I was looking through my snaps from Ann Sacks and thought maybe my fellow tile lovers might like to see some more — they don’t work in our entryway but deserved to be ogled.
Like linen tiles. That actually feel like woven fabric…
I’ll just shut up and show you the rest…
Glad I got that out of my system! Just a taste of tile to come, I’m sure. I’ll get more serious about exploring our options when we start looking beyond the entryway.
Happened to be in New York City and made a special trip to the Ann Sacks showroom on East 18th today. Soooooo glad we went. Tile in person is so different from tile online — as you might imagine.
It’s hard not to get distracted by the possibilities for the kitchen or bath…
But we focused on looking at using concrete tile in our entryways, which was our mission in coming here in the first place. Some beautiful choices in concrete, mostly patterned…
The Andy Fleishman Neo Terrazzo was particularly beautiful with a lovely matte finish…
Up close, you can really make out the mother of pearl and stone pieces — the aggregate comes from the North Carolina coast…
The Paccha tiles made in Morocco (by Popham Design) are amazing, especially to the touch. They have a very handmade, artisan look to them, which makes sense since they are, duh. But the… hmm, what word to use? if we were talking about fabric I’d say the hand of the tiles is very warm and matte to the touch. Really beautiful with a lot of depth…
We saved our favorite for last: the Angela Adams Argyle concrete tiles (sorry, the lighting in this part of the showroom, not so good)…
They’re huge! 16″x16″. Way bigger than I imagined. Available in nine colors by Angela Adams or, get this, customizable in any Benjamin Moore paint color. Nice. The color goes all the way through the tile…
so even with wear and tear, just sand them down, refinish the top and you’re good to go. Made in America. $23 a sq ft. Good thing we don’t need much.
No final decision yet, but I think we’ll go home, look at our BenMo color chips and maybe order a sample. Before any decisions are made I want to see some Fritz terrazzo tile firsthand. Stay tuned! Like you care, ha.
Just got the April Anthropologie catalog in the mail and of the many wonders it contains, the one that makes my heart flutter the most is something they don’t sell…
The tile! It just reminded us that to trim costs, we could always create our own unique mosaic tile pattern in the two entryways rather than buy something readymade. Would be fun to take one of Irving Haynes’ paintings, for instance, and turn it into 8’x5′ and 4’x2′ tile “rugs.”
I know, I’m clearly obsessed. I made that obvious here and here. Just wait ’til we get to the bathrooms. Consider yourself warned.
Outside: moving. Inside: going nowhere until we settle on finishes. We finally agree on the flooring. Except that we’d both like to see something different than cork in the entryways. What we’re loving: concrete tile.
It’s gorgeous, ridiculously durable and generally an eco-friendly choice. Thus far, I’ve come across three styles of concrete tile:
Whatever we choose, we’re not going to need much. The front entry is roughly 8’x5′. The back entry maybe 4’x2′. The tile has to go with the cork flooring we think we’re going to use…
edipo cork tile in bleach white | duro-design.com
So considering that, I’ve found a few options that catch my eye…
_________________________________
Monolithic
In a modern house, you can never go wrong with terrazzo. The drawback to polished terrazzo in an entryway, of course, is that when it gets wet it may get slippery. But it is a modern staple and who knew you could get it in tile?
marble mosaic in honey onyx | fritztile.com
custom marble in twilight white | fritztile.com
Both of those from Fritz Tile and use marble in the aggregate. Pretty. We’d need an inside doormat no matter what kind of tile we choose, so maybe slippery won’t matter? Hmmm.
Fritz also offers two lines of LEED-certified recycled glass terrazzo tiles set in aggregate, but I’m not as fond of their look. For glass terrazzo, I prefer this…
recycled glass tile in riviera | wausautile.com
or this…
recycled glass tile in swiss alps | wausautile.com
from Wausau Tile, which also uses an aggregate base. Some recycled glass terrazzos are set in resin rather than aggregate (like countertop materials) — Enviroglas is a popular, environmentally friendly source. If we order samples, I’ll share.
Patterned
Here’s a tile from Ann Sacks that’s not only concrete with a pattern but terrazzo as well…
neoterrazo by andy fleishman | annsacks.com
Less glossy than the all-terrazzo choices above. I’m not one to shy away from pattern but I’d have to see it next to the cork to know if it would work. Maybe too… traditional?
Just to funk things up, Angela Adams has a few subtle but very modern patterned concrete tiles at Ann Sacks…
argyle by angela adams | annsacks.com
manfred by angela adams | annsacks.com
Nice matte finish. A hint of the ’70s there, am I right? Might be good in a circa ’72 house. Anything by Angela is a class act.
In case my design aesthetic isn’t all over the place enough for you, how about these Paccha concrete tiles, also at Ann Sacks…
zigzag by paccha | annsacks.com
Would the pattern overwhelm the rest of the room? Maybe. Popham Design who makes Zigzag also makes lots of other styles not carried by Ann Sacks — some that might go better. Although Zigzag doesn’t have to look like a quilt. Their website shows you how you can change things up in layout…
zigzag, zigging | pophamdesign.com
zigzag, zagging | pophamdesign.com
Does crazy things to your eyes after a while, doesn’t it?
Here’s another Popham style completely covered in awesome sauce…
popham squarish | pophamdesign.com
Called Squarish. Simple yet arty. Probably my favorite by Popham for our entryway. Just love that so much.
Another configuration of Squarish, more vintage looking…
squarish, yet againish | pophamdesign.com
I emailed back and forth with Popham not long after we moved in. At the time they were only in Morocco and had no U.S. dealer. Not sure if the ordering deets have changed since ’08 (may well have and if we decide to pursue, I’ll double-check), but this is what Popham shared with me about ordering through them at the time:
We sell the tiles for $15/square foot and can ship via air or sea. For air, which takes about a week once the tiles are dry, you’ll add about $12/square foot, for groupage (marine), which takes about a month, the cost is about $5/square foot. Or, if you want a container’s worth :), about 6,000 square feet, the shipping cost drops to about $1/square foot. Our production lead time is 2-3 weeks depending on the size of the orders.
So maybe $20 a square footish. Not cheap but also not out of the realm of possibility given the small footprint. Not very “green” ordering from Marrakech, I know. On the other hand, it does employ local artisans in a very low-tech process. Conundrum. Nice video, btw.
_________________________________
I dream of a statement-making entry floor but my gut tells me this house wants something sleek and simple. We’ll see. For me, tile is a must-touch, must-ogle item. This means a visit to Ann Sacks, for sure. And I located Fritz Tile’s terrazzo at a few shops in MA and RI. Field trip!
I thought it might never happen but I just laid eyes on cork flooring I’m pretty smitten with. Just unboxed some samples of DuroDesign’s Edipo cork and, yes, it would actually complement this house nicely. Guess you can consider my cork POPPED.
It’s made up of strips of cork, so it’s very linear, just like our house. No swirls. And yet not so uniform that it looks like a corkboard. Neither of those are styles I’ve disliked in other people’s houses — I just think they wouldn’t be the best choice here given our straight lines and hard angles. Perhaps this linear style has existed and I just somehow missed it in other flooring lines? Dunno.
Here’s Edipo in a range of neutrals, from bleached to darker…
I like how the linearity makes the cork resemble its original form: tree bark. In fact, the lighter shades remind me a lot of birch bark. Here’s a closeup of the darkest sample…
It comes in 12″x36″, click-together planks that would be easy enough to float in…
And they have thin, very light cork tiles that could work well on the ceiling (we want to contain our popcorn ceiling)…
They’d need to be glued and/or nailed to something else first in order to be installed overhead, but that seems do-able.
As far as I’m concerned, the Edipo is a strong contender, assuming it’s in our price range. And of course, if we go with this we get all the sustainable, LEED-certified benefits of cork. As I mentioned in my last post:
… composed of 100% post-industrial recycled content from wine-stopper production.
Luv that. Lots more info and pictures of DuroDesign’s cork flooring options here in their PDF brochure.
We think this house was recently swathed in floor-to-floor carpet, including the stairs. Ugh. The last owner ripped out a good deal of it…
But not all of it. Which leaves us with flaking particle board. And splinters in our feet. So you can probably understand why we’ve been collecting flooring samples. A few days ago, we woke up to a new box of samples on our front step. Wanna peek?
Duro Design sent us a ton of eco-friendling flooring samples for free (nice), including cork (available in 54 colors)…
But why does cork leave me so… meh? Honestly. I love the idea of cork — that it’s completely renewable and easy on the feet. But I’ve yet to come across cork I love the look of. Duro’s cork comes from “post-industrial recycled content from wine stopper production,” so there’s a lot to be said for it. And some of the patterns are pretty interesting…
Maybe too interesting? My discrimination is completely unfair, I realize that. David loves this stuff.
I do like the look of their strand bamboo…
No PVCs. No formaldehyde. Low VOC-finish. More durable than hardwood or regular bamboo floors. And I’ve long preferred the look of the stranded.
Available in 22 colors, although for us there are really only a few that could work.
I’ve noticed that lately I’m drawn to lighter finishes… that clean, airy Scandinavian look must be appealing to me.
Which leads me to something I hadn’t considered before…
FSC oak, from environmentally and sustainably managed forests. I normally despise oak but for some reason I’m liking the look of their extra-wide engineered oak planks in the lighter finishes. Above, Oyster.
And this is Pastis. The difference is subtle but if you put them side by side you can see…
The Pastis on top has a little more pink in it. I prefer Oyster.
Ultimately we can’t settle on flooring without taking into account kitchen cabinetry and countertop materials, as they’ll all be visible in the main living space once we’re done with the remodel. I see this calls for a future post of some possible combinations.
Guess that means I better start gathering countertop samples.
This is not about me, it’s about the tile. The glorious, glorious vintage tile. Doesn’t it look fantastic with the bright orange seats? That pattern makes me ridiculously giddy.
Where: Peoria International Airport
When: The terminal was dedicated in 1942, so there’s a chance it dates to then. Not really sure. Just read they’re expanding. I hope they don’t touch the tile!
Why: On our first trip to the Bix Biederbecke Memorial Jazz Festival and its companion Bix 7 race in Davenport, Iowa, in 2005. Every year about 15,000 come for the music and more than 20,000 run the race. Crazy.
I’m posting this for my friend Steve, who’s on his way to Peoria. Say hello to the floor for me. And if you see that awesome hat of mine, bring it home. It went MIA.
Off on a tangent — an end-grain wood tangent I began yesterday. Forgive my obsession and just play along.
If the term “end-grain” leaves you thinking, huh? don’t worry. If you’ve seen a butcher block table or countertop, you’ve seen end-grain. That’s my own end-grain bamboo cutting board above.
It’s called end-grain because all those individual blocks of wood in the butcher block are turned on end rather than set longways, so you can see the grain of the wood where the saw blade sliced through it. Think of a pepperoni sausage… laying on its side, that’s long-grain. But slice it into discs and lay those face up, that’s end-grain. If you still don’t get it, watch this.
End-grain cutting surfaces are traditionally maple, because it’s a hard, durable wood. But end-grain lends itself to other woods and other applications — like flooring! Really gorgeous, incredibly pricey flooring. I only know because I’ve been looking into flooring options for our remod and have been hoarding samples of things that catch my eye. Okay, I’ll show you a few end-grain samples but no touching….
End-grain bamboo flooring you can find from a few different sources, Plyboo on the West Coast being the leader (also end-grain ply for furniture). Kaswell Flooring Systems in Framingham, MA, makes end-grain wood flooring from scads of different species, some more sustainable than others. We prefer the more eco-conscious options but they’re all pretty awesome to behold…
kaswell ash
kaswell cerisewood
kaswell hemlock
kaswell teak
kaswell mesquite rounds
kaswell white oak
Eyes buggin’ yet? My personal favorite… strips of plywood end-grain! Plywood! (Scroll back up to my flooring samples for supa-dupa extreme closeup.)
kaswell plye
God I love how a material that seems like such a throwaway can create such an amazing pattern. Just look at it in some lucky bugger’s fabulous New York City apartment:
It is to sigh. There are waaaay more species to choose from here and here. Want to see a few more installations? Hopefully Kaswell won’t mind… I’m on a roll.
As much as I love them, I have to admit that most of those choices are too busy design-wise for our space even if we could afford them.
But I’ll always have the samples.