5 Artisan Tile Companies That Can Elevate Your Home
Instead of using generic, store-bought tiles, you may want to look to these artisan retailers for extraordinary, handcrafted tiles that add loads of personality to your kitchens and bathrooms. Some of these tiles are so eye-catching, you might even be inspired to use them in a feature wall or for the floor and walls of your pool. Here are five handcrafted tile retailers you'll want to consider for your new home or renovation.
1. Filmore Clark
Filmore Clark carries US-made tiles from a variety of brands, in a wide range of materials.
Look here for encaustic stoneware tiles by KK Patterson that are full of antique charm; intricate, hand-painted tile by Kibak Tile; or colorful, Moorish-style ceramic tiles.
One hundred-percent handmade in Morocco by local artisans who have learned the art of tile making from their fathers and grandfathers, Tiles of Ezra specializes in ornate Moroccan Zellige, natural-glazed clay tiles.
Zellige tiles are traditionally used in Islamic architecture for floors, pools, tables, ceilings, fountains, and ornamental walls, and can certainly add much character to your indoor and outdoor spaces.
Jason and Megan Coleman, the founders of Portland, Oregon–based Clayhaus Modern Tile, are big fans of the pop art movement, which began in the mid-1950s.
The duo consider themselves midcentury modern enthusiasts and count Andy Warhol and Victor Vasarely as two of their favorite artists, so it’s no surprise that their handcrafted, made-to-order tiles have strong midcentury aesthetics that work well in minimalist contemporary homes or midcentury renovations.
At their studio in Bend, Oregon, Metolius Ridge have modified an age-old technique called Cuerda Seca (Dry Line), mixed their own glazes, and painted each tile by hand. Their new Grafik collection, inspired by 1960s Vogue photographs of artist Cy Twombly’s apartment in Rome, offer designs that are perfect for contemporary homes.
"I was drawn to the juxtaposition of something very graphic on the floor set in a classic Italian environment," explains the company’s founder Justyn Livingston. "His floors were a focal point; it was all about the floors and his paintings in those photographs."
Marrakesh–headquartered Popham Design is all about bright, bold, and colorful tiles that can transform your floors, walls, and backsplashes into works of art.
Each Popham Design tile is handmade with locally sourced material, and rather that baked in a kiln, they are set in a hydraulic press—and therefore more sustainable.
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