Over the years, tile has become much more than just a background functional component for large scale design projects. Ceramic tile was once used on the floors of stores and malls as "field tile," all in the same color and size. Nowadays, however, porcelain tile is the material of choice... in a diverse offering of sizes, shapes, colors and textures. In the last few years, progressive designers are combining porcelain tile with glass, stone and metal tiles in tasteful and high-performance design treatments.

Glass in particular, has become in demand, as it is non-porous, meaning water cannot invade the tile body's surface, reducing the risk of future damage, while providing lower maintenance concerns. And colors are brighter and move vivid than virtually any other kind of surfacing material. One of the most successful and interesting of today's tile impressarios is Carl Steadly, owner/designer of Stone & Pewter Accents, a west coast tile manufacturing and marketing firm with a design mentality firmly rooted in Asian culture. Steadly's product pallette and design vision is quite unique. He sees tile from the inside-out, envisioning colors not just for his tiles but also with a view of them co-existing with other materials.

"Designing with higher-end tile today often entails combining dissimilar elements. As with the above photo, two types of glass tile are combined with tumbled slate and wood," Steadly states. "In a sense, this is a hybrid way of designing; it offers balance because the stone can perform both on the wall and/or on the floor. And, the other tile components, which are contemporary and contemporary-rustic, work together. For example, the rust color in the wood feature strips is also very apparent in the slate. The subtle blues in the frosted glass are evident in the slate, as well. We designed our Sumi-e glass tiles, with their ribbons of color actually pulled through each tile's body, to be able to complement just about anything, anywhere," Steadly continued.

"End-users, especially of higher-end interiors, are no longer limited to using one field tile on the floor and one wall tile on vertical surfaces. Rather, there is a balance when bringing different materials together that can work in concert. Today, the driving force is if it ‘feels good visually’."

An excellent example of Steadly’s design mentality may be seen in the photo on the right. Adorned with his Sumi-E glass tile collection on the walls, the calm, quiet, yet strikingly beautiful colors seem to make this public facility more of a private retreat.

Glass tile is also the material of choice for mall fountains. As previously described characteristic-wise, its colorful and long-lasting appearance combined with the fact that it is an ideal material for “wet areas,” gives designers of water works more than just a great deal of creative options. Glass tiles are a perfect choice for projects using fountains or other water features such as this shopping mall design (see photograph to the left).

“Designers have much more in their respective creative arsenals with today’s tile,” concluded Steadly. “They can take commodity surfacing and with a little imagination add elements to the space that makes it much warmer and appealing.”

Steadly’s products can be seen on his firm’s website: www.StonePewterAccents.com