14 Oct Texture Tuesday: Tile Inspiration In Venice

I’ve got tile on my mind. Not just a little tile….but a lot of tile!  Because we’re planning to remodel and I have to select tile for the bathroom of The Cottage, a guest cottage we hope to rent out (short term only) for Austin’s great festivals, like Austin City Limits, held over two weekends in October pretty much in our backyard, and SXSW in the spring. So for #TextureTuesday today I’m going to share some tile inspiration from my Italy trip, starting in Venice. And some modern tile that I’m considering for The Cottage bathroom.

With Mr. Steam (aka Dr. Feel Good) sponsoring the royal spa treatment for our guests in The Cottage, selecting THE perfect tile is absolutely essential!

So without further ado, let’s embark on the water taxi to Venice and look at some inspiring tile.

Did I share with you yet how much fun the private water taxis are in Venice?? Damn Fun!!!  I could have ridden the Grand Canal all day and never been bored, there was SO much to see!!

Because you see amazing stone all along the way.  Centuries old in fabulous textures and colors! This is just a tiny glimpse.  Believe me when I say I have  A LOT to share in Venice in the coming weeks. Including a trip to the Fortuny textile factory and a tour of the hotel Bauers Venezia.

After about 20 minutes the water taxi pulled into a jam of gondolas right in front of our hotel, The Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal.

Two steps up off the water taxi and onto the ramp, and you step smack dab in the middle of the hotel’s restaurant on the Grand Canal.  What a fabulous adrenaline rush that was dashing down the canal and arriving at our hotel!!  Exciting!!

Old brick was everywhere, including on the facade of our hotel and all along the grand canals of Venice.

Our hotel had a challenge.  They incorporated modern design in with the history. Here’s a modern splash of tile they used on the floor (with my teen daughter giving you the peace sign!).

Then you walk across the grand entry way into the historic part of the hotel.

And that’s when you see this gorgeous original tile (and my feet) below. I loved all the marks on it from time. This stuff you cannot reproduce. It’s the real deal…..ancient stone and tile.  I loved it all in Venice!!

Our hotel even had some mosaics on the walls of the lively festive culture of Venice.

And in the art you see the tile.  This was a detail (below) of what would have been Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper if he hadn’t been so exuberant in painting it with such lively scenes. He was asked to repaint it. Below is a detail of the jubilant one and you can see the tile on the floor of the painting.

Then, in the Gallerie Dell’Accademia, well that’s where inspiration struck and I saw my very first Italian tile. Amidst a rich collection of Venetian and Renaissance paintings and religious artifacts, is the church of Santa Maria and monastary, and the tile floor below.

 I was so taken aback by the patterns, colors, texture, and shear magnitude of this richly decorated tile floor. It reminded me almost of a grand kaleidoscope!

I loved the geometric shapes and the swirls and the brown and black against the cream. This tile floor was definitely one of my most favorite from our entire Italy trip.

So as you can see from above, after visiting Italy, and particularly seeing this tile in Venice, I have quite the challenge ahead of me to select tile for our guest bathroom in The Cottage.  Mr. Steam is sponsoring the spa steam shower (Oh, I can’t wait for our international guests to experience the Tala Bath & Body treatment. More on that in coming weeks!)

Photography by, and with permission from, Mr. Steam.

So here are some tiles below, from three tile companies I admire – Walker Zanger, Tile Bar and Crossville, Inc. –  that to me represent the colors and shapes of the beautiful tile that inspired me so much in Italy.

Enjoy the images below and if you’ve got some time on Wednesdays (particularly THIS Wednesday), please join the Twitter chat with the hashtag #KBTribechat (Kitchen & Bath) at 2:00 p.m. EDT/1:00 CDT every Wed.  And this week they just happen to be discussing tile in a big way!  So join the fun and conversation and learn more about tile, because you too may be shopping for tile on your next kitchen or bathroom remodel.

And please sign up for my blog HERE so you can follow all the exciting adventures in Venice.  See you on the chat. Ciao! XOPG

Photography by, and with permission from, Walker Zanger.

Photography by, and with permission from, Walker Zanger.

Photography by, and with permission from, Tile Bar.

Photography by, and with permission from, Tile Bar.

Photography by, and with permission from, Crossville.

Photography by, and with permission from, Crossville.

Note: This blog post is sponsored, in part, by Mr. Steam.  All views and photos, except where noted from Mr. Steam and the tile companies I mention, are my own.