The Spanish tile industry is better described as the Spanish ceramics industry. Many of the major Spanish tile producers also make sinks, toilets, bathtubs and vanity counters.
While I was in Spain with Tile of Spain last month, I had the chance to see some bath designs from Tau CerĂ¡mica. I think they're noteworthy for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they integrate tile onto cabinet doors and counters. Here's what I'm talking about.
That vanity is faced in white tile. But it gets even more interesting if you look at it more closely.
The accent tile on the wall is called Point. Tau recreated Point's pattern on a laminate and used the laminate for accents on the vanity cabinet. It's subtle and pretty clever effect.
Here's another one that integrates the wall tile onto the vanity itself.
I love how graphic this last one is. Again, it's playing off the tile on the wall by integrated that tile onto itself.
I'm also growing obsessed with the idea of vitreous china vanity tops that have integrated sinks. Talk about easy to clean.
I'll see Tau and a couple of hundred other tile manufacturers next week in Las Vegas for Coverings. I'll be reporting about the things I see there, you can count on it. In the meantime, take a look at Tau's website where you can look through their catalogs and find out where you can buy their products. In addition to their website, Tau keeps up a pretty lively presence on Facebook. Go like them. If that weren't enough, Tau also has a large number of photographs they've uploaded to Flickr. Give them a look.
My trip to Spain with Tile of Spain impacted me pretty profoundly. Being in Spain was incredible enough but I notice that since I've been back I'm having an increasingly difficult time seeing the virtue of American-style bath design. I'll get over it eventually, but I sort of hope I don't.
Terrific designs. My question would be if these vanities are rated for use in North America (UL/CSA). Keep them coming Paul.
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be no, at least not yet. The surest way to open the pipeline is to have the North American design community start asking for them.
ReplyDeleteFlooring Wholesale Pro: You can buy an ad. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYES .... I love these tiles and concepts however in the 5th/6th photo I feel a wall faucet would have been better for easier cleaning; which brings me to a question I would like to ask you about sinks and faucets.
ReplyDeleteIf one does have a shallow basin, are there any guidelines to choosing and mounting a faucet?
Thanks Paul. -Brenda-
Crazy about the one piece idea and would love to see more of it Stateside.
ReplyDeleteBrenda: It's pretty important to pick the correct faucet the shallower a sink gets. Do the math beforehand and get a faucet that reached into the center of the sink. You want the water stream to hit as close to the drain as you can get it. That's an important consideration with vessel sinks too. The way around it is to put a flow restrictor on the faucet so that the water pressure drops.
ReplyDeleteRaina: I am all about that all-one-piece of china thing.
Thank you so much Paul. I shall pass this information along to a friend of mine who has been complaining about her sink as the application of a flow restrictor may just solve her problem.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend! -Brenda-