March Madness: ACI's Final Four Tile Matchups

For college basketball, the month of March means everything. Sports fans young and old complete their bracket and cheer on their team to win it all. With the final four games this weekend, Architectural Ceramics put together our own final four match ups, and it's just what you'd expect: tile. ACI employees filled out tile brackets and the results are in. Download your own 2018 Tile Bracket here. Let's see how your tile picks compare to a few of our own; and which material, porcelain, ceramic, glass or stone is favored to take it all.

Tile Stats By Type

Before we jump into staff picks, let's first see how our four main tile materials offered at ACI compare to one another: Remember, there are always exceptions to the rule. We know this to be true because of this year's March Madness upset, where UMBC (16) beat Virgina (1), a circumstance that has never happened before in the tournament's history. With that said, please use this chart as a guideline for each type of tile material we offer at Architectural Ceramics. To reference this information later, download a Printable PDF here.

Ceramic

Ceramic tile, like a 3"x6" subway, seems like a safe and popular pick for designers and homeowners alike. But, for our Director of Product & Merchandising, Julie Taury, she gets fired up about one ceramic tile in particular:

"My favorite ceramic is Euphoria from our Sonoma Tilemakers vendor, by far! The way it's made, it's a one-of-a-kind process. They literally set the tile on fire outside of the kiln."

To view the full Euphoria Collection, download a Data Sheet here.

Porcelain

Durable, non-porous, predictable -- Porcelain is an obvious choice when consistency is the name of the game. Our Bethesda Showroom Manager, Vanessa Pereira, likes the softness that comes from one of our hard-edged rectified porcelain collections:

"My favorite new porcelain is Genesis. I love the soft lines which somehow calm me down. I specifically like it for bathrooms because it's fresh and reminds me of the feeling I get when I go to the spa. The various colors, sizes and finishes are great. The semi-polished finish reminds me of wallpaper; I love to show clients to use it on shower walls."

To learn more about our Genesis Collection, visit our website or download a Data Sheet here. Another porcelain pick, comes from Casey Terrell, an east-coast native who drives our internet sales. While basketball players drive the ball down a hardwood court, Terrell offers another suggestion:

"My favorite porcelain tile is the Wood Replica Beige Digue. The color is a perfect warm beige with grey undertones; and the texture looks real and feels so nice under your feet. It's way more durable than real wood. I'm planning on installing it in my house next year, with floor heat underneath, of course!"

To view the entire Wood Replica Collection, visit our website or download a Data Sheet here.

Glass?

From year to year, or even month to month, trends come and go. Right now, cement tile is in and glass tile is out. But why? Is glass hard to work with? Is it hard to know which type of glass is best suited for each application? Answer these questions and more with our blog entry, The Layman's Class on Glass: Design & Installation Tips for Glass Tile.

Natural Stone

If you love veining and variation, then natural stone is your natural bracket pick. David Benson, VP of Sales, finds it hard to pick just one collection, be it natural stone or otherwise, as his favorite:

"I love so many of our collections. We could have done this for the whole bracket. That would be awesome."

Since Architectural Ceramics offers special order tile from nearly 40 different vendors or brands, along with our own in-stock tile, it's very possible to create a bracket with 64 different tile names. There's always next year. Last year, Benson had the pleasure of indulging his love of natural stone, by traveling to quarries throughout Italy. There, he sourced beautiful tile options to enhance what we already offer at Architectural Ceramics. "Every client strives to achieve that amazing look...to beautify their space," Benson says, "so whether we are supplying Cararra marble with a solid grey background or a Calacatta Gold from the same mountain range, it is all beautiful." To read more about natural stone or Benson's trip, read our blog entry: Expect the Unexpected from Tile Variation. For further questions about the tile featured here, or to place a tile order, please contact sales@architecturalceramics.com. Want weekly updates about Architectural Ceramics and our product lines? Join our newsletterhere.