STORIES OF THEN AND NOW

The North Africa of American Hollywood lingers in our minds. Bogart and Bergman and what might have been, in "Casablanca." George C. Scott reminiscing on a previous life in "Patton", Gary Cooper in the French Foreign Legion of "Beau Geste" and back to Bogart in the grit of "Sahara." The Los [...]

Gray is good for 2013. At least according to our friends at Pantone and Sherwin Williams. Pantone announced its Fall 2013 colors which included the color "Turbulence" shown below left. Sherwin Williams gave us "Outerspace" and "Rare Gray" which are shown below center and right. As we look at [...]

In the early 1980’s the design profession was offered a new product to specify as a commercial floor. Porcelain tile arrived with very little fanfare but held some distinct market changing advantages over the incumbent products.In those days this market was dominated by American produced [...]

Since this is the final post in our color, mood and design trilogy. We have covered nine colors so far and by way of review we have noted that there are very distinct human responses to color. For example, I have always been drawn to saturated, vibrant colors. Of course, individual human [...]

It is generally accepted by scholars that glass mosaics date back to at least 2500 B.C. Of interest, is that clay tiles are first thought to have been produced as early as 8000 B.C. The timeline differential is mainly owing to the far greater temperatures needed to melt glass.In the spirit [...]

The International Design Movement, later to be known as Arts and Crafts, began in Europe, and especially in Britain, in approximately 1860. The exact genesis of such things is never crystal clear.  Textile designer and writer William Morris was extremely influential in fanning the Arts and [...]

All things metallic have been creeping towards center stage this year. Trending Metallics in tile is no exception. Website fashionpassion.com tells us that…. “Tremendous, amusing with futuristic spirit, the metallic trend is part of spring 2013 fashion. This time it takes us one step forward [...]

Terracotta Tiles and introduction Terracotta tiles inspire creative thoughts and engender romantic design notions. However, there is often a bit of confusion for the homeowner and even for the professional. Let's start with the name. Is it terracotta as one word or terra cotta as two words? [...]