Despite my embrace of cyberspace and online journalism, I remain a die-hard magazine devotee. So old school, I know. For certain kinds of coverage and information, magazines remain–for me at least–both indispensable–and also a million times more satisfying than blogs. (Honestly, I find reading blogs a huge drag if a necessary evil, so I truly appreciate your bothering to indulge me by perusing mine!)

Anyway, all that preamble to say: a love of magazines has its downside, especially when living with a husband who is similarly devoted to the print medium. Magazines tend to pile up and take over our not-so-large apartment. So every 6 months we have a collective hissy fit and spend like the entire weekend just weeding through them so we can have our lives (and our horizontal surfaces) back. This occurred last weekend.

Which is why I am so belatedly posting the above article form the March issue of Elle Deco UK! A really cute idea: rather than stick to one variety of tile, especially for the floor of a small room like a closet, loo, or even a foyer, choose a few different types and make an animated patchwork instead! Great idea if you are wont to troll vintage shops and tile sample sales–where you can often buy only a few square feet of any given design. Love!

Walking out of the Greenlight bookstore yesterday, I happened upon this patch of sidewalk, which someone had adulterated with a mosaic of ceramic fragments! Most whimsical. Next time I spy newly poured concrete, I am going to break a plate and do a little DIY public-art mosaicing of my own…

Discovered in the Finnish Design offsite show in Chelsea market during ICFF: a cool installation by Nounou Design, the studio of glass artist Anu Penttinen. Called City Plan, it’s a wall relief made up of boldly colored handmade tiles (each fused from multiple sheets of glass) that affix to walls and vertical surfaces via magentic backing. Thus the piece can expand or be reconfigured as desired–or, presumably, as you have enough money to buy more pieces!

Anu originally launched the concept last fall at the Habitare Design Fair in Helsinki; this new design was inspired by–and references the urban energy of–NYC, baby!

Some more feel-good fun from ICFF: Mr. Adler showed some fab tiled furniture in his booth: tables, lamps, and decorative boxes with tiled lids! Last time I was in his office, I sneaked a peek at his top-secret tile prototypes, which were rad--so I’m glad to see some have surfaced as embellished furnishings! 

Winner of the award for wackiest but coolest tile medium ever: Braun Brush’s Brush tiles! Yes, I kid you not: tiles made from actual brushes…both horsehair (in a brownish hue, natch) and synthetic fibers (the colored ones, above). Unbelievable! Spied these at ICFF (thanks for the tip, Robin).

The line was conceived by a fourth-generation brushmaker who realized that the product had untapped decorative potential. Some clients choose to leave the fibers long and brushy, others have carved out the fibers into different patterns, a la the below:

And it’s not just decorative: The product recently received rating (certification?) for its acoustical properties.

Brush tiles as a ceiling treatment at Microsoft’s Cambridge, MA, headquarters:

Tooling around the company’s website, I discovered that Richard Artschwager–one of my favorite artists–has used Braun Brush in a few pieces: Yellow Exclamation and Question Mark! So the product has artsy cred, too.

Check out Robin Reigi’s website for more.

Probably by invite only, but if you can sneak in (or just peak in) you’ll see some glittery, shimmery–and highly decorative–stuff.

Next Monday, the Bisazza showroom in SoHo is having a big VIP bash to preview its new collaboration with Swarovksi, launched last month at Milan: crystal-studded mosaics in five patterns! More info on the Bisazza website (under “news”)….there’s a rad design featuring shiny seahorses and coral silhouetted against a solid background.  SPARKLY!

Lots of tiles to check out at ICFF this year! Since you can’t execute a category search for “tile” on the ICFF website, I took it upon myself to troll the flooring, wallcovering, and materials categories for you and track down some top picks…in no particular order:

Stone Source #1762
Stone Source always has a great both. Last year, one of my favorite discoveries were designer Laura Gottwald‘s modern stone mosaics. This year, she unveils an equally stellar new encaustic cement collection (top).

Sensitile #1216
If you have never seen Sensitile’s luminous, light-reflective and -conductive acrylics and terrazzos in person, you must check them out:

Mio #2036
Hoping Jaime and Isaac from MIO show their cork ModuTiles this year! 

Dominic Crinson #2405
UK’s Dominic Crinson is one of very few companies that makes both wallpaper and tile. His patterns are always trippy and inventive:

Neelnox Stainless Steel Mosaic #1457
Don’t know these guys! Curious to see in person. They make stainless steel grade 304 mosaics in a wide variety of patterns. Check out the company’s website for more. 

HighStyle Floors #1344
Not sure what they are showing, but they carry StudioArt leather tiles, which have always intrigued me. And HighStyle is based in my home borough, Crooklyn!

Nemo #2240
Raymond and Eduardo dished about their booth design a few weeks back, and I’m excited to see the final scheme! Nemo’s theme this year is “Save the trees, use tile”… meaning we’ll see lots of great faux-wood porcelains (which, as regular readers of this blog know, gets me v. excited), including Bioessenze:

Ceramic Tiles of Italy pavilion #1420
Refin, Casa Dolce Casa, Lea, Appiani, Etrurua, and FAP are just some of the manufactures exhibiting at the pavilion this year. Tagina will be showing Joe (below)…

…and Ceramica Bardelli will be showing Fornasetti reissues!

Others to check out:

Ceramica Arnon #1148

Designer Tile & Stone #1356

Spanish manufacturers Roca #908 and Apavisa #906

Marmiro Stones

I’m sure I’m missing many more, so leave a comment and let me know what you saw and loved at the show!

I totally dig Kirei’s textured new tile collection, Coco, crafted from up to 40 percent post-industrial recycled content: i.e. reclaimed coconut shells, a waste byproduct of the food industry. The backing is made from sustainably harvested wood, so install as you would any other wood tile. More here, including some great installation shots! Elegant yet crunchy…

Just came across this in cyberspace, which I had totally forgotten about! Cuban art duo Los Carpinteros’s tongue-in-cheek “Home-Pool”, a fiberglas and polyester resin likeness of an in-ground pool, cleverly morphed into a scale model of a house. The faux-tile detailing is brilliant!

More at the collective’s website or Sean Kelly Gallery.