When I first came to Sunny California, I had just left Colorado, escaping from my modeling agent in Denver. This was about 20 years ago and I still get pangs of guilt when I think about never turning up at the new agency in San Francisco. Instead, I went in search for a job at a tile showroom. I loved fashion and I loved tile. However, being a model was not my idea of loving fashion. But working in a tile showroom, believe it or not, was something I really enjoyed about tile. Sunny California!!
I quickly found work at a small tile boutique called Chic Tile, run by a very chic French woman named Annick (pronounced Ah-neek). Everyone called her Annick from Chic. Her tiny showroom was unusual in that it was set up by color - maroons/reds, greens, blues, whites, blacks etc. People loved that. That was before today where shoppers are more in tune with their individual life style identifications.
Shoppers would wander around with their fabrics, and wallpapers - swatches of carpets etc. To be able to walk into a showroom where everything was by color was a dream to clients and their designers.
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Remembering that tiny showroom, I thought it would be fun to start exploring some of our favorite tiles- by COLOR. The next few posts you will be reading will be based on some of my favorite tile colors right now- colors that are classics as well as colors that are trendy.
But as I said- I'm going to be looking for help. So give me some help here- start first by looking at your favorite tiles- by color - and help me populate these posts with your favorites. I want our readers to start to see why we all love tile so much. If you have fallen out of your crush on tile- beaten up by the economy, petulant shoppers, and always looking at the bottom line- never fear- it doesn't last for long. Not if you focus on tiles as an art-ful product.
Annick no longer owns Chic tile, but she still works with tile, and I still get to see her often (Happy Birthday!), and remember those early days peddling tiles- before there were art tiles. (Do any of you remember Latco?? )
As a matter-of-fact, it's really hard to find someone who once worked with tile- who has been able to escape its mysterious powers of attraction. If you're reading this blog- you know what I mean, don't you!!??