New Cuban Cement Tile from Aguayo Tile

By Bill Buyok, Avente Tile

A few weeks ago, I shared 2015 Tile Trends from my annual pilgrimage to Coverings, a trade show for tile and stone. I promised to share some other great new tile finds that Avente Tile will be adding to our offerings. Not being one to disappoint, I want to show the new Cuban Heritage Cement tile offerings from Aguayo.

Cuban Heritage Design 140 4B Cement Tile 

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Cuban Heritage Design 150 4A Cement Tile

Cuban Heritage Design 160 4A Cement Tile

Cuban Heritage Design 160 5B Cement Tile

Gray, Blue, and Earth Tones
The new Cuban Heritage colorways embrace the trends we have been seeing with color. You'll notice more straight-forward colorways using three or four colors. Also, you'll find slightly muted patterns using shades of gray and blue or warm earth tones and neutrals with an accent of color.

These new colorways have been created with you in mind. We want to make it easy for the designer and homeowner to use cement tile in the home.

Cuban Heritage Design 200 4A Cement Tile

Cuban Heritage Design 210 4B Cement Tile

Cuban Heritage Design 240 4B Cement Tile

Cuban Heritage Design 260 4B Cement Tile

Available Now and Soon to be Quick Shipped
These new colorways are available now. Although we have limited sample stock available at this time, we'll be adding these tiles to our stocked inventory and as a result, they'll be available for quick ship soon.

With a focus on quality and distinguished look all their own (compared to other suppliers), our Cuban Heritage cement tiles all come with a polished finish. Polished tiles have a slightly satin surface sheen, the desired patina that all cement floor tiles naturally develop over time. Polished tiles are also easier to install because the slightly smoother finish makes grout easier to remove from the surface.

Discover our entire Cuban Heritage Cement Tile collection  online now. The "Series 3" colorways, like CH260-3B, will no longer be stocked. These colorways are still available with a standard lead time of 8 to 10 weeks. Like all our cement tiles, these patterns can be customized with your choice of colors, Just contact us to let us know what you need.  Love Cuban Tiles?  Find out more in our post, A Brief Overview of Cuban Tiles.

See All Cuban Heritage Cement Tiles

More Exciting Cement Tiles from Avente Tile
It's not easy to get all of the new tile designs and lines we will  be offering from Coverings 2015 ready. I came back from the show energized and excited to share new tile inspiration, trends, and products. I'll share more new cement tile products and lines as we launch them over the next six weeks.

Tile Trends 2015: Variety is the Spice of Tile

By Bill Buyok, Avente Tile

Last week was action-packed as I made my annual pilgrimage to Coverings, a trade show for tile and stone. The week-long event took place in Orlando, Florida and was filled with highlights including seeing long-time friends, a face-to-face meeting with designer Alena Capra, and listening to Ryan Fasan, Tile of Spain's Technical consultant, speak about tile trends and design.

Bill Buyok, Avente Tile owner, at Coverings 2015

It's thrilling to share the industry trends with you and unveil our newest lines (drum roll please).

Hexagons are Hot
Anyone in attendance would agree that you could not avoid spotting the sexy six-sided polygon just about anywhere on the show floor. Hexagons tile formats were everywhere - as small mosaics, in elongated forms, bold colors, and in relief formats. Hands down, Elevations concave hexagon and 3D hexagon by Aguayo was one of my favorite tile finds.

Elevations 3D Hex in three shades of grey adds interest to a classic pattern with concave and convex dimension.

Concave Hexagon in black with a waxed finish is a new cast cement line from Aguayo.

Formats, Patterns, Texture and Technology Blend
Ryan Fasan mentioned that the tile industry is at an exciting crossroads of blending artisanal technique with technology to provide a blending of looks never before seen or achieved. Think of this as cement tile meets thin formats and ink jet printer techniques, Last year I saw wood-look, stone-look, and cement tile designs infused on porcelain tile. Now, these different material looks (wood, stone, metal, and pattern) are being subtly blended onto tile to create sophisticated designs. While this is most prevalent in the state-of-the-art factories of Spain and Italy, you are seeing the same effect in the hand-crafted tiles in the Americas.

The new Hex line by Original Mission Tile shows how classic shapes are mixed with pattern to create complex, interesting and modern designs.

Pattern plays on popular hexagon shapes using metal grey and warm earth tones.

The rustic wood look of this beach house vignette is created with tile

Cascading gold hexagon mosaics from Onix.

Textured Tile Shapes
There is a strong trend to add interest to classic geometric shapes with texture and relief. The popular hexagon shape gets reinterpreted with concave relief as shown above. But, I love the rich and sexy shape of this teardrop in chocolate brown. Wouldn't this be lovely in a bathroom with different shades of blue? This also part of the new Elevations line from Aguayo that will be available from Avente soon.

Concave drops in chocolate brown create the sumptuous look of leather and add richness with the relief texture.

Apavisa gold hexagons create a luxe look with a classic shape

Textile influences are also growing with the emphasis of textured surfaces. Pins and Needles is a line completely inspired by fabrics, lace, and textile. The cast cement line is available in almost any color; but I love this line in its classic look on white. This is another line by Aguayo Cement Tile.

Brussels Lace showcases texture inspired by fabric and lace.

The folks at In-Pietra from Mexico have captured the essence of creating dazzling texture in stone.

Texture created by carved stone and effective lighting adds richness to any design.

It's not easy to recap a week of inspiration, trends, and learning. I came back from the show energized and excited. This is the best of the best in one (short) post and captures the essence of the show and what excites me. I'll share more trends in a future posts as we launch many of these new lines over the next six weeks.

Patterned Hexagon Tile: 3 Ways to Create Style

By Bill Buyok, Avente Tile

Last week, I shared 3 Ways to Create Style with Plain Hexagon Tile. This week, I play with pattern on this powerful six-sided polygon. Here are three ways patterned hexagon tiles provide a stylish look using both ceramic and cement tiles - all available from Avente Tile.

Our journey of creating style with hexagon tiles continues. 

Hexagon Style Tip #1: Use patterned cement tile in a hexagon format for a subtle design flair. At first glance, the pattern addict would say, "I've seen this pattern. That's not a Hexagon!" But take a closer look, and among the Escher-like tessellations, you'll see the hexagon outline in the grout line.

Patterned hexagon tiles add subtle design flair

Not only is the pattern playful, so is the tile shape and format; but, in a subtle way that draws attention by making you look twice. If you have trouble seeing the pattern, here's a view of the same tile placed together without any cuts.

Patterned hexagon tiles work well in rooms with odd angles or if the walls aren't square.

Design trick: Use a patterned hexagon tile for rooms that aren't square or rectangular, badly out of plumb or odd-shaped. The pattern and hexagon shape, when run to the edge of the room, hide all of the problems you'd have when using square or rectangular tile.

Hexagon Style Tip #2. Emphasize the hexagon shape with outline patterns. Using cement tile from our Mission patterns, you can show your love for this shapely, equal-sided polygon by using three contrasting or complimentary colors that outline or frame the hexagon shape. Here's an 8-inch format in three colors.

Emphasize the hexagon shape with outline patterns like this.

The design flexibility of cement tiles means you get to pick the color for a unique design that speaks to you. Consider blue, green and aqua for a bathroom. Choose red, orange and yellow for a bright, warm patio or sunroom, or opt for a more neutral palette, such as the one shown above for a wall.

Hexagon Style Tip #3. Create a mosaic with hexagon tile. The flexibility of tile and the geometry of a hexagon work well with creative designs. You can create one-of-a-kind mosaics for the floor or wall using either cement and ceramic tile.

Life of Riley by Artist Thimo Pimental is a modular mosaic hexagon cement tile.

Colorful hexagon tiles by David Shipley create one-of-a-kind mosaics.

Moreover, thanks to the inherit advantages of geometry, patterned hexagon tiles can be create subtle or bold designs, or a playful yet sophisticated mosaic. At Avente Tile, we offer both encaustic cement tile and glazed ceramic tile designs that work on floors and walls, indoors and out. Want to explore more hexagon style and design options? Can't find the hexagon style that you want? Let us know what you need for your project, and we'll schedule a free design consultation to show you how we can help!

3 Ways to Create Style with Plain Hexagon Tile

By Bill Buyok, Avente Tile

With it's classic six-sided shape, the hexagon is gaining and maintaining it's elegant prowess in design circles (pun intended) once again. Here are three ways plain hexagon tiles lead to an overall stylish look. Our style guide below uses both ceramic, porcelain, and cement tiles - all available from Avente Tile.

Hexagon Style Tip #1. Create a simple pattern with plain hexagon tile in two or three colors.  The hexagon format was common in the 1920s. These small-format "penny hexagons" or the penny hex in white was typically used for kitchen and bath floors. It gained some notoriety again in the 1960s, and now, it is once again is a design staple that provides interest without being over-used.

Penny-sized hexagon tiles, popular in the 1920s, were typically used as flooring in the kitchen and bath.

A simple repeating pattern in black and white works great with hexagon tiles. Stylistic floral patterns and simple borders can also be used with this fun, interlocking shape.

Hexagon Style Tip #2. Use hexagon tile with hand-painted glazes or cement tile in the same color. Sound boring? Not really, use an interesting glaze that exhibits variation from tile to tile. Or, use hand-painted glazes or cement tile to achieve the look you're after. The natural variation in color provides an absolutely stunning look that hides dirt, provides a sense of texture or depth, and lots of interest. It's also a more straight-forward design approach for the DIY group.

Arabesque Hexagon Spanish Pavers in Cotto Dark, all in the same color, can create a rustic look similar to this.

Hexagon tile looks great with hand-painted glazes. The variation of hand-applied glazes create a look that exudes depth, texture and interest.

Hexagon Saltillo tiles provide rustic charm with the natural color variations found in terracotta.

Hexagon Style Tip #3. Blend ceramic tile glaze colors or cement tile colors and texture to unique, one-of-kind designs. Feeling creative? Like to work with colors? Then this option is perfect for you. Create a colorful mosaic of hexagon tiles using three to five colors, then choose a size to accommodate the scale of the space.

6" Arabesque Hexagon Spanish Paver Tile in Normandy Cream and Vintage texture

Hexagonal cement tile from our Arabesque cement tile collection. Pictured above is a blend of red and brown tiles, our Duoro Blend, with a Vintage texture

It's easy to see why this classic shape never falls from grace. Hexagon tile, or hex tiles, are just a great way to add both style and grace to any design.

Next week get's really fun! I'll show you three ways to create style with patterned hexagon tile. Patterned  hexagon tiles can be very playful - the hexagon pattern can almost disappear or form truly unique modular mosaic patterns. If you haven't seen patterned hexagon tile at play, I think you'll be surprised!