Everyone was in love with Miranda’s office, while I was looking at the backsplash in the kitchenette.   This gorgeous glass mosaic covered the entire wall as well as the backsplash above the countertop.   This glass mosaic with gold veins looks like the same material used.

The impressive cold stainless steel is warmed by the Iridescent tile.    This look can be recreated with Luxetile’s 2×6 Black Iridescent Stained Glass Tiles.  This kitchen is actually in a private home in California.    The floor tiles can be found in our limestone collection, Grey Flannel Limestone.

The walls and cooktop are surrounded by this wonderful handmade tile.    It reminds me of the Gossamer field tiles from Luxetile or the Caramel tiles.   What is wonderful about this kitchen is the way that the rustic paint on the ceilings matches so well with the tile.  The wood beams also give an element of color and frame the space.

Using Luxetile’s ceramic tile line, this design can be closely replicated using 4 1/4″x 4 1/4″ field tiles.

Or, if I were creating a more rustic look, I would recreate this backsplash using these hand made tiles Carmel, Terracotta, Grey, and Pine.

Samantha’s bathroom is a no nonsense, hip modern color scheme in what looks like Luxetile’s Grey Flannel Limestone in a special order flamed finish.

Miranda has the basic white subway tile and hexagon or perhaps it is a penny round floor.

Here is a blog covering all the details of this design.

Also ”Ocean’s Tweleve” showcases some beautiful marble floors.   They remind me of the Giallo Antico marble from DeZahra.   I absolutely love the unique shape of the half hexagons combined with the black marble.   The best flooring scene is during the laser dance later in the movie.

More to come!!!

The Cuban Heritage Collection revives these almost forgotten memories with a set of designs recovered from antiquated houses and crumbling regal buildings in Havana.  In some cases, these structures were in such a state of disrepair that debris had to be removed in order to find the beautiful antique floor of intact tiles underneath. A shock in contrasts, but a fortunate discovery, since many of the old buildings are being destroyed or renovated and these tiles will soon be lost forever.

Some of the tiles are whimsical and others are modernist, reflecting Cuba’s heyday in the designs. The Cuban Heritage Collection differs from other cement tiles by having more elaborate patterns, using stronger colors, and prominently using double borders to enrich the designs.

The collection introduces ten historical designs, each one is available in three colorways: one with the original color combination found in Cuba, and two others with more modern and subtle colors. Each piece is handmade by expert craftsmen, just as it was a century ago. While the materials and tools used have changed slightly, this has only improved the tiles’s finish and resistant qualities.

As with all Aguayo tiles, the manufacturing process and materials used to create the Cuban Heritage Collection result in a green product. The Cuban Heritage Collection is the newest product addition of Industrias Aguayo, a Dominican company, a leader in the cement tile market currently exporting to the United States and the Caribbean.

As many of you already know, most cleaning products purchased at your local grocery are not geared for cleaning stone.  Most have harsh abrasives and bleach, which is damaging to natural stone.  There are many lines of stone cleaners that can be purchased from your local stone retailer to deal with soap scum and such or look for ph neutral cleaners, which you can sometimes find at your local grocery.  You may also consider using a diluted mixture of Downy and water described here: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/lv_household_tips/article/0,2041,DIY_14119_2275101,00.html

In addition. maintainace is the key to preventing problems in a marble shower.  You should keep a squeege nearby (one with no metal parts which could damage the stone) and dry the walls daily after your shower.   This will reduce the potential of mold and mildew build up and mineral deposits.   Today, there are grouts on the market which are mildew proof.   You will pay a hefty premium for this grout but it will represent only a tiny fraction of what you paid for that beautiful marble.  See without water, it is very hard for mildew to grow!  If you do encounter mold and mildew in the shower,

Polished marble in the bathroom has become dull?

Many ask how to polish marble to bring back the shine of when it was first installed.  If your polished marble is now dull it could be related to a variety of reasons.  Sometimes you just need to remove the soap scum, which can be done with professional stone cleaners.  Perhaps mineral deposits bave built up and etched the stone or general use has dulled the surface.  You can first try a color enhancing sealer with a gloss.   If this does not bring back the shine then you may need to have a professional repolish the marble.

Professional repolishing involves the use of a polishing machine which grinds and sands down the surface.   Although, you see the polished marble in hotels, malls, and office buildings, keep in mind that alot of maintenance goes into keeping those surfaces shiny and new looking.

1. Think Beyond Local.We know that more and more people are beginning to specify products online and the natural evolution is for them to next seek out professional assistance online.   However, as a service oriented business, you have traditionally looked at your regional market.  Design Services do not have to be local.   Your customers telecommute, why not you?
2. Embrace the Internet and Promote yourself online.  Many interior designers are not quite ready to embrace technology, however their customers are quite often very computer savvy.  Being “found” is important to the client as he/she feels a little bit of prestige when telling others about his new designer and his/her coworkers “google” your name and you pop up everywhere.   ”Being found” is important for every business.   What do you really need to know about “being found”?  Links are king on the internet.  Make sure you have as many authority links to your site.   Get listed on Yahoo and DMOZ
3. Ensure you are getting paid enough for your time. Making your interior design services more available online requires that you put together services that are scalable and profitable.  The Internet is about efficiency.  Your services need to have a balance between being customizable and repeatable.
4. Don’t be afraid to rebrand.  Concerned that an online strategy may devalue your brand,  just crate a separate entity for this business segment.  No need for your core clients to know how you generate your other sources of revenue. 
5. Blogging. Yes, I know that those of you who already are busy don’t even think they have time for a blog, however, this is one of your main lead strategies.  Consider it only takes 1 hour at night to write about an exciting new product.  Soon you will have many pages of articles and this is how links and traffic are born.

If you are ready to consider promoting your services online, here are some ideas that you may consider:

1. Flat fee consultation. This is a simple advice consultation based on a questionnaire and photos and you provide a detailed response.   Use this simple online form will allow you to get all of your questions answered and you will have easy access to all of the responses.   www.wufoo.com.  Once you get an idea of your customer’s needs, tailor your response and guidance to your customer’s answers.
2. 3 D Rendering Consultation: Create a flat fee consultation including 3 different bathroom layout designs and render the design in a simple program like Plan 3 D.  You don’t need to know any programming and can provide a professional looking deliverable to your client, which then becomes easily repeatable.  You may just need to set up 5-10 different bathroom configurations and then it is just a matter of applying different materials and layouts.  Of course we would recommend that you use the designs on Luxetile.com in your renderings!  But you can use any materials from any site by just saving the image and dragging it into the program.
3. Niche/Specialty consultation: Color consultation, Feng Shui consultation, green consultation, bathroom consultation, powder room consultation, kitchen backsplash consultation etc.  Focus on your niche!  Build your entire online business around a certain niche and often the smaller the better. Promote this to the hilt!  Once you build a niche, you can tie in specific product recommendations which you can sell to your clients.
4. Project Management: Many corporate firms allow this function complete remote management. Often, a customer just needs some help in coordinating the ultimate design with the contractor, subs, and finishes. Create a package which would include a daily review of work and progress, along with a discussion of the design and finishes to ensure the final look is executed based on the direction provided to teh contractor.  Sometimes the consumer just wants an intermediary.