Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tile Talk Newsletter - September 2011

Project Pick: Traditional Alcala Cement Tile Patio

Traditional Alcala Cement Tile Patio
Classic Alcala Cement Tile Patio

Handcrafted cement tiles provide both long life and distinctive beauty. This stunning Alcala cement tile pattern in a custom colorway creates an eye-catching floor with its showy pattern and border using warm colors and earth tones. You can achieve this dramatic look for about $10 a square foot. The border nicely frames the pattern in a room or hallway and is a traditional method of using cement tiles to create a 'rug'.

Solid color cement tiles are used to fill the edge of the room and any irregular shapes outside the cement tile carpet. Using solid color cement tiles on the edge of the room also simplifies an installation because cuts don't effect the border or field pattern.

In this beautiful installation, Traditional Alcala Cement Tiles are warmed with a fall color palette of:

Suede Cement Tile Blonde Wood Cement Tile Indian Red Cement Tile Brown Cement Tile
Suede Blonde Wood Indian Red Brown

You can use these colors to create a totally different feel in an alternate palette that uses cool blues:

Traditional Alcala Cement Tile Patio
Traditional Alcala Cement Tile Pattern in Cool Blue

Amber White Cement Tile Chocolate Cement Tile Stormy Blue Cement Tile Bayou Waters Cement Tile
Amber White Chocolate Stormy Blue Bayou Waters

See how color changes the look and feel of the tile? Don't be limited by these colorways. Get creative and design your own color scheme. Choose from any of the 89 colors available in the exhaustive Heritage Cement Tile color palette.


FALL TILE SALE!
Save 15% on Select Cement Tile


Traditional Cement Tile with Contemporary Bold Colors

That's right, save 15% off select cement tile orders over 100 square feet. It's the best cement tile prices you'll find anywhere. Just mention coupon code FALLTILE when you place your phone order.

Call us to receive a FREE estimate including handling and freight. Sample stock of many patterns is available for immediate shipment. Allow 6 - 8 weeks for delivery of most orders. Call 888.739.4972 (9-5 PDT M-F) and place your order today. This offer is valid for Cuban Heritage Tile, Traditional Cement Tile, Geometric Cement Tile, Textured Cement Tile, Heritage Solid Color Cement Tiles, or Artistic Cement Tile, only and does not include shipping or handling. Offer expires October 31, 2011.


Design Tip:

Use tile as your color key for design. Interior Designer, Lisa M. Smith at The Decor Girl Blog points out that, "Color has to start somewhere." Colors for a room, home or cement tile pattern create a color palette and come from a color key. Lisa adds that, "Using a color key works like a charm, every single time."

She further explains what a color key is and how to use it.

Color Key: This is your color road map for interior success. An object used as the basis for the color scheme of a room or home. It may be a piece of fabric, artwork, or a rug. Colors which appear in a color key are selected for areas and furnishings. Each color used in the room or home needs to appear in or coordinate with this piece.

Find out more in her post How To Create Color Palette Success.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Architectural Elements of Natural Stone

Avente has a history and passion for hand crafted tiles. Today we introduce a new partner and share their passion: the timeless beauty of hand carved stone. Today's post is a visual tour of the possibilities of carved stone.

Balustrade, Columns and Arch with Hand Carved Natural Stone
Balustrade, Columns and Arch with Hand Carved Natural Stone

The detail in these natural stone architectural elements is evident in the detail and style created by this group of artisans. Carved stone has a rich history that dates to the earliest civilizations and is glorified by the Greeks and Romans. That rich history is still honored today as you get a glimpse of some of the stunning work in this portfolio.

Architectural Stone - Fireplace Detail
Architectural Stone - Fireplace Detail

The amazingly intricate and detailed relief of the hand carved flower on the mantle (above) and column and arch (below) is the sign of an artisan dedicated to their craft.

Detail on Stone Column and Arch
Detail on Stone Column and Arch

Hand carved stone and architectural elements are often used to create formal settings. However, these same elements work well for more casual homes, as shown below.

Architectural Stone for Fireplace
Architectural Stone for Fireplace

The variation and fossilized elements in some natural stone creates subtle interest with classic architectural elements.

Hand Carved Architectural Stone Columns and Fountain
Architectural Stone Columns and Fountain Showing Colors

Several colors are available ranging from light red and rust to cream and beige from the locally available limestone and travertine. The most common colors are: Cream Limestone, Shellstone, Ticul (light red) and Fossilized Limestone.

Architectural Stone Pilaster
Variation in Natural Stone Pilaster

Interested in using hand carved architectural stone for your project? Avente can help. Avente Tile has partnered with a company that provides columns, fireplaces, pilasters, fountains and just about any other architectural stone element. The company achieves results that are both on-budget and on-schedule by pairing skilled craftsman and artisans with state-of-the-art technology to achieve seamless integration with your electronic architectural drawings. Contact us and let us know how we can help with your architectural stone requirements.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New Hand Painted Relief & Field Tiles

A few weeks ago we showed how a customer used the Relief Tile Medallion for a Kitchen Backsplash and our August Tile Talk Newsletter featured more eye-catching concepts for a kitchen backsplash use these Sculptural Relief Tiles. Today we give a sneak peak as some of the new hand painted field tiles and relief tiles from this artisan studio.

Scuptural Relief Anthropology Hand Painted Tile
Anthropology Hand Painted Relief Tile

The new Anthropology relief tiles (above) are available in a full line of glazes and features nature-inspired motifs like flowers, leaves, birds and dragonflies. The decorative accent tiles include trims, borders and accent dots. This line works great with field tile from the same studio in complimentary glazes.

Speaking of glazes, I'm in love with the weathered barn-wood look of the new Homestead Fallen Leaves (below). The glazes provide an amazing complexity to a rustic feel. The use of just a few relief tiles as accents really adds interest and depth.

Homestead Fallen Leaves
Homestead Fallen Leaves

Look at the dramatic effect you can create with field tile in rich, deep glazes and unique shapes.

Dusk with Silver Cathedral & Morgan Glaze
Dusk with Silver Cathedral & Morgan Glaze

Delphine Twilight Hand Painted Tile
Delphine Twilight Hand Painted Tile

Sculptural Relief Aurora Triptych with Chowder Glaze - Hand Painted Relief Tile
Aurora Triptych with Chowder Glaze - Hand Painted Relief Tile

Glazes for hand painted tile are an amazing mix of chemistry, magic and skill of the tile artisan or glaze master. Notice how the same Chowder glaze applied to different relief tiles creates a different effect? The Aurora Triptych (above) is light and feathery - almost delicate. The Zena (below) is a bold, strong pattern. There are only a few artisans that can consistently produce these rich glazes and artistically apply to them to create amazing effects with relief and field tiles. We are always pleased to share these fine talents and works of tile art.

Zena Hand Painted Relief Tile - Chowder Glazes
Zena Hand Painted Relief Tile - Chowder Glaze

This stunning set of Sculptural Relief Tiles and field tile is hand crafted in the United States. This is a great line for designers and architects because of the number of different glazes available. Remember, many of the concepts shown here are new and won't be available on our web site for a few months. What's your favorite new concept or glaze?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Joy Of Tile

Today we welcome a guest blog post by Todd Vendituoli of Todd Vendituoli Construction L.L.C. in West Burke, VT. Todd is also the owner of KV Construction Ltd In Eleuthera, Bahamas and has been a builder for almost 30 years. This is a great opportunity to hear a builder talk tile and a first for Avente Tile Talk. When Todd isn't busy building in New England or the Bahamas, you can find him blogging at his blog, Building Blox, and spreading the good word about building on Twitter as @TALV58!


I have been a builder for coming up on almost 30 years now and tile has been always part of what we do. I can't say that it has been a major area of our work but we have always enjoyed every opportunity that we have been given to work with it.

We particularly enjoy projects that have a bit more creativity to them. Yes, these do require more work and time but the end result is something that will last for years and be admired by all. Now I have seen many craftsmen that do amazing tile work. These are really works of art and the degree of complexity varies from person to person. Some serve a function such as this floor below.


Or this mosiac sidewalk.


Then there are those works that are truly works of art:


Jersey Peacock Project (Image Credit & Details)

The time and effort that go into designing and producing a piece of work such as the above is enormous but the result is beautiful!

A product that I have loved for years but have not had the pleasure of working with is Cuban tile. The designs and colors are unparalleled and produce floors that are truly lifetime works of art to be used and admired! I have watched videos of how they are made and the process is really something to see!

Our company also builds homes in Eleuthera, Bahamas and there are many homes there that use Cuban tiles for flooring. Some of these are relatively simple designs and patterns and have been in continuous use for many years. We are hoping that in one of our upcoming projects there we will be able to incorporate Cuban Tiles into a home.

As you can see there are many possibilities that can be made using different tiles and variations. The uses for tile comprise of the purely functional to pieces that will be treasured for years. Each work that is done is made to be lasting, long wearing and as usable and enjoyable now as it will be many years down the road. What is your taste in tile?