Congrats Kate Jessup!

We would like to congratulate Kate Jessup, United Tile Showroom Design Consultant, on having her work chosen to be part of the permanent collection of the Art Museum of the City of Ravenna, ” the worlds most important contemporary mosaic museum”.  For more information about the exhibit please follow this link – http://www.mosaicartnow.com/2013/05/three-americans-become-part-of-prestigious-italian-museums-contemporary-mosaic-collection/

Mini Vacation In A New Master Bath

Our Spokane showroom designers recently worked with a very satisfied homeowner. She used a creative mix of materials to create a lovely new master bath. The shower walls and tub face featured our Flaviker Urban Concrete, color Night in 12×24. And she used our Bellavita Creekside, color Tumbled Pebbles in 3×12 on the tub and counter backsplashes. We loved hearing from this customer when her project was done about how much she loves her new space – and getting to see some photos of her beautiful new space!

I am over the moon, happy with the results!
Each time I walk in my bath, it feels like a mini-vacation!
The tiles are so beautiful and striking.
Thanks for your enthusiasm and your great ideas.
~Susan Hammond

(The artwork on the wall of the last photo is done by Spokane artist Michael Chase. To see more of his work, visit http://areaofinterest.com)

United Tile Open Houses

On Thursday, February 21st, we hosted our first ever all-branch open house.  All four of our showrooms (Portland, Renton, Everett and Spokane) showed off our latest products to over 150 designers, architectects, dealers and contractors.  Thanks to everyone who came and supported our event!  Those who couldn’t make it are welcome to come in anytime to see all of our new product additions – we have some wonderful new stones, a wood look, a concrete look, and some great new glass options.

United Tile and Crossville Visit Alaska

Over 55 design and architect professionals attended our program in Anchorage on October 10th, presented by the Technical Director and Regional Manager for Crossville at the Anchorage Hilton.  Product introductions included a number of creative porcelain and glass tile lines, and an innovative launch of thin porcelain panels as a joint venture with Laminam by Crossville.  Additional TCNA technical changes were presented including handling and installation of large unit porcelain tile, rectangular porcelain tile production, and guidelines for tile layout, lighting and joint sizes.

Crossville is a leader in the industry with innovative tile, green initiatives as a company standard, and education in support of quality selection, design and installation.  Numerous designers in attendance requested information on products and installation guidelines, to ensure they have applied the current recommendation and industry guidelines to their project selection and specifications.

Thanks to Tim Bolby and Mary Yocum from Crossville – as well as everyone from Alaska who attended!

Tangerine Tango

As we gear up for a beautiful weekend in the Pacific Northwest, we are reminded of Pantone’s color of the year for 2012: Tangerine Tango.  We celebrate summer by combining this fresh, beautiful color with tile and some of our favorite summertime goodies!

House of the Immediate Future – Habitat for Humanity

United Tile and Crossville are thrilled to be a part of Habitat for Humanity’s House of the Immediate Future.  Miller Hull Architects and Habitat have partnered on this project as part of The Next 50 celebration at the Seattle Center.  This project is being built at Seattle Center, where the focus of the design is on environmental sustainability.  The emphasis will be on forward looking materials and design, and will feature Crossville Shades AV141 Frost Honed 6×24 for the Kitchen backsplash.  The house is on display at Seattle Center from August until October 21, 2012.  After that time, the house will be relocated to its permanent location in the Rainier Valley area. 

Other stats:  This is a 1400 square foot, two story house. 
Design goals: Demonstrates energy efficient construction using the best of readily available methods and materials.  The house demonstrates what is possible and economically practical with today’s technology.  The building, despite its modern design, is a simple structure designed to be inexpensive to construct.  The building is designed to accommodate a variety of needs over time, with movable partitions and multi-use spaces that allow it to adapt to different needs and for aging in place for residents.

If you are anywhere near Seattle Center, be sure to check it out!  For more information, check out Habitat for Humanity’s blog or facebook page.

 

Inspiration

What do you use for inspiration? 

Peg Cox is a fabulous designer in Snohomish who frequently uses our Everett showroom to make her selections.  In her own words, “I just love Dawn, Crystal and the gang.  They are always so helpful.  I love the selections and variety you have”.

Peg recently completed a remodel of an entire house in Woodinville, where the design throughout the home was inspired by our Walker Zanger Tuileries Rivoli Deco Field in the Loire color.  She knew her client would love the shape and robin’s egg blue color.  We love how the tile ended up being the inspiration for so much more in this beautiful home!

The kitchen featured the Walker Zanger Tuileries field tile in the Loire color, paired with Stone & Pewter Accent’s Sumi-E Tresse in color Hope Natural.  The glass had so much depth and with the varying colors, it tied in well with the granite.

The bathrooms featured Casa Dolce Casa Pietre 2 in color Fiora.  They loved the large 16×16 tiles and felt it made the smaller bathrooms feel so much larger.  In addition, the through body porcelain allowed them to eliminate the use of edge tiles to make it look more like real stone – but without the maintenance.  More Stone & Pewter Sumi-e Tresse in Hope Natural was used in the bathrooms.  And of course the Walker Zanger Tuileries Rivoli Deco was featured again!

Notice how the Rivoli Deco design is repeated throughout the house – even in custom wainscot panels!

Congratulations on a beautiful project, Peg!  And thanks for using United Tile!