One week ago I had the pleasure of attending the first South Florida Chapter NKBA meeting of 2013. I was fired up by motivational speaker Dawnna St. Louis and her presentation about how to give your clients what they really want. I’m looking forward to more great events this year and to working with the enthusiastic board on the communications committee.
Not only was it fun to get together once again with all my old kitchen friends but the beautiful venue was an added treat.We met at the amazing Walker Zanger showroom in Coconut Creek Florida. Walker Zanger is filled with designer eye candy! As soon as I walked in I felt an irresistible desire to explore every nook and cranny. Then I decided, if I were to do that, why not nab a tour guide? I found just that in Branch Manager, Drew Rust.
He explained that Walker Zanger has been around about 61 years beginning as a maker of marble tops evolving into a chain (15 ) of designer showrooms offering all types of tile and stone slabs from around the world. Their products can be seen at the Bellagio in Las Vegas as among many other notable locations. The showroom featured beautiful examples of glass, marble and all the usual materials we’re used to seeing tiles made out of. So I asked him, “what’s new”?
He promptly introduced me to the AnTeak Collection which is, you guessed it, tile made out of teak! It’s new, gorgeous and can be used in both flooring and wall applications. In addition to this they are working on a surface treatment that will allow it to be used on shower walls! 
The offerings at WZ are upscale to be sure but the nice thing is that often a little goes a long way. Consider a border or an accent tile and you could get a lot of bang for the buck. Sometimes less is more. Speaking of budgets, WZ does offer some more affordable options as little as 2.50 per square foot.
Hours are Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30. You are welcome to have a look around but bring your designer if you want to seal the deal. I'm sure Showroom Manager Deanna Dolfi would be happy to show you around!
ENTER THE MATRIX
Marcello Becchi sports two full sleeve tats acquired in the South Pacific but more importantly he knows all about engineered stone and LEED certification. Let me “splain”, as Ricky Ricardo would say. I had the pleasure of hearing Marcello speak at Ceramic Matrix in Delray Beach at an NKBA Chapter event last week. Marcello, of the Trend Group USA is a scholar and lecturer within the building materials industry.
Trend is a manufacturer of all types of mosaic tiles with an emphasis on being Green. One type of material they manufacture is referred to as engineered stone. What is that, you ask? It is any material, used mostly for counter tops, floors and walls comprised of an agglomerate of crushed up glass, granite or quartz with a resin to hold it all together. Marcello has a reverence for the original engineered stone, terrazzo (flashback to childhood home before floor was covered with green carpet). Terrazzo is simply a mixture of cement and glass, marble, granite etc.The most common type of engineered stone that you would recognize today are quartz materials such as Silestone and Caesarstone. We all know how indestructible these surfaces are to work on but that is just one advantage. As we deplete the world’s natural resources we need to pay attention to methods and products that minimize the impact on our environment. Engineered stone does that and here’s how: Typically only three out of ten slabs of granite are useable, however, the other seven “imperfect” slabs can be used to create engineered stone! Making a “green” decision often seems to be a more costly option but “green” choices are typically longer lasting and more durable. As Marcello says, “whatever costs more in the beginning costs least in the end.”
Ceramic Matrix is a wonderland of tile, full of custom unique tile treasures composed of glass, porcelain, marble,ceramics and whatever else anyone has thought to embed in tile. If you don’t live in Delray, don’t worry. There are six Ceramic Matrix showrooms in Florida. (If you don't live in Florida you can go ahead and worry.)
Showroom Tile Diva, Susan Serino, solemnly promises they will work with your budget. “There are ways to incorporate the affordable with a touch of bling for impact. “It’s not about a focal point”, she says, it’s about everything working together as an incredible whole.” One thing you can do if you don’t want to leave a “hole” in your pocket, is save the exotic expensive tiles to use sparingly as accents. This is a great example of less equals more in your wallet! 
