Design Trends and Ideas

February 18th, 2021

Covid Killer in Your Tile – Microban®!

Posted in Bathrooms, Commercial Spaces, General, Kitchens, Tile

Microban® silver technology has been incorporated into numerous Florida Tile series, including the highly popular NY2LA® series.  Microban® provides a continuous level of protection from the growth of common microbes.  Microban® is also available as a sanitizing spray that has been initially proven to kill Covid-19 virus and 99.9% of bacteria.  Microban®, when infused into tiles, allows the tiles to offer a great degree of effortless cleanliness suitable for kitchens, bathrooms, restaurants, retirement homes, medical facilities, and, well, everywhere.  Click here for more information on Microban® from Florida Tile.  Or, call or text us to discuss at 518-227-0156.

October 29th, 2020

Patio for Socially-Distanced Get-Togethers

Posted in General, Installation, Stone, Tile

Project #1 is an outdoor patio to create ‘useable’ outdoor space that this house never had. The plans have been in the works for over a year, but with covid this spring, I had an obvious delay and lost the original contractor. A very talented friend stepped-up and said he would be interested in the our project after completing a simliar project at his house. Heavy equipment for minor excavation was delivered along with many tons on stone for the patio base. Yes, I will be using tile for my patio. The porcelain tile is 16″x32″x 3/4″ and meant to be used outside. Before photo, for reference:

First set-back – BEES! Two large bees nests were in the ground around the shrubs. All of the shrubs had to be removed before minor excavation could begin so we lost a few days while the bees calmed down and found a new home. 

To be continued . . .

October 15th, 2020

Let the games begin!

Posted in Bathrooms, Commercial Spaces, Family Rooms, General, Kitchens, LVT, Mosaics, Stone, Tile

These days, if you’re like so many of us spending most of our covid-time at home, you are seeing your slice of the world through a different lense. Whether an addition for more space, a bathroom or kitchen renovation, or an upgrade to outdoor real estate for more socially distanced get-togethers – these are all potential projects that could help to make being at home so much more enjoyable! With that said, I am about to embark on two major projects at my house to make my space more functional and enjoyable. I will be chronicling the projects here in the coming weeks . . . So “let the games begin!”

Project #1 – Outdoor patio using porcelain tile pavers . . . After all, tile is my thing . . . Stay tuned . . .

May 22nd, 2020

Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Porcelain Tile Floor

Posted in Bathrooms, Commercial Spaces, General, Kitchens, Mosaics, Stone, Tile

April 7th, 2020

Fast, efficient, and SAFE . . .

Posted in Back Splash, Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Carpet, Commercial Spaces, Family Rooms, Floor Warming, General, Installation, Kitchens, LVT, Mosaics, Rugs, Stone, Tile

We have instituted a variety of measures in an attempt to ensure that we do all we can to keep our clients and employees safe from Covid-19.  Currently, we are keeping our showroom and warehouse are open by appointment — one person/couple at a time.  Our doing so will allow us to clean and disinfect after one client leaves and before the next client arrives.  Please call or text us at 518-227-0156, or email us at [email protected] to schedule your appointment.   Ideally, before you come in, we can discuss your project and I will have some options waiting for you at your arrival.

October 24th, 2019

Floating Porcelain Tile Floors 2.0?

Posted in Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Commercial Spaces, Family Rooms, General, Installation, Kitchens, LVT, Tile

One more time?  In February 2012 we wrote about ‘click’ together porcelain tile that did not need to be set in mortar to the subfloor (floating porcelain tile floor). We weren’t fans at that time because it was difficult to snap the pieces together tightly.  Fast-forward seven years and Dal Tile has re-introduced ‘click’ together porcelain tile with a much more promising result.  This next generation click-together porcelain tile is intended as an alternative to conventionally installed porcelain tile and LVT (luxury vinyl tile).  Some advantages and benefits of click together porcelain tile are listed below:

• No mortar required
• No wet saw required
• Score and snap into place
• Consistent alignment with no lippage
• No spacers required (automatically spaced to 1/8″)
• One-step flexible grout (Bostik TruColor recommended – never needs to be sealed!)
• No special tools required
• Easy removal for repair or updating
• Subfloor movement won’t telegraph
• Greater breaking strength and impact resistance
• No additional time required for curing
• Install and grout in the same day – no return trip required
• We have samples in the showroom to look at, play with, and borrow.

October 9th, 2019

The Colors of 2020

Posted in Back Splash, Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Carpet, Commercial Spaces, Family Rooms, General, Kitchens, Mosaics, Rugs, Stone, Tile

It’s that time of year again when the color forecasts are revealed for the coming year.  The paint manufacturers usually lead the way.  Sherwin Williams recently annouced that ‘Naval’ (navy blue) is its color of the year for 2020. 

You see ‘Naval’ paired with carrara marble (white with gray veining) and brass fixtures and accessories in interior design print publications and on on-line platforms.  Color, but not really . . . grounded and calming . . . Benjamin Moore, Pittsburgh, and Behr will all weigh in soon, but the Pantone Color Institute’s color of the year is the benchmark.  The tile world has nodded to blues and navy blues in the last two years so Sherwin Williams choice is not really a surprise.  So let’s wait and see what the coming weeks and months will bring for the new colors in our lives for 2020.

December 15th, 2018

A Well-Received Renovation Proposal

Posted in Bathrooms, Carpet, General, Mosaics, Tile

Below is a presentation board I prepared for a to-be-renovated men’s locker room.  The proposal was well received by the members.  I was especially happy with the way the warm gray carpeting complimented the veining of the marbleized wall tile, the hexagon floor tile, the quartz counter tops and the richly colored furnishings.     

August 27th, 2018

Learning Every Day

Posted in Bathrooms, Commercial Spaces, Family Rooms, General, Installation, Kitchens, Stone, Tile

You can learn something new every day.  I was recently in Denver and visited the oldest Denver hotel still in operation: The Oxford on 17th Street, downtown.  I love and appreciate the thoughtfulness, detail, and craftsmanship that went into the 127-year-old hotel.  Below is a photograph of The Oxford’s lobby floor.  The pattern on the tiled floor is a double pinwheel – the first that I have seen.  Back in the day, the craftsmen even used locally-sourced stone .  You will need a fairly large space to pull it off, but in the right space, such a double-pinwheel pattern would make a grand statement.

April 13th, 2018

Aging in Place

Posted in Bathrooms, Carpet, General, Kitchens, Rugs, Tile

Yesterday, Sally Carpenter was a guest lecturer at a two-day seminar offered by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.©  The seminar’s creator – Lisbeth Calandrino of Fabulous Floors magazine – asked Sally to speak at the seminar.  Sally spoke on how to best adapt one’s home to best facilitate “aging in place” and allowing an aging homeowner to stay his or her home for as long as possible.  Among other matters, Sally addressed flooring, kitchen, and bathroom accessibility changes that can greatly improve a home’s livability for seniors.  Sally will be attending the upcoming lecture by Lynda G. Shrager, author of Age in Place: A Guide to Modifying, Organizing and Decluttering Mom and Dad’s Home.  That lecture will be held at The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza at 6 pm on Thursday, May 3rd.     See you there?