Put Your Heads Together

Josep Motas designed these tiles, a kaleidoscopic riff on cartoonish craniums. In various sizes and colors [mix-and-match mandibles, anyone?], they're available in glazed terra cotta, concrete, or stoneware. Happy Halloween! bussoga.com

A Good Game, Indeed

The 'Backgammon' encaustic tiles on this backsplash knit the cabinets together with color; their pattern echos the herringbone marquetry of the floor. The color options are limited only by the proverbial imagination. pophamdesign.com

Writing on the Walls [or Floors]

In these days of 140-character communications, Scrabble—both the traditional board format as well as online version of the game—still remains popular. These ceramic tiles let aficionados get their messages across [and yes, you can keep score!]. wallsandfloors.co.uk

Independently-Minded Design, Day 4

This truly blue loo is quite the design statement. Accenting its moody monochrome with white or red is tempting—and such diversity could quite possibly be mind-opening at such a politically charged time. emildervish.com

Independently-Minded Design

This kitchen has two of the three colors that dominate the national palette this 4 July week. Perhaps simplistically, I see the tile as a metaphor for the current state of the state: a bold statement, freely expressed, and still evolving toward a more perfect union. pophamdesign.com

Tiny and Textured

The L'H collection of tile spans large format floor pavers to mosaic tesserae. Both smooth and rough faced, they can give a room a sense of textural variety, but the space is still unified through consistent coloring. emilgroup.com/viva

Enigmatic Ceramic

Working in its preferred palette of dusky, offbeat tones, Dimore Studio has created a language of form and color with the Corrispondenza collection of tile. No up or down, they are completely non-directional, which I see as a generous invitation to collaborate—albeit at a distance—with the designers [who have produced some of my favorite spaces.] ceramicabardelli.com

Kitchen for a Cloudy Day

By now, I ought to be used to it: a tease of sun in the morning, then the clouds [and not infrequently, the rain] close in for the day. Disheartening—yet we persist.

I offer up this kitchen as a salve to all who had to cancel BBQ plans this holiday. With its white-lacquered cabinets, it provides a passive source of light, bouncing sun [Google it] around the room. While the narrowness of the island might at first seem to be stingy in the amount of work space it provides, think again—the limited surface area means everything is within easy reach.

Eye Candy

Congratulations—we've reached the mid-point of the week! To celebrate, how about a porcelain tile that's somewhat edgy, but not over-the-edge? The Shades collection, designed by architect by Marco Piva, will debut at Salone next week. In advance, I applaud how it plays with color to create effects of depth and volume. casalgrandepadana.com

Fixture Fixation

I need more art.

'Lake Michigan Bathroom' is an exuberantly detailed ceramic work created by Ann Agee. The artwork, with its elaborate pictorial treatment, gives a nod to chinoiserie—but a scrutinizing look reveals very contemporary subject matter, as this close-up of the sink illustrates. [The full installation features a toilet, bidet, urinal, and basin.] Interestingly, Agee was an artist-in-residence at Kohler for two years. annageestudio.com

Surface Effective

How different this bath would be if a smooth-faced tile had been used instead of the bubbly, bumpy Frame! The texture puts the wall on an equal design footing with the swoopy faucet, and the metal accent strips help balance the materials palette. [From the Who Knew? department: Today is #NationalTileDay. Let's raise a mortar-filled trowel and toast our trusted installers.] fapceramiche.com

Heartfelt Design, Day 4

This handcrafted tile goes straight to the heart of the matter. Part of the 'Much Love Me' collection by Ruan Hoffman, it has a charming, quasi-historical appearance—but its message is timeless. cletile.com

Fair Weather Fan

Today, looking at its rivulets of silver frosted with white, this ceramic tile reminds me of a snow-blanketed skating rink. Of course, after the predicted blizzard sweeps through tomorrow, I might not think of the lovely Chromium tile in such cordial terms, but that won't change the fact it is an exquisite design. unicaceramiche.com

Shine On

This striking surfacing—seen here on both the wall and the drawer fronts—is a melange of materials: fabric is sandwiched between sheets of glass. While Vetrite is suitable primarily for vertical use [light-wear horizontal applications, like tub decks, is OK], it is offered in an impressive number [18] of formats, ranging from 4x4 inches to 47x110 inches, in more than 50 patterns. sicis.com

Branching Out

Trees in winter. Winter trees in tile. There's something very appropriate about the cold medium of ceramic depicting scenes from the bleak season. I find the coloration and decoration of this large format tile to be profoundly expressive. stonehollowtile.com

Factory Modeled

The Hopes windows—from the standard-setting manufacturer of steel-framed doors and windows that form the shower enclosure in this bath—give the industrial-themed design an edge when it comes to authenticity. The black marble topping the the bench is more of a genteel gesture, but as the true nature of the room is residential [it's in a farmhouse], that's just fine with me. markfinlay.com

Meditative

Subdued yet striking in color and form, this hand-carved stone tile is soothingly abstract. The Ziva Lotus pattern is suitable for use on walls. artistictile.com

Natural Evolution

Unlike the last couple of years, when the trees dropped all their leaves virtually overnight, this autumn the process has been gradual. It's been rewarding to observe the green-red-yellow-orange-brown transition over time. These handmade tiles make permanent what is by nature a transitory episode. johnnewdigate.com

Haunting Design, Day 4

It's alive! The rippling pattern that emerges [or does it disappear?] from the murky depths of the Twist tiles seems slightly supernatural. To me, the whorled symmetry of the lines suggests a menacing storm system. normandy-ceramics.com

Designing to Distraction

Apparently created for a cook with a tremendous ability to focus on the task at hand, this kitchen is visually overwhelming. I'd say it was finished in floor-to-ceiling tile, but that would be technically inaccurate; the ceiling is actually covered in mirrors, adding to the hallucinogenic quality of the space. But in the end, I appreciate the willingness of the designer to go all-out in the pursuit of what is inarguably a singular vision. milkdecoration.com