Jayne Michaels’s gorgeous backsplash (and more)

Jayne Michaels, one half of the charming and talented design duo 2Michaels, was recently featured on Strange Closets, a design blog that is, strangely, not so strange–but is rather delightful. Chicago-based trend reporter/blogger Tate Gunnerson toured Jayne’s chic 57th Street pad and took beautiful photos of every room, including her Le Corbusier-inspired kitchen and her penny-tiled bath. Her backsplash (also featured in The Art of Tile!) is a run of glazed Heath ceramics that extends above the upper cabinets–a look I love. Check out the post here!

I love Jayne's penny-tiled bath...the colors are like candy...

Jayne's copy of "The Art of Tile" on her bedside table (left)!

[photos: Tate Gunnerson via Strange Closets]

DeNiro makes white subway tile look rad

Jake Chessum shoots Robert De Niro at Locanda Verde for New York mag

Coverings: JSG Oceana

Getting excited about all the great glass tiles I’m seeing, like these from JSG Oceana.

Nuts for coconuts! Ekobe mosaics at Nemo

At a party this week to kick off ICFF, one of my fave showrooms–Nemo Tile–was kind enough to highlight my book alongside their intriguing new product intros. This was quite a thrill for me, as Nemo was the first showroom I photographed for the book; many of the 1,500 tiles featured within are theirs. Even after the shoot wrapped, VP/technical whizz Matt Karlin and A&D sales rep extraordinaire Raymond Moore were nice enough to field my near-constant calls for advice and information about all things tile-related. (Thanks, guys!)

The last few times I’ve visited Nemo’s website, this product flashed up. My response: !!!!!!!! A quick email confirmed that this is a new coconut mosaic product, Membira, from Brazilian company Ekobe. Loooooooove.

Heading to ICFF tomorrow to check out Nemo’s all-white (!) booth–dying to see.

Ann Sacks’s new Blake Studios tile

This blew me away at KBIS: Ann Sacks’ new line of handmade, hand-shaped ceramics by artisan Natalie Blake. The undulating, voluptuous surfaces feature botanical motifs embellished with super-textured sgrafatto carving. Made in 11-inch squares in 18 colors, they’re designed to be installed as a mural–but I’d love to go over the top and line an entire room in them. Yes, they’re pricey, but who cares–they’re totally gorgeous. 

“Ciao!” is bella! A chic (and informative) tile blog

While drooling over the gorgeous laminated-stone penny rounds and glass river-rock mosaic in the Terra Verre booth (more on that later) at Coverings, we met friendly tile enthusiast Ryan Calkins. In addition to his role as president of showroom/distributor Statements in Seattle (they carry beautiful stuff–check it out here), Ryan also publishes a super-informative blog, Ciao! The site spotlights new products (like Rex’s Extralight glass mosaics, above), cool installations by designers and contractors who’ve sourced their goods, and offers maintenance and sustainability primers. It even has a section called “Tile Chic” covering topics like fireplace-appropriate tile options and the beauty of discontinued tile–all in the form of hilarious 90-second YouTube videos, hosted by the charming-funny Britt. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn tons about tile. Tune in!

The Tileist on The Curated Object!

As if The Curated Object was not already one of our favorite art/design sites, then it up and interviews us about tile! Aw, shucks! We are supremely flattered over here at the Tilest HQ. If you want the real skinny on the trials and tribulations of putting together an immense tome on tiles (harrowing deadlines, exploding packing materials, grey hairs, guerilla-style photography at European trade shows, Photoshopping 2,000 tiles), then have a read. And then cleanse your palette by reading about bugs (ew!) at the Newark Museum (below)!

* Top: Custom silver-leafed glass tiles from Mixed-Up Mosaics, available at Artistic Tile. (This is the same pattern featured on the cover of U.K. edition of The Art of Tile.)

Adriana Varejao at Lehmann Maupinn

The Tileist has been very bad about hitting the art galleries this spring, what with romping around Coverings and KBIS reporting on…tile. One show I am dying to see: Brazilian artist Adriana Varejao‘s architecturally inspired paintings and drawings at Lehmann Maupin. Well known for using tile as her muse, she once covered a wall of MoMA QNS with the stuff! 

Through July 10.

[images courtesy the artist, Lehmann Maupinn, and Painting & Drawing]

Sipping pretty: Design Glut’s teacup tiles

These witty earthenware tiles by the lovely ladies of Design Glut are quite the media phenomenon this week! I first saw them in New York magazine’s article on the duo’s Bushwick loft (above), where they cover an entire wall and hold what appears to be colorful rock-sugar lollipops or some such. Then the Grey Lady featured them in today’s coverage of Brooklyn design excellence (below). Called Hookmaker, the 6 x 6-inch relief tiles are decorated with half a teacup; the “handle” has a little hook at the bottom for keys or other odds and ends (such as not-so-child-friendly open scissors!). Genius on their own, interspersed within a field of plain white tiles, animating a backsplash, or lining a full wall, as above.

I’m in love.

Buy them here.

Q & A with the Bathonista!

The Bathonista blog is a must-read–and not just because it features a little Q & A with yours truly this week! Read it because it’s chock full of clever ideas and inspiring designs and snappy writing–as is the entire iBaths.com site. Bathonista won us over with its coverage of newsworthy products, its weekly web links (to articles like the NYT’s open-plan hotel-room story, above)–and its unapologetic love of wallpapered loos. Bookmark it now, tile lovers.