Tile is truly an amazing material that offers you limitless possibilities in designing a unique and dramatic look for your home. From floor tiles to wall tiles, let’s discover some of the best practices in tile design today.

Mix-&-Match Color Tones, Textures and Patterns

In this bathroom featured below, the designer selected a beige and brown toned floor tile and coupled it with dark brown and mosaic wall tile in different sizes. Juxtaposing the large solid wall tile against the mosaic creates a very original look that really makes this bathroom stand out. Because of recent advances in technologies, tile manufacturers have come up with a variety of creative new tile colors and tones, so make sure you make the most of this new wide range of options. Traditional cream-colored tiles and stones are still very popular and a great choice, but think about combining different tile color tones, textures and patterns to create your own very unique atmosphere.

Mix & Match Tile Sizes

Don’t simply install a plain square 12×12 tile floor. At least not until you have considered mixing and matching different tile sizes. Consider using combinations of 6×6 and 12×12 tiles. Or you can go with fancier patterns and use 6×6, 12×12 and 18×18 tiles together in the same room. You can even consider using different patterns on different parts of the floor, and separate each area with a nice border tile, or use different tile sizes on your walls. Confused? Don’t be. You can have fun and get as creative as you would like. Check out the picture below showcasing the Derby collection from the Spanish tile manufacturer SuperCeramica (www.hardwoodbrokers.com). A simple combination of 12×24 and 2×24 ceramic tiles with a metal border accent achieves a powerful effect for a beautiful wall tile.

Consider New Looks

When designing your new floor tile or wall tile, it’s well worth taking the time to look for design pictures and inspiration. Tile manufacturers’ websites often showcase their latest collections in room settings. This will help you become more imaginative and discover the latest trends in tile & stone. Technology has changed so much over the past decade and manufacturers are now coming up with truly amazing tile designs. The picture below features a floor from Italgres, a Spanish tile manufacturer that introduced its new Ikronos and techwood collections in 2008 (Tile Flooring)

Now you can enjoy the durability of tile and the look of wood at the same time! You can also explore new color opportunities, with dark blue or light brown colors and tones.

Options are limitless and with a little bit of research and help from design sites, you can come up with a floor tile or wall tile that can really turn your room extraordinary. You can start by visiting a popular flooring tile website where you can view a variety of flooring tile and wall tile galleries online. Also check out manufacturers such as Dal-Tile or American Olean for more tile design ideas.

For more information visit wikiflooring.org

It is with great excitement that Floormall.com announces it will now be offering BuildDirect.com flooring products to customers in the residential and commercial markets. Currently, BuildDirect.com deals primarily in pallet and truck load orders.  Floormall.com will now be listing those products at affordable prices and fulfilling all under-pallet orders.  This strategic alliance between two of the most successful online floor covering businesses illustrates the commitment by both companies to provide consumers more choices in an ever changing market.

  “The market is just changing. Customers don’t want to spend a month driving to twenty different shops to see who has what. We simplify it for them. Put all the products in one place, give them knowledgeable customer service to answer their questions, and save them money. It only makes sense for the two biggest Internet Flooring Retailers to communicate and be of like minds.” – Marc Henderson CEO and founder Floormall.com

The addition of lines like BuildDirect’s Yanchi Bamboo and Lamton and Toklo laminates which offer customers an affordable, premium quality laminate flooring  add  to Floormall.coms’ already impressive catalog of products. 

“We are very excited about this arrangement with Floormall because consumers who are not able to meet BuildDirect’s minimum order requirement now have a place to buy our quality, proprietary brands in smaller quantities.” – Jeff Booth President and CEO, BuildDirect.com

In these trying economic times you shouldn’t have to sacrifice quality for savings.  Visit Floormall.com today to see how you can have both quality and savings on your new floor.

Shaw Floors has been in the news recently for a number of initiatives that the company is launching or has previously launched. For example, in April Shaw and Versatile Systems Inc. announced they will be working alongside CitiFinancial in a consumer credit financing arrangement. The plan entails a joint partnership to simplify and streamline the credit application process for flooring retailers and consumers. This will be accomplished by way of an attractive and easy-to-use in-store kiosk. This will be the first time a flooring company will offer two different models of Versatile’s kiosks. The models will include the Rockland and the Madison. The combination was demoed at the Shaw Design Center Convention which was held in April of 2008 in Palm Coast, Florida. It appears that Shaw was motivated to embark on this project in light of the current credit crunch. According to marketing manager, Scott Humphrey, “during this challenging market, it’s more important than ever to make the credit application process simple and accessible.” The company is hoping that they can swing people into making a flooring purchase with the newfound credit application ease. This move has been referred to as a “forward-thinking strategy” which Versatile is happy to assist with. Versatile is particularly experienced with providing technology solutions that drive operational efficiency while enhancing the customer experience.

As a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., Shaw Floors is the world’s largest carpet manufacturer. The company is a leading floor covering provider with more than $5 billion in annual sales. With approximately 31,000 associates, the company is well positioned to meet demands as the home improvement and construction markets improve. Headquartered in Dalton, Ga., the company manufactures and distributes carpeting, rugs, hardwood, laminate and ceramic tiles making its product offerings expansive enough to meet the needs of all consumers. They tailor to both residential and commercial customers.

Shaw is also positioned to capitalize on the environmental stewardship movement. Shaw has implemented hundreds of sustainability initiatives and more information about such initiatives can be found by visiting www.shawfloors.com. In January of 2008, Shaw received the first ever Vendor Green Steps Award, which was presented by Sherwin-Williams. According to the president of marketing at Sherwin-Williams, “Shaw’s admirable and aggressive green efforts have set an industry standard for sustainability.” The award was presented to Shaw’s national accounts team and environmental team in recognition of its recycling post-consumer carpet, development of sustainable products and continuous improvements in energy conservation.