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!
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Ceramic tile has come a long way in the past 20 years. The quality of tile is better the prices are cheaper and the competition is fierce. All of these changes spell $Big Savings$ to consumers. Or is it? Online stores use pricing games to lure in unsuspecting consumers. I am the owner of a tile store, so if anyone should know it’s me. Online stores will put prices BELOW COST to get you to the latter part of the sale which is the delivery. It is the delivery charger where these companies make there money. Whenever you shop tiles don’t call a dozen stores asking “What’s the price?” instead ask “What is the price delivered?” Also keep in mind that online stores can be in business one day and gone the next. So buyer beware. Always buy from a brick and mortar store that also offers online sales. Good Luck shopping guys and gals!