Floor Talk!

 Glass Tile - one of the hottest trends in tile for artistic and creative expression. It’s design capabilities are endless and can bring unique personalization to your tile project. If you are not familiar with the types, sizes and applications, read on.

Glass Tile can be sold by the piece, sheet or square foot. Be careful when pricing to know if the price is by the piece or by the square foot. Finishes are typically either gloss or matte and are sometimes etched. Because there are so many handmade products, there are endless options of sizes, shapes and designs. (more…)

Question: What height should my coffee table be? (from Ashely in Charlotte, NC)

Answer:

• the standard height for coffee tables is from 16 to 18 inches, but try to limit the height to 21 inches.

• use a higher table if you entertain a lot so guests don’t have to bend over so far to set their beverages down

• the height of the other upholstered pieces in the room should determine the height of the table. One guideline is that a coffee table should be about the same height or one or two inches lower than the seat height of the sofa.

• the length of a coffee table should be about two-thirds the length of the sofa (not including arms).

• the width should be determined by how much room you have between the soft upholstered pieces and the table in your seating arrangement - leave at least 16 inches around each side of the table.

Always measure what you fall in love with before buying or use craft paper to lay out the size on the floor. It will keep you from buying something too large or too small!

Every day, I look forward to receiving the email from Colour Lovers, Color + Design Community for Creative Inspiration announcing a new post. Today, they decided to write about our world, hardwood. In this post, they display, describe and indentify the most colorful domestic and exotic hardwoods. For the full post, click here. Be prepared to be surprised at the amazing range of colors.

One simple floor design technique that can really add life and punch to your room, while remaining a classic layout is adding “dots”;. This can be simple or very detailed. Another name for this installation technique is called “clipped corners”;. This installation technique can be particularly effective when the style and design in the rest of the room is quiet, simple or without a lot of other patterns.

There are many different ways you can add these dots.

• Tiles laid on the diagonal with dots in the intersection of each tile.

• Tiles laid on the diagonal with dots in the intersection of every other alternating tile.

• Tiles laid out with dots with the addition of a border around the perimeter of the room.

• Field tile that is laid straight. In a clearly defined area, most likely the center of a room, laid out with a border that created an area rug. The center of this area rug can be laid on the diagonal with dots in each intersection or every other intersection.

There are many different tile sizes that can be used for dots as well as ways to achieve “dots”

• 1×1 tiles (works best with tiles at least4×4)

• 2×2 tiles (works best with tiles at least 6×6)

• 3×3 tiles (works best with tiles at least 6×6)

• 4×4 tiles (works best with tiles at least 12×12)

• 6×6 tiles (works best with tiles at least 12×12)

• Mosaics that can create custom sizes or standard sizes like 3×3, 4×4 or 6×6

• 12×12 natural stone pieces cut down into custom sizes or standard sizes like 3×3, 4×4 or 6×6

Areas in your home that “dots” can be used:

• Complete floors

• Accents in floors

• Showers

• Tub Surrounds

• Backsplashes

• Accent areas in backsplashes such as behind the stove or sink

• Wainscoting

Color combinations that are attractive uses for dots or clipped corners:

• Solid color field tile and same solid color accent dot

• Solid color field tile and different color accent dot

• Solid color field tile and patterned accent dot

• Field tile with natural stone accent dot

• Light colored field tile with contrasting dark accent dot such as black dot and a white floor or cream floor and dark brown dot

• Darker colored field tile with contrasting light accent dot such as a black floor with a white dot or a dark brown floor like emperador marble with a crema marfil or travertine dot. (shown below)

• Solid floor tiles with decorative accent tiles.

• Accents can be created from natural stone, glass mosaics, glass tiles, metal tiles, ceramic tile, decorative ceramic tile or porcelain tile.

Keep in mind that the installation cost is usually higher due to the amount of work it takes to cut each tile that receives dots. If the dots are created by cutting other tiles, this can increase the labor costs even more. The uniqueness that this pattern provides is well worth the additional labor costs.

For other installation patterns, Happy Floors has a great source on their website. You can enter the size tiles you are working with to ensure the size tile lays out properly with the dot you’ve selected.

A great visual resource for trying these designs out is on the WFCA website’s Virtual Room Designer. Here you can choose different tiles in different room applications.

Happy Designing! Get Creative!

There are so many decorative tile choice available - how do you make sure you have something unique?Lore Haus Glass Tile has just the thing to set you apart. From frogs, fish, crystals, flowers, butterflies to Gothic faces these tiles are handblown to give you a look that will truly set you apart.

These are so different - You might be wondering “How can I use these tiles?”

Imagine a simple white tile shower with a set of these tiles scattered randomly. For a more exciting and bold look, use these tiles in combination with glass tiles or colored ceramic tiles. Another idea is that same shower of tiles (installed either straight, on the diagonal or with an offset joint) and a decorative band of these tiles installed at eye level.

If you choose a theme such as all animals or all in the same series that compliment each other, try blocks of 4 tiles strategically placed around the walls.

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