Principal Designer Christopher Grubb of Arch-Interiors Design Group, Inc. of Beverly Hills, CA, has been noticing a number of hospitality design trends lately. First and foremost, the designer has noticed that clients are moving away from stark white-on-white, beige-on-beige concepts. "The idea now is see and be seen," Grubb said. "People are adding elements they don't have at home, like a lot of color and textures that are both visually and emotionally exciting."

As we often discuss, it is apparent that homeowners are investing in their living spaces more and spending money on high-end materials such as stone and tile.

The original Orsoni foundry was established in the neighborhood of Cannaregio in Venice, Italy, in 1888. Housed in a structure comprised of brick and stone, the company is still in operation today, and an array of mosaic glass products are still hand produced at the factory on a daily basis.

Going well beyond the typical “stone library” found at most architecture firms, the offices of Holzman Moss Architecture, LLP in New York are scattered with stone samples of all shapes, sizes and colors.

Casa Décor, an international producer of interior design exhibitions, hosted an event that saw more than 40,000 people visit its U.S. showhouse at the historic Miami Woman’s Club in Miami, FL, from November 10 to December 17, 2006. The six-week transformation of the space included the creation of over 60 interior and exterior tile installations, conceived by some of the world’s most renowned designers.

In the residential as well as the commercial sector, it seems that more planning and budget is being given to exterior finishes, including expanded use of natural stone and tile.

Taking maintenance issues, durability and style into consideration, architects and designers deem stone and tile a natural fit for today’s commercial spaces

With the ever-expanding number of stone and tile collections available today, the creativity in residential and commercial design has reached new peaks