“Designing or decorating a home can be exciting, overwhelming and sometimes, an expensive endeavor. I enjoy guiding my clients into the right choices. I’m inspired by sources natural as well as industrial. I try to not let one design style define me, instead, I allow many considerations influence me creatively” ~ Melissa G.
Melissa, what’s your story with Art Tile?
My introduction to Art Tile came with me seeking out a new tile showroom/contact as I was unhappy with my current. Art Tile got great reviews so, I thought I would give them a try. During my first visit to the showroom, I was helped by Patrick who was a complete gem! Then I found out he was the owner and was feeling really great about my choice. I shared with Patrick my new/current project and that I would be needing a LOT of tile. He was easy to work with and helped me narrow my choices per my vision and the applications.
Can you share more about your El Cerrito project?
The El Cerrito project was a partial remodel to a mid-century rancher. The kitchen and the bathrooms needed updating as did most of the flooring and lighting. There were two bathrooms that needed tile; a huge master bath and a guest/hallway bath. Both were partially gutted; every surface needed to be changed, counters, walls, and floors. We kept the vanities and had them re-faced with Italian Laminate from Abet Laminati, chose new tile for the floors, new fixtures, lighting, toilets, added a steam shower and concentrated on the wall tiles for an artistic effect.
The floors we kept clean and simple with a white porcelain tile, 12”x24″ in the guest bath and 24”x24” in the master bath. We’ve chosen a simple white Viatera LG quartz for all the counters. For the guest bath shower/tub walls I went with a ceramic handmade tile 3”x5” stacked and designed a simple band of grey and red running horizontally just along the back wall. We used a Schulter edge banding for the niche and transitions. A darker grout was used in the band for a more dramatic effect while keeping white grout everywhere else.
For the Master Bath steam shower, I chose a 2” hex for the floor and ceiling; the floor is grey and the ceiling is white. I used the same tile on the walls as on the main flooring but different size, in 12”x24”. The tub wall needed to be dramatic as you can see it down the hallway from the entry. This was a chance to do something interesting. It was challenging to satisfy everyone’s aesthetic likes but I think the perfect tile was found with the Soli Hoshi. I kept it simple by using four colors, light grey, dark grey, white and cream. Using inspiration from other installations, I created a simple design of falling flowers and soft edges with the color transitions. Having a great tile setter helps in the realization of creative designs.
“Melissa helped by advising us on what was worth spending money on and what we could go lower-end on. She was able to integrate the old with the new and blend the high with the low. She suggested unique combinations of finishes and colors that we never could have come up with ourselves. The result is functional, beautiful, and we expect to love it just as much as we do today for years to come” ~ Melissa M., Oakland (via Yelp)
“In addition to her great sense of color and style, I appreciated her eclectic sources of design elements. My house does not look like it was pulled together from a catalog, rather it looks curated with a variety of different design features. Melissa is responsive and always even natured and calm about every decision. She understood well my need to make the place interesting but not spend significantly” ~ A.R., Oakland (via Yelp)
I greatly enjoyed meeting Melissa and getting to see her beautiful design work that shows sensitivity to the residents, her efforts to preserve the authenticity of the mid-century rancher and adding the right touches of modern. More about Melissa, click here.