A beautiful Arizona kitchen

Christine at Villagio Tile & Stone in Scottsdale, Arizona liked our Marseille design so much that she decided to put it in her own kitchen.  We take it as a great compliment.  In her own words:

The reason why I chose the Marseille design was because how intricate the design is but yet it is very delicate at the same time.  I know I wanted to do a take off on Country French and that is the reason why I chose the rhomboids for the backsplash beside the Marseille design.

Her kitchen is a perfect example of how choosing the right size for your decorative tile can make all the difference.  The Marseille Pattern in the square shape fits beautifully over the stovetop.  Any larger and it would look crammed into the space.  The blue-green color palette and intricate detail in the design provide an eye-catching focal point without overwhelming the other elements in the kitchen.

The small rhomboid mosaic in the rest of the backsplash is limestone and she added small rhomboids with ten different etched designs.  These little accents are installed randomly throughout the rest of the backsplash and help to tie it all together.

Christine chose the Marseille Pattern in Green Blue.  The center design is printed on 6x6 Limestone and the border around is 3x6 and 3x3 Limestone.  She took advantage of the fact that we can size any of our designs to fit any space. You can have the center pattern on 3x3, 4x4, 8x8 or even 12x12 and larger.  The border listellos can come on 2x6, 4x8 and 6x12 tiles.

The Marseille Pattern has also be extremely popular in the Red color.  You can see the whole Marseille Tile Collection here.

We love it when we get to see our designs installed in a happy homeowner's kitchen.  Send us your pictures and show off your kitchen!  We are always interested to see what kind of design ideas people come up with when using our tiles.

Happy New Year (and some old news)

Happy New Year!  We have come back from holiday vacations rested and relaxed and looking forward to a great 2010!

Some old news that we managed to miss in 2009 - take a look at our floor tile designs featured in the February issue of Hotel Design.

Click here for a link to the online version of the issue.

Sneak peek at some new tile designs

Cathedral Collection

Colony Collection with Color Wash Silhouettes

Eden Collection

Labyrinth Collection

 

 

More photos can be found on our New Products page.

Don't be shy!  Let us know what you think by clicking on the Comments link below.

Delivery before Christmas is still possible!

Getting your home ready for the upcoming holidays? 

Yes, there is still time for delivery of our product before Christmas.

Normal production time 

Ships from San Diego via UPS Ground

in 10 business days.

Rush order 

  Small rush charge and your order will ship 

 out in 3-5 business days.

Rush shipping 

3-Day, 2-Day and Overnight delivery available.

Quick Ship Program 

  In stock murals can ship in 24 hours or SAME DAY if you get to us before 3:00 PM Pacific time. 
Click here for sales sheet.

Need it really, really, really fast?

CALL US!

We can do amazing things.

800-350-3003

Contact your local StoneImpressions Dealer 

to place your order.

Is it just me, or does Santa look awfully tired?

Yes, wood DOES grow on trees....good advice from a Kitchen Designer

Here is a great article from Kitchen Sync about the details of wood and its characteristics in kitchen cabinets.  Excellent information for anyone thinking about a kitchen renovation and for people like us who know nothing about cabinets.  We know stone, but wood is a whole different animal.  That is why we always keep an eye out for good information that we can pass along.

Kitchen Sync is another excellent blog that we recommend.  Kelly Morisseau is a Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer and a Certified Interior Designer.  Her blog is overflowing with great ideas, smart ways to solve problems, and excellent advice that you can only get from a person who has an extraordinary amount of experience and training.

Kelly has a tip for people who don't want any natural variations in their wood cabinets - either be prepared to pay extra or go with something else.  As she says, "The beauty of wood is in its characteristics."  

We sometimes run into similar issues regarding natural stone.  We think the natural imperfections, color variations and veining or holes in the stone add to the beauty.  But some people request that we hand pick stone with certain characteristics for their order.  For example:

"Pick stone with no holes at all."  

"Choose only lighter colored tiles."

"Pick a combination of shades of off white and beige colors with a preference towards the beige."

Yup.  That last one is for real.  We do everything in our power to give someone what they have requested and our regular practice is to reject tiles with significant holes, cracks or chipped edges.  But if you know you are too OCD to handle the inherent tumbled edges, shading variations and small imperfections - natural stone tiles are probably not for you.  It's okay to admit it.  There are plenty of ceramic tiles* to choose from.

Our Grape Harvest mural on 6x6 Light Travertine is a good example of how the natural variations in the stone enhance the beauty of the warm, rustic artwork.

*We do have a way to put our designs on ceramic or porcelain tile, but we use an outside service and the lead times can be 2-3 months out.  It is not something we have added to our main product line, but we can do special requests. The lead time on our natural stone products is 2 weeks in production and then it is out the door.

Kitchen picture at the top is courtesy of Bartel Kitchen & Bath in Buhler, Kansas.

Pattern tiles for a kitchen backsplash

We just received a picture of this beautiful kitchen from Great Britain Tile.  They used the Minore Antiqued tiles in the Charcoal/Green color as the focal point for the backsplash. The tiles are printed on our 6x6 Light Travertine stone.

The Minore Antiqued is a very subtle fusion of color and patterns.  It is not a design which jumps out at you. Instead, it hints at something old and timeless.  It lingers and slowly unfolds its many turns and mysteries; like an ancient Grecian city or a pathway through the old town of Tangiers.

It is difficult to see the details in this picture, so here is a close up of the pattern:

Minore Antiqued Charcoal/Green on 6x6 Light Travertine

The Minore design is also available in these two colors:

Minore Antiqued Blue/Green on 6x6 Light Travertine

Minore Antiqued Salmon/Green on 6x6 Light Travertine

As with all of our designs, the Minore Antiqued can be made into any size and printed on any stone.  In the kitchen pictured above, it is done on 6x6 Light Travertine tiles, but we can imagine it enlarged and printed on 12x12 tiles for a much bigger impact.  The 12x12 tiles would fill up the 24 inch high by 48 inch wide space in that kitchen and you would have two choices for how to lay it out.   You can emphasize the circular part of the pattern like this:

 

Or make the more square and linear shapes the focal point, like this:

What do you think?  Would you pick circles or squares?