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Chicago • Coverings

This year’s Coverings began with bleak news, as the Tile Council of North America reported that 2008 sales totaled only 2.1 billion square feet of surfaces, a 21.5 percent — and $2.4 billion — decline from 2006 highs. Responding to the recessionary climate, exhibitors embraced conservatism. Tile makers showed off restrained patterns and color palettes or banked on enduring trends, like sustainability. - David Sokol

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Affordable appliqué
Domestic companies played to smaller purses with products such as solid pewter appliqués that embellish an installation with construction adhesive or epoxy, and minimal labor. Paloma Pewter, Eagle, Idaho. www.palomapewter.com

[Reader Service: June 2009 #200]

Artisanal classics
Hudson, a wavy, highly dimensional 4'' x 10'' tile, is one example of the trend toward handmade tile reminiscent of art potteries ranging from Pewabic to Heath. ModCraft, Beacon, N.Y. www.mod-craft.com

[Reader Service: June 2009 #201]

Rock on a roll
Crossville, which has only produced stone accents since 1999, introduced Bella Via, a new nine-color collection of stone suited for interior and exterior wall applications that ranges in size from mosaics to 18'' square. Crossville, Crossville, Tenn. www.crossvilleinc.com

[Reader Service: June 2009 #202]

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Some assembly required
The undulating stripes of the Ribbon glass surface material comprises slivers removed or left over from other fabrication jobs; the salvaged material is fused together in flat-bed kilns and colored. Available in lengths up to 14'. Interstyle, Burnaby, British Columbia. www.interstyle.ca

[Reader Service: June 2009 #203]

Thin skin
The tile industry has begun releasing myriad veneerlike products that promise to eliminate demolition of existing tile surfaces. Slimtech achieves its 3-millimeter (.12'') thickness by rolling and compression methods new to porcelain. Resembling basalt, it is available in slabs as large as 3 x 1 meters (10' x 3'), while smaller, matchstick-proportioned tiles may be applied to curved surfaces. Lea North America, Charlotte. www.ceramichelea.com

[Reader Service: June 2009 #204]

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