Interview with Owner Maureen Savage and Showroom Manager Kasey Greene
Photos courtesy Village Tile
What are the current trends in tile?
Everything as far as tile goes is getting larger and with that, installations are getting more complicated. The larger tiles require special tools. Tiles are also trending back to square shapes and handmade tiles are very popular. We also still sell a lot of wood plank looks. As far as bathrooms go, barrier-free curbless showers are pretty hot. People are doing them with an eye towards being able to remain in their homes when they are older and it’s also a very contemporary, cleaner look for a bathroom design. People also are doing a lot of larger steam showers. New construction bathrooms are getting larger. I once did a job where the customer had a coffee maker in her bathroom, so that was a large bathroom.
What are the popular colors and materials?
Gray is still the color but it’s also trending back to warmer tones like greige. Blues are also very hot and green is a color that’s starting to come back in a big way. Marble is the popular high-end material along with hand-made ceramics. We do very well with the natural stones and have partnered with quality vendors to provide them. There are also a lot of porcelains that look like natural stone and we do sell quite a bit of that. Everything is getting thinner and bigger. We have some tile panels that are eight feet tall but only a quarter-inch thick. You would use that if you want your shower to look like it’s made of one slab.
What questions do your clients ask most often?
Our customers want to know what is currently trending. They want to know what is durable and a lot of times they are concerned with grout because they may have an older project where the grout stained. But grout has also come a long way. There are materials available that don’t stain and don’t change color.
Do you work with more primary or second-homeowners?
It’s about 80-20 second homeowners and they are fun because they come from all over the world so they bring their influences with them. Some want very contemporary, others may want hand-crafted Mexican tiles. The locals tend to go for more traditional looks, but we say there’s no cookie cutter in tiles. We focus on making the best selections for the client based on the home, project and budget. We love making each design personal.
Village Tile
685 Depot St., Manchester
802-366-1040
villagetile.com