Posts tagged ‘mosaic tile’
On a Budget? Meet Brio Custom Blends!!!
Brio® Custom Blends Fit Every Budget!
Customizing your kitchen or bathroom gets extremely pricey! Especially if you’re working within a specific color scheme.
Meet our Brio® Custom Blend Program! With literally millions of possible glass mosaic color combinations right at your fingertips, you can easily create the right tile blend for your project…Plus, it’s totally budget-friendly and fun to do!!!
How-to Create Your Custom Blend Recipe:
Step 1) Access the blender at: http://www.modwallsblender.com/
Step 2) Select the colors that you’d like to blend by clicking on the Brio® ¾” glass tile images.
The colors will automatically move into the blender after 2 colors have been selected. Remove any color by dragging it away from the blending area.
If you wish to start over, just click RESET.
Step 3) Feel free to adjust the color percentage by moving the arrows up and down on each color. (Note: your design must add up to 100%)
Step 4) Think you reached your desired colored combination? Click on REMIX to randomly remix the colors. (Note that all of our custom blends are random, not patterned)
Step 5) Optional, but highly recommended: Select grout colors to see how this changes the effect of your blend. The grout colors shown are part of modwalls® StarGlass/ Dimension Urethane Grout collection. Grout is sold separately, but we believe this is the best choice available for any glass tile installation.
Step 6) Order Your Custom Blend Sample here. Be sure to enter your blend recipe on the Customer Comments area – including color names and percentages. Note: you will be prompted to enter your recipe on page 2 of checkout.
___________________________
Why should I order a sample?
We strongly encourage creative customers like yourself to order samples of your custom blend – which eliminates any online purchasing woes. Each computer monitor may slightly distort the true colors and it’s always good to have a sample in-hand. Btw, samples are about 5″ x 5″ and are not refundable.
Once you have received your sample and are ready to order your Brio® custom blend, simply call us toll-free @ 877-439-9734. We have real people ready to take your order Monday-Friday from 9am – 5pm Pacific Time. Please note that there is a 20 sq.ft. minimum order per custom blend.
How is my custom blend assembled?
Since 2005, we proudly and locally outsource our modwalls® custom blend production to the wonderful people at HOPE Services. HOPE Services is a non-profit organization which employs developmentally and physically disabled adults to do a variety of production work. Their mission is to assist individuals with disabilities to live and participate in their communities – and we LOVE this.
HOPE’s clients are responsible for making each sheet of your custom blend – a true work of art – made with pride and love! There are currently over 30 HOPE clients dedicated to the modwalls® custom blend production.
Here are some photos of HOPE’s client’s in action:
HOPE Services receives our customer’s custom blend recipes on a weekly basis. Each individual Brio® Mosaic Color comes with a paper facing that HOPE soaks off prior to mounting and assembling each blend. Tiles are then set individually onto plastic grids in a random pattern according to your recipe. Each completed grid (or 1.15 sq.ft. sheet) is then reviewed for quality control. Once approved, a plastic film is placed over the top or “face” of the tiles to hold it in place for installation.
This entire process generally takes about 1 week to complete. Once your blend is complete, we’ll ship it via UPS and email you the tracking number.
Real Customer Satisfaction!
Here’s a recent client review we received about their custom blend experience:
Brio Custom Blend
Rating: 
Installation Location: OUTDOOR SHOWER (see below)
“We created an outdoor shower using a custom blend. It turned out really great. It was so easy to work with ModWalls.”
-Keith (of Palm Springs, CA)
Be Inspired: Some of our favorite Brio® Custom Blends to date…
Brio custom blend inspired by Reggie the Cockatiel
Want to see more? Check out more custom glass tile blends created and installed by our customers here.
Modwalls® is making tile modern™ with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com
Inspired by…Brio SUNDAE!!!
Life’s too short…eat dessert first!! Here’s a special & delicious treat just for YOU!
Introducing, our newest Brio Blend – Sundae!!!
This cheerful, fun, mouth-watering color palette will be sure to remind you of the good old days and the great days to come!
Think soda fountain fun…think gigantic ice-cream sundaes that are delicious year-round! Let’s dig in!!!
This fun mosaic blend is ideal for walls, floors, backsplashs, shower tile, and even pool tile. Each tile measures 3/4” square x 4mm thick and comes mesh-backed for easy installation. Did I mention this is only $5.95 per 1.15sf sheet?!! Order your sample today online or call us at 877-439-9734.
Modwalls® is making tile modern™ with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com
Modwalls Press: Dwell Magazine – Bath & Spa Special Issue
“Our first ever Bath & Spa special issue is filled with the latest in bathroom design, from outdoor showers to luxurious personal saunas. Dwell’s editors bring the latest and hottest products for any lavatory and any budget.” -Dwell Magazine
“Capturing San Diego’s beachy, laid-back vibe with just a handful of sun-shining-on-the-Pacific tile colors was Public Architecture and Planning‘s real trick in this charming bathroom. By relying on a multihued array of small tiles, Public’s principal James Brown credits his clients, Kim and Torrey Lee, with selecting a ‘seamless palette that brought the color and feel of the ocean’ into the home.”
“The clients requested an open shower with a large tub. But they asked to be surprised with the design of the entire house. I hope they jumped!” -Architect James Brown
Feeling inspired? Create your own Brio® Custom Blend using our modwalls® Tile Blender 24/7!! With over 80 Brio® colors to chose from, the possibilities are basically endless!
Modwalls® is making tile modern™ with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com
Plus Design + Plus Design + Plus Design…
Clayhaus for Modwalls® Plus Design Mosaics are now available in both 2″ and 4″ sizes!!!
PLUS, we couldn’t be more thrilled to add our Wheatgrass color to this super fun mix.
100% handcrafted in the USA, each individual tile is a unique piece of functional art. What size do you prefer?
Modwalls 2″ Plus Design Mosaic shown in Milk, Splash, and Brine.
Modwalls 4″ Plus Design Mosaic shown in Milk, Splash, Brine, amd Wheatgrass.
Maybe you prefer solid colors?
But the colorful regulated mix is so fun!
Loving all the different color combinations and pattern possibilities! Depending on the colors you wish to chose, we can assemble a blend or pattern just for you! By the way, custom colors are also available.
2″ Plus Design Mosaics are $52.95* per 1.06 square foot sheet
4″ Plus Design Mosaics are $45.95* per 1.06 square foot sheet
*Trade pricing available by phone @ 877-439-9734*
Modwalls® is making tile modern™ with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com
modwalls® Lush® Weave Patterns, “Ready for my close-up!!!!!”
(**Okay, so we cannot exactly interview our lastest and greatest Lush® patterns per se, but if we did, they would be more than thrilled to be in the center of the spotlight**)
Modwalls WEAVE patterns were created by modwalls one and only in-house Interior Designer, Katelyn Bowman. When developing this simple, but intriguing pattern for modwalls, Katelyn wanted to create a fresh twist on a tried and true version of an herringbone and chevron pattern using our modern 8mm thick Lush® 1×4 glass tile in our top selling Cloud, Vapor, and Fog Bank colors.
“Geometric patterns are an ever-constant design element – past and present – and there’s beauty in the repetition. I think this new pattern I designed for modwalls will be a seemless addition to an already fantastic line of products. Although the pattern is relatively simple, you can install this in many different ways which I’m sure will please many different design aesthetics.”
Installing your backsplash tile in this pattern would typically be more labor-intensive and therefore more expensive since your installer would have placed each tile individually (not fun!).
Modwalls addresses this issue by sheeting the pattern in a way that makes installation MUCH easier. The pattern is pre-set and mesh-mounted with 1/16″ grout joints with interlocking sides. This tile is ideal for any wall applications including kitchen backsplash tile, bathroom tile, fireplace tile and pool tile. The tile is sold in sheets that measure 0.93 square feet each (just less than one square foot) for $19.95. It can be laid either vertically, horizontally, 45 degree angle, etc.
Here are some more eye-catching images of the Lush® 1×4 Weave! Enjoy!!!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Modwalls is making tile modern with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com.
Need Some Eichler Inspiration?
Eichler Homes are distinctively known for their amazing Mid-Century modern style (which is probably why we and so many others still love them so much)!!!
Little Eichler history (per Wikipedia): Between 1950 and 1974, Joseph Eichler’s company, Eichler Homes, built over 11,000 homes in nine communities in Northern and Southern California. They all came to be known as Eichlers or an Eichler. During this period, Eichler became one of the nation’s most influential builders of modern homes. The largest contiguous Eichler Homes development is ‘The Highlands’ in San Mateo, built between 1956 and 1964. Basically, Eichler defined what “California Modern” really is or what it’s perceived to be. Read more Eichler history here.
On a recent browsing sesh on Pinterest, we found a link to a great site featuring our Brio tile in one of our customers’ gorgeous Eichler residence. All photos are courtesy of Hunter Lewis Wimmer of redneckmodern.com. We hope you are inspired as much as we are by this stunning post-mod home!
This is what the homeowner Mary-Peyton said:
“We spent HOURS on the custom mix configurator (Modwalls Tile Blender). The floors in the kitchen are black and in the dining area they are grey. There is a ton of wood in the house so we wanted to include all those colors to tie it together. Throw in some mid-century orange, turquoise and apple green and we were good to go. I wish we had more wall space to show off the tile!”
Because we love this Brio blend so much, we wanted to share Mary’s perfect custom blend recipe:
-
25% Bright White
-
20% Dry Ice
-
9% Sleet
-
9% Marigold
-
9% Tarragon
-
8% Teak
-
7% Marina
-
6% Black
-
4% Cool Breeze
-
3% Orange
__________________________________________________________________
Modwalls is making tile modern with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com.
Playhouse Design Group + Greenleaf Construction, could they be any cooler?!
We get totally BLOWN AWAY every time we are blessed with amazing install pics of our modwalls tile in such impressive spaces – especially when we get them from Playhouse Design Group & Greenleaf Construction!!! Seriously can’t get enough of them!!
We recently did a designer spotlight blog on Playhouse Design Group (find it here), a spectacular design firm making good design happen on a daily basis in the Pacific Northwest.
Had to share these pics since we feel truly honored to have our products installed in such amazing spaces! Enjoy!
Modwalls Corkdotz installation.
Gorgeous kitchen with our Brio Clear Red mosaic glass tile as the backsplash. Love how the lighter grout of the backsplash truly makes the red mosaic tile pop!
Another Brio Clear Red installation – notice the impact of a darker grout instead of the white grout. Love it!
Brio Tarragon mosaic glass tile flows over the vanity and around the tub area beautifully.
Have you installed or specified our modwalls tile? If so, we would love to see your best pics! Email them to us at service@modwalls.com and share the love.
Modwalls is making tile modern with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com.
Did you know that all grouts are NOT created equal?
Seriously…All grouts are not created equal.
More often than not, grout becomes an overlooked element within the tile installation process (why is that btw?). We believe it’s just as important as finding the tile that’s right for you! Grout is what seals everything together – literally. Don’t go through all this time to find the right tile only to not think about what grout you will grout it with.
Since we have the fortunate privilege of chatting daily with wonderful people like yourself about their tile installations, we are in the know as to what people are planning and what they are…well…not.
Grout can either be something that you have to do OR it can be something that makes your tile look even more amazing when it’s complete! Like we have mentioned in the past, we are extremely passionate about StarGlass Grout paired with most of our modwalls tile. It’s kinda like the perfect marriage of tile and grout. And we want to encourage you to specifically ask yourself, “What type & color of grout would look best with this tile [I've selected]?”…and “When is sanded grout most appropriate?”…
Since most of us are visual learners, I had this super cool idea to photograph our ModRocks Recycled Glass Pebbles in both StarGlass Grout and regular sanded grout. The visual speaks for itself…one is “clearly” better AND it’s better for the environment.
Helpful hint = whenever you are installing glass or any translucent tile, the surrounding grout has a major impact on how your tile will appear once installation is complete.
On the left- Diamond Starglass Grout and on the right is a standard white sanded grout.
Note: Both of the above images are taken with the same digital camera in the same lighting conditions.
In the application on the left, the StarGlass grout allows light to enter in and through the grout and also the clear glass pebbles – making the whole area appear more illuminated. The sanded grout application, shown on the above right, does not allow light to flow through the grout and therefore makes the pebbles appear much darker overall. Same exact pebble tile, but with different grouts.
Here are some other examples of StarGlass Grout paired with our Lush® modwalls tile:
Modwalls Lush Blend installed with Opal StarGlass Grout
Modwalls Rex Ray TYPE White Tile grouted with Diamond StarGlass Grout
Modwalls Lush Glass Subway tile grouted with Diamond StarGlass Grout
Now lets get a little more in-depth on the StarGlass specifics…The actual product description is Translucent Grout for Glass Tile.
For all you eco-friendly peeps out there, you’ll be happy to know that this product is made from post-consumer recycled glass – a truly revolutionary one-of-a-kind product!
The recycled glass is reduced down to teeny tiny beads (texture totally resembles the consistency of sugar) and is mixed with a translucent urethane binder that allows light to pass through the grout itself. So cool! This waterproof, stain-proof formula won’t crack or break down over time, emits little to no VOCs, and eliminates jobsite waste since it’s pre-mixed and stored in a resealable container. StarGlass long lasting, easy-to-use formula provides unmatched stain resistance, ultimate color consistency, crack resistant flexibility, mold/mildew protection and UV stability (aka it won’t yellow over time). Plus, it comes in these fantastic 15 colors: diamond, onyx, opal, aquamarine, topaz, hematite, jade, amber, moonstone, aventurine, palm wood, citrine, copper, silver, and bronze.
One final benefit we want to be sure to point is how the StarGlass Grout has the ability to minimizes the look of grout lines – if this is your goal. Check out these two kitchen backsplash installations below where both purchased Lush® 3×6 Sky tile, but one kitchen grouted with Aquamarine StarGlass grout and the other with regular sanded grout. The images truly speak for themselves.
Left – Lush 3×6 Sky with StarGlass Grout and to the right is Lush 3×6 Sky with white sanded grout.
StarGlass also offers benefits of a traditional Urethane grout:
• Pre‐mixed, ready to use
• Excellent chemical, stain and mildew resistance
• Semi‐flexible, low shrinkage and high crack resistance
• No color fading, streaking or shading – Even when wet!
• Fast, easy clean‐up when compared to epoxy and cementgrouts
• Innovative, proprietary coloring system
• Excess product can be saved and used later
• UV stable colors (non‐yellowing)
• Self‐sealing – no sealing required
• Non‐sag formula for vertical surfaces
• Free of BPA (bisphenol‐A) found in epoxy grouts
• Dust‐free mixing
• Fast, easy installation ‐ installs up to 50% faster than othergrouts
• Superior to cement grout
• Contributes to USGBC LEED Credits: MR 4.1 & 4.2(Recycled Content), MR 5.1 & 5.2 (Regional Materials), and EQ, 4.1 (Low‐Emitting Materials).
• Contains over 80% post‐consumer recycled content.
Overall, all these features and benefits are sure to minimize life cycle costs and provide a translucent, three-dimensional, reflective appearance that you can enjoy for years to come!
Where can you use StarGlass grout you ask? StarGlass Grout can be used on vertical or horizontal surfaces in a variety of interior and exterior installations of ceramic, porcelain, glass, and natural stone tiles in a range of grout joint widths.
When is sanded grout appropriate?
Sanded grout is appropriate in many installations. I think sanded grout looks great with natural stone, ceramic tile, porcelain tile, etc. – basically any solid tile aka non-translucent. Below are images of a some modwalls products installed with neutral sanded grout. As you can see, sanded grout can be used as a design element to add heavy contrast and definition to the tile and/or the pattern.
Example where sanded grout is totally acceptable = with ceramic, porcelain, or other opaque tile products.
Modwalls ModDotz Confetti grouted with a sanded grout
Brio Blend Palisades grouted with a neutral sanded grout
ModDotz shower installed with white sanded grout for high-contrast.
Now what???
It is our hope that you would soak up all this information and spend some time to select the best grout for your tile – whether that be StarGlass Grout or sanded grout!
Have more questions? Feel free to call or email us with any related or unrelated tile installation questions.
We’d love to help!
Modwalls is making tile modern with colorful and unique designs that are in stock and available for purchase online 24/7 at modwalls.com.
Inspired By…
“Dew” it aww-natural per modwalls.
Our ModRocks™ Recycled Glass Pebbles are an extremely unique, 100% post-consumer recycled glass tile.
These cloudy clear dew-drop-sized pebbles reflect light and surrounding colors beautifully. To create this tile, recycled glass is tumbled with low heat until smooth glass pebbles are the result. The pebbles are then mesh-mounted for easy installation and sold by the square foot for $25.95. Here’s an amazingly gorgeous installation on our houzz page.
Splish Splash: It’s Time for a Dip in the Pool
It’s getting warmer here at modwalls HQ. And a warm Monday after a festivity filled Cinco de Mayo weekend makes us daydream of swimming in a crystal clear pool right about now.
We’re going back to our archives for this “poolside post”. Enjoy!
How good does this pool with one of our Brio® Custom Tile blends look?!
Unbelievably good, especially on this day.
