A natural stone comeback?
Is natural stone making a comeback? Did it ever go away? It seems in recent years that white marble was the hot ticket item. Then quartz slowly started taking more of the market share and becoming the countertop choice you would see on TV the most. Now with the recent tariffs implemented by the President, there are a lot of changes happening in the industry. One of our main stories this issue is stone and tile design trends. We spoke with architects and designers from around the country about what they see are the tile and stone trends in the market right now, and moving forward.
Generally, with stone, shades of white still seem to be the go to color choice. With tile, the muted colors are still the most popular it seems, but the sizes are changing all over the place. According to architect Ryan Thewes, “Tile size trends have continued to swing away from the standard 12- x 12-inch tile to either extreme.” Tiles are also being used in lots of different applications. Some people are doing floor-to-ceiling walls in tile.
As far as stone goes, it seemed for a while that quartz was gaining a lot of traction. After discussing stone trends with different architects and designers, and others outside of this article, it seems that natural stone is going to be a big focus in the future for design. If this is related to current events, we don’t know for sure. To read more about the stone and tile trends report, see page 16 of this issue.
We also have a product roundup featuring some new tiles that were displayed at Cevisama this year. The show set new records for itself, hosting more than 20,000 foreign professionals to the show. The showcase starts on page 12.
For our other focus this issue, we look at a couple of commercial design projects. The first one is on page 32 that features Vermont Slate that was used on a Boyscouts headquarters. We talk about the challenges of the installation process for the outside cladding of the building. On page 38, we discuss the new Polaris lounge in Newark Liberty Airport and the design style for that United Lounge.
Finally, on page 28, we have a Q&A with designer Karen Kettler to discuss the trends and experiences she has seen in the past 20 years.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Contemporary Stone & Tile Design magazine, and if there are any projects that you have that you would like featured, let me know at kameryj@bnpmedia.com
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Jason Kamery is the Managing Editor and Group Digital Editor of Stone World. With more than a decade of experience covering the stone and countertop industry, he has conducted hundreds of interviews with fabricators, manufacturers, and industry leaders, and hosts the Stone World. podcast. He reports from events worldwide, including TISE, Coverings, and Marmomac, and his coverage extends to worker safety and silicosis, trade policy and tariffs, and fabrication technology. Kamery has also served as a speaker and panel moderator at The International Surface Event (TISE). He graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. in Mass Communication.
email: kameryj@bnpmedia.com | office: (248) 833-7356
