Whether in a newly built, purchased or
renovated home, the flooring is just as important as the mood-inducing paint colour, decorative furniture or
any other part of interior design associated with creating a room’s welcoming ambiance. Providing detailed
decor from the ground up can transform any home into “your home.”
To help build the ultimate dream
home, Julian Tile offers innovative flooring and wall tiling products that provide some of the best in
trends and technology.
“Technology is important because
we like to carry a quality product. We want to offer our customers something different and something really
beautiful,” says Rose Baldo, a customer service specialist at Julian
Tile.
In its 34th year in the tiling
industry, Julian Tile is a leader as a supplier and wholesale distributor of ceramic and stone tile in
Western Canada. With its main warehouse and head office located in Burnaby, B.C., the company also has
showrooms in their office branches in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. The company is growing with a new
distribution centre, head office and showroom scheduled to open later this year in Langley,
B.C.
“Because we are a wholesaler, we
have people [such as] designers and architects that come in [as well as] builders who will bring their
customers to our showroom. We have fully trained staff… Most of them come from a design background, so they
are qualified and capable of assisting people with selections,” she says.
The company’s collections of
ceramic, porcelain and natural stone tiles include products from around the world. However, Baldo says that
most of their products tend to come from Italy, to help the company stay on top of the most up-to-date styles
and technology.
Some of the most innovative
products available at Julian Tile include their larger-sized formats for flooring
and wall tiles, architecturally sound yet visually appealing mosaic patterns, as well as environmentally
friendly products that are ideal for families.
The company’s Arenaria Series
consists of porcelain tiles for floors and walls that feature Microban technology. With antimicrobial product
protection, the tiles, which are produced from 40 per cent recycled ceramic content, help prevent the growth
of bacteria on tiles.
“Microban is a world leader in
micro-bacterial technology. They actually manufacture this right into the production process and it blocks
the action of bacteria. When you have children playing on a floor, the bacteria do not grow on this tile,”
says Baldo.
In addition to offering products
with the latest advancements in technology, the company offers an assortment of tiles that are on trend with
the leading designs and styles in home decor. The Slimtech line of Italian porcelain tiles maintains the
trend of minimalistic decor, with clean lines and simple designs offered among the variety of styles. The
Slimtech line also provides a large format of tiles that are only 3 millimetres thick, with versatility to
work as both floor and wall tile.
“You have these sheets on the
wall or floor, of minimal stone-look tile, without a lot of grout lines, so esthetically it’s very pleasing,
very sleek and contemporary,” she says.
For people who are looking for
more “design” in interior design, the company offers a variety of patterns. Mosaics are making a strong
comeback, says Baldo, with micro-mosaics, metal mosaics and even murals that can be created with the
company’s products.
“For the last several years,
mosaics have been evolving. It used to be that mosaics were a bad word. In the ’90s, nobody would think of
doing a mosaic… But it has evolved over the last 10 years to the point that there are micro-mosaics, patterns
and glass mosaics,” says Baldo. Working with Mosaico Piu, an Italian mosaics company, Julian Tile also provides custom-made mosaics, allowing a photograph, design or image to be
reproduced through mosaics in any desired size.
Julian Tile’s leading digital
technology provides customers with options that maintain the look of stone tiles, without the maintenance
often associated with it.
“They take photographs of real
stone and they can reproduce those into the tile. When you look at a tile, you virtually cannot tell it apart
from real stone. You have to be almost an expert and go up to it and touch it and say, ‘Okay, wait a minute,
what is this?’” says Baldo. “From the front, the visual part of it, you cannot tell. Some of it looks like
marble, some of it looks like travertine [stone], some of it looks like basalt stone. It’s unbelievable what
they can do. It’s really fabulous, and gives people the option.”Another trend has been the undulating design
on walls, to help create a wave effect. The company’s Evolve/Motion Series provides an assortment in both
glossy and matte finishes.“They are simple in colour but there is texture to it; a wave in motion or raised
pattern cut into the material which is becoming popular too,” says Baldo, adding that large format
rectangular-shaped tile and linear vein looks remain a strong trend.
By providing a wide range of
innovative products, it is no surprise that Julian Tile’s team of experts can help anyone from designers and
seasoned professionals to the average homeowner with their tile selections.
To help inspire ideas for decor,
Julian Tile has also implemented a blog on their website to provide suggestions with installation photos and helpful tips in short
videos.
“It’s growing and it’s really
interesting because sometimes a person may ask, ‘How do you install this?’ and we can say, ‘Go to the blog
and you can see a little video on the installation.’ A picture is worth a thousand words; they can click on
our blog and have a look,” explains Baldo. “We try to showcase some of our designers and some of the bigger
projects they do, because I think sometimes people need to see some of the other projects that others are
doing and say, ‘Wow, look at this,’ it’s really great for us… Everyone needs inspiration at times. Even the
most seasoned designer will be asking for some inspiration at times and that’s what we try to
offer.”
For more information on
Julian Tile, visit juliantile.com. •
Photo
Courtesy: Julian Tile
