White Gold Tile Flooring from Trend Aureo Collection

We LOVE Trend tiles and will be featuring several of their breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL tile flooring and walls tiles at The Decorating Diva.com. Trend captures the very essence of luxury living as illustrated in the above image. This gorgeous room located in the17th century Villa alle Scalette (Trend headquarters) in Vicenza, Italy features luxurious floor and wall tiles from Trend’s Aureo Collection.

The Aureo Collection tiles for floor (F) and walls (W) are hand-cut , glass mosaics hand-crafted from delicate 24 karat gold leaf (shown above in white gold).

The glass tile product names are listed below:

• aureo 004/F
• aureo 003/W
• aureo Gray
• Strass Swarovski Cristal

Photo Credits: photos by Trend.

Home Decor Buyer Resource: Trend USA Ltd. (Trend  also has a showroom near the famous Design District in  Miami, Florida)

$1 Million Dollar Diamond Studded LuxTouch Tiles by Pietra Firma

We think even Lady Liz Taylor would be slightly green with envy at the above wall dressed in stunning diamond encrusted wall tiles by Pietra Firma.

LuxTouch wall, flooring and ceiling tiles are hand crafted with each individual black marble tile:

“ …inlaid with 95 brilliant cut diamonds, mother of pearl and abalone. The centre of the tile consists of a pitch-black agate circle inlaid with 19 diamonds and a mother of pearl flower petal pattern radiates outwards from the centre. Each of the petals is a single piece of mother of pearl inlaid with a large precious cut diamond and the black agate pieces between the petals are also inlaid with diamonds. The tile’s four corners are inlaid with mother of pearl and abalone shell, achieving a visually stunning counter balance with the radiating flower petals.

When inlaid, the diamonds sit slightly raised above the tile, which results in the maximum tactile and visual effect. Walking barefoot on a LuxTouch floor can only be described as a truly sensual experience. ”

The $1,000,000 price tag gets you one square meter of the LuxTouch tiles – calculated by number of gems and precious and semi-precious stones:  “over 1000 diamonds, 2400 pieces of mother of pearl, 400 pieces of abalone shell and 500 pieces of black onyx”. Take a look at the Pietra LuxTouch tile details shown in the image below:

At a million dollars per square meter the diamond inlaid tiles aren’t for everyone but Pietra Firma wants to redefine true luxury:

“In the 21st century world of brand extension, inbuilt obsolescence and mass market dilution, the word “luxury” has been diluted and overused. 

TRUE LUXURY is not affordable, democratic, mass market, universal, brand extension or mass produced and machine made.

TRUE LUXURY is highly skilled craftsmanship utilizing rare and precious materials, a complete attention to detail, unique, personal, passionate, indulgent, exquisitely sensual, beautiful and artistic. This unique approach to luxury will satisfy the needs of customers who have a deep appreciation of the true essence of luxury.”

Images copyright of respective companies.

Home Decor Buyer Resource: Pietra Firma

Shaw Floors’ Tigressa Softstyle Carpets Debuts

Last week Shaw Floors gave me and several other design bloggers and journalists a fascinating (and quite interesting interactive) “behind the scenes” tour of Shaw Floors’ research and development facility and quality and testing center. I’ve journaled some of the key highlights of the Tigressa Carpets’ debut and the Shaw Floors’ facility tour in this post, and will be exploring each highlight in depth in upcoming posts. Prior to the plant tour on May 20th, Shaw Floors treated us to an entertaining cocktail event and fabulous dinner, held in the enchanting historical Manor House Ruins at the Barnsley Resort, to mark the Tigressa Softstyles Carpets debut.

I had the opportunity to walk on the new Tigressa carpet during the cocktail party at the Manor House Ruins, and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it felt underfoot. Normally, I’m not a big fan of synthetic rugs or carpets because they tend to feel a bit hard and crunchy. That wasn’t the case with the Tigressa carpets I stepped onto – they were nice, cushy, soft and very inviting.

Amy Devers, of TLC’s “Trading Spaces” and more recently in “Fix This Yard”, shared her memorable moments – including a charming story of how as a two-year old she was encouraged to take risks because she knew that the newly carpeted stairs of her childhood home would soften her fall.

Shaw Floors’ has a dedicated design and creative inspiration lab that is absolutely lust worthy for those of us who love creating look books and inspirations boards. The above board is a sample of one of Shaw Floors’ concept boards birthed in the creative enclave of the lab.

On the test production floor showing one of several steps in the carpet manufacturing process.

Amazing stain repelling behavior from Shaw Floors’ Tigressa Softstyle carpet shown on this test swatch.  The Kool-Aid poured over this carpet test square did NOT sink into the fibers – the liquid stayed on top (looks like a gel, but it’s not). Clean up was a breeze, and the carpet did not stain – no red tint left behind either.

Shaw Floors are serious about quality and have invested considerable sums in their testing equipment including a CSI worthy particle detector and an advanced microscopy lab (shown above).

DISCLOSURE: Shaw Floors sponsored the trip and stay at the Barnsley Resort for the Tigressa Carpets debut.