Before throwing something away, take a moment and think, "Can I or someone reuse this?" If so, there are many services and/or outlets that can utilize our unused items and distribute them to those in need.

Last weekend that is exactly what we did. We did a bit of spring cleaning and reorganization in our warehouse. We found stone and material that we could no longer use and knew that someone could put it to good use. So we paid it forward and donated these materials to San Diego Habitat for Humanity (http://www.sdhfh.org/. )

While it is a great feeling to remodel rooms in our homes, it is an even greater feeling to donate some of that unused clutter. So when you clean out the old to make room for the new, don't forget to pay it forward.

Recycle. Reuse. Reduce!



New Carrara tile designs are coming along nicely...

Stay tuned.  More coming soon and our new catalog showcasing Carrara will be out in about a month.

Creative Kitchen Backsplash Designs using colorful natural stone tile

Did you always color inside the lines when you were a kid?  I did.  That is why I am thoroughly impressed with those people who are able to look at things in a more imaginative way to create unique and interesting designs.  In the case of our tile collections, you often see folks sticking with the traditional way of doing things and using tile designs from only one collection.  It makes sense, given that the tiles in each collection are intentionally designed to work with each other.

But then you have those crazy creative ones, who can see how designs that seem very different, can work great together.  A perfect example is Ana Sirota from Kitchens by Gedney in Madison, Connecticut.  She worked with her client and used tiles from not one, not two, but three different StoneImpressions collections in the kitchen.

You can't see the close up detail of the tiles in these photos, so I'll list the different collections below.

The center of the backsplash is the Lisbon Pattern in the Brown colorway surrounded by...

the Altalena Dia Listello in the Siena Color.

The larger Altalena Listello in the Siena color is then run as a border along the bottom of the backsplash in both sections of the kitchen.

And finally, what you might call the background tile is the Color Wash Silhouettes Hourglass in the Natural color.  This is a great way to add some depth and dimension to your backsplash, without adding too much of one color.  The Color Wash Silhouettes tiles do come in different colors and shapes.  You can see the whole collection here: Colorful Kitchen Backsplash Tile.

I would never have thought to use all of these different collections and colors together, but it absolutely works!  Thanks to Sandy at Tile America New Haven for forwarding the pictures to us.

New Carrara Tile Designs...coming soon

We are working on a whole new catalog that will be full of Carrara designs.  Here's a sneak peek.

In love with...Carrara

We have been incredibly excited by how terrific everything looks on our new Carrara Marble.  To spread the Carrara love, we have created some new display boards that you could soon see at your local tile store.  We picked some favorite Pattern, Accent & Listello designs that we have previously shown on other stone types, like Durango or Travertine.  We made them on Carrara instead and everything looks just beautiful. 

Madison Blue

Chateau

Marseille Caviar

Holland Green

Serenata

Zellii

Clermont Pewter

Fratesco

Holland Blue

Linda Vista

Madison Green

Saldano