Inspiration Behind our New Collection

You may have noticed that our in-stock collection, Artisan Stone Tile, has gotten a little bit bigger over the past few weeks.  We are very excited about these new designs, so we thought it would be fun to share with you what exactly inspired Melinda Earl, founder and lead designer at StoneImpressions, to create these patterns.  We were lucky enough to sit down with Melinda to get a little insight into her creative processes (she even told us some of her favorites).

On Style

“When you choose a tile for your home, you want it to match the overall style and tone of that room.  I wanted to make sure that I designed an even amount of traditional and modern patterns that would fit in a range of spaces.”

The art of balancing two different styles took a little time for Melinda to master.

“I realized that I was creating many patterns that were influenced by Spanish and Portuguese tiles.  Designing a classic tile comes a lot easier for me.  I am fortunate enough to work with people who had fresh new ideas for more modern patterns.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to create these fun, contemporary collections without our Senior Designer, Matthew Griffin, or our Brand Manager, Elaine Richman.”

“Once I stepped out of that comfort zone and started getting positive feedback from everyone in the office, I really started to play around with unique shapes and metallic colors.”

On Finding Inspiration

Ventana Pattern from the Artisan Stone Tile Collection Photo Courtesy of @JordanNicoleDesign

On Knowing a Winner

“As soon as I’m done with a pattern, I know right away if it’s going to be a big seller or not.  Of course, I want every design I put out to be a hit, but I usually have a good sense of what people will absolutely love and what people won’t.  A good example of this is the Lena pattern–I instantly knew this was going to be our top seller.  That’s why I added a new color to it for this collection.”

Zara Pattern

On her Favorites

We couldn’t help but ask Melinda what her favorite designs are of this year.  It was a little hard to get it out of her but we got her to narrow her answer down to two patterns.

“This is such a tough question!  It’s hard to pick just one after I’ve been working on these designs for months and staring endlessly at them.  But I would have to say either Oasis or Vencina.  I love a traditional tile!”

On the left, Vencina pattern and on the upper right hand corner, Oasis

We are excited to announce that we are also adding new designs to our made to order collection, StoneImpressions.  Check back with us soon to hear more about the new collection.