Inspiration - Execution

Although California, and Los Angeles, in particular has a relatively short history, there are some great shining moments. One of those was the growth spurt that happened in the 1920's and 30's. There was a real interest in design at that time here and you saw the rise of some really terrific Mediteranean inspired architecture. To help feed that need a pottery opened in Malibu that created some of the most beautiful tile designs, most of which based on Spanish and Moorish inspiration. The top picture is an image from the Kitchen at the Adamson House. It was the house built by the owners of Malibu Potteries to showcase their work. It stands today as a great place to visit and an endless source of ideas.

The second picture is a small bathroom I was asked to design in a Spanish Revival home. So I used the Adamson House as my inspiration and used a bright color scheme and lots of patterned tile. I hope you like the outcome.

Resource Day- Tile Painter

As people who read this blog regularly know, I am fascinated by the design work done in California during the 20' and 30's. It was a high water mark as far as I am concerned. One of the things that many of the great works done during that period have in common is beautiful tile work. A lot of that tile was created by Malibu Potteries, which was a company located in Malibu. The factory was destroyed by fire years ago, but the home of the Family that owned it is still there and is now a museum. The Adamson House in Los Angeles is special because the owners used it as a virtual showroom for wares, so every room, has another example of tile in it, whether it is a fireplace, a bathroom or a stairway, it really is something to see.

Luckily there are a few companies now that sell reproductions of these designs. My favorite is California Pottery and Tile Works (www.calpot.com ) I think they do an amazing job of recreating the old tile. Their website features some great examples as well that you will want to check out. But the best thing about the site is an add on program called Tile Painter (www.tilepainter.com ). This is the tool you need because one of the hallmarks of this pottery is the amount and complexity of color. This handy tool, allows you to color your tiles, see it on screen and then print out a specification sheet with all the colors marked. Trust me, this will save you hours and many prototypes, I think it's just genius.

They are very easy people to deal with too, so check out the site and you will have many happy hours of coloring ahead of you. The image above is a room I did recently with them, I hope it gives you some inspiration.