Mexican Tile = Global Tile

When you think “Mexican Tile”– it’s time to think globally!  Over the last one hundred years Mexican tile has grown beyond the early Aztec, Mayan and Majolican designs of the late 1800s and early 1900s to incorporate truly global designs.

Mexican Tile Designs now carries tiles with Tuscany, Arts and Crafts, Southwest, Art Deco, Modern, Celtic, Moorish and African influenced designs.  Look at these examples:

        

Mission                           Celtic                              Southwest

        

Spanish                         Moroccan                      Moorish

          

Modern                            Italian                          French

Arts & Crafts

Ancient designs have been interpreted with modern and even oriental flair as evidenced by the work of renowned Ceramic artists Ken Edwards and Gorky Gonzales.

             

Gorky Gonzalez                         Ken Edwards

We have a decorative tile in just the right color and design for your project.

In contrast to the monochromatic , bland look popular in the last few years as evidenced by fads of travertine and granite, these global tiles will bring color, creativity and vibrancy into your home.

Please give us a call for complimentary design help! 866-320-1628 or email: info@mexicandesigns.com and let us help you make your dream come true.

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Why is our Mexican Tile Design store in Durango, Colorado?

Why a Mexican Tile store in Durango, Colorado?

 Because we LOVE it here!  Mexican Tile Designs.com is located in the southwest corner of Colorado, near the four corners where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado all come together.  This blog is about Durango, not about Mexican Tile and Talavera Tile, because we want you to also come visit our beautiful town and our store and see why our family-owned company is located here.

Durango is perfectly situated between three ecological/geologic zones: basin and Range, high desert, and mountain.  That means we get to explore and play in all three, depending on the weather and our mood!  Just south of us is the high desert of Taos and Santa Fe with ancient Puebloan ruins of Aztec Ruins and Chaco Canyon on the way.

Just to the West is Mesa Verde National Park, and Utah with amazing canyon country, Moab mountain biking, river rafting, Arches National Park and much more!

To the North and East of Durango are the San Juan mountains and the Rocky Mountains

All of that is outside of Durango, but the town itself is pretty amazing too!  It’s home to the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, Fort Lewis College and a bunch of crazy, fun people like us who love living here!

So now you know why Mexican Tile Designs showroom is located in Durango, Colorado!  Come visit us at 700 E. Second Avenue next time you’re in town!

Ideas for Using Mexican Tile in your Kitchen or Bath Countertop

This gallery contains 21 photos.

One of the most common questions people ask us at Mexican Tile Designs is for ideas on using decorative tile in their kitchen, bath or laundry room decorating project.  It IS daunting sometimes.  When I’m standing in our tile warehouse … Continue reading →

Using Earth Tone Mexican Tiles in Kitchen and Bath Design

Perhaps you are someone who just isn’t crazy about a whole lot of bright color in your kitchen or bath, or maybe you’re trying to match an existing earth tone color.  I have several friends who are constantly looking for new ways to decorate around these colors. Well, don’t despair!  Mexican Tile Designs has (maybe surprisingly!)  lots of subdued earth toned tiles and sinks to choose from.

Each of our three lines: Traditional, Especial, and Prima, all some solids and patterns in warm browns and yellows.

Like our Prima line of raised relief tile , it has several tiles that would go beautifully with tan, off-white or pale yellow walls:

   

Mision                   San Miguel             Otono

 Or mix them with our lovely terra cotta or matte solid color tiles:

Café Matte            Terra Cotta

Our Especial line of premium Mexican tile has other slightly different shades:

Esmalta Compuesto    Café Claro

Amazing MTD graphic guru, Jen, played around with these and came up with a cool idea for combining them all!  I like designs like this  used as a mural in a shower or above a countertop.

These are just a few samples of earthtones from our Traditional rustic Talavera tile line:

Caramelo                Vino                           Aztreado Terra Cotta

Bouquet Natural  Lagartia Terra Cotta   Anito con Marco

Rosa del Desierto    Seville  Lagartia Terra Cotta/Azul

Again, Jen came up with this combination design!

Check out other solid color tiles in many shades of white, off white, yellow and green for each line.  I’m always amazed at all the different shades of white!

You can find hand painted brilliant and durable Mexican ceramic sinks that  go well with any colors.  Here’s just a sampling:

Truly, the only limit is your own imagination and creativity!  

Watch this blog for more design ideas and always feel free to contact us at Mexican Tile Designs.  We are happy to help!

You can also sign up for our FREE e-NEWSLETTER at the bottom of our home page, for more ideas, tips, new products, and special offers.

Mexico Adventure Sourcing Tile and Murals: San Miguel Allende!

Our last stop on our two-week trip seeking out the best Talavera tile, sinks, and murals we could find for Mexicantiledesigns.com was San Miguel Allende in the state of Guanajuato.  It is a fascinating city, home to foreigners from all over the world.  Like the city of Guanajuato we just left, it too is full of beautiful cathedrals and architecture from the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

Its charming narrow brick streets are full of ex-patriots from all over the world.

We were lucky enough to arrive right in the middle of the Carnival festival when the main plaza was full of families, music, food and merriment.  These two large colorful ladies strolled the park while children of all ages dashed around throwing blown eggs filled with confetti at anyone who walked by.

Just outside of San Miguel, we saw a fantastic tiled kitchen wall inset with Mexican platters!  What a great idea!

While we don’t yet carry platters like these at Mexicantiledesigns.com, we do carry a selection of lovely  murals like this one which could have a similar stunning effect as the centerpiece to a tiled wall, or over the stove, or in a shower.  Check them all out and use your own creativity to make your own home into a totally unique  work of art!

All too soon we had to leave Mexico.  We will miss the people, the food, and the artistry we found there, but are happy to be able to bring some of it back with us to Durango, Colorado and to share it with YOU through Mexican Tile Designs!

Mexico Adventure Sourcing Tile and Murals: part II

We spent two days perusing a Mexican handicrafts trade show where we searched for hand-painted tiles and gorgeous murals for our store.

Of course we also had to equally explore the incredible food and drink, including sampling the regional specialty of Tamarind Margaritas.We all liked them but preferred the traditional lime (and green vs. brown color!) and also had to sample shots of all the varieties of great Mexican tequila. In fact, the state of Jalisco is known for being the birthplace of “tequila,” which is made from the blue agave plant, native to the area.

On the way out of town, we stopped for a brunch of gorditas muy ricas! and other street food in the giant street market in the little town of Tonalá.

Despite the four hour drive we still had to make to get to Guanajuato before dark, we dawdled way too long perusing the hundreds of vendors stalls selling all manner of ceramics and tiles.

Although we had detailed directions for driving into Guanajuato in the state of the same name, our trusty guide and amiga, Teresa shook her head when we arrived at the Glorieta statue at the entrance to the city, repeating the oft heard saying, “if you don’t get lost in Guanajuato, you haven’t really been to Guanajuato!” This is because most of the cities navigable streets are underground in a series of ancient man-made tunnels lined with hand made bricks. Soon after uttering those fateful words, we entered the subterranean warren of streets which are crisscrossed by narrow alleys too small for a car, and stairways by which pedestrians climb into and out of the streets. Although we thought we were faithfully following the directions, we were, in fact, hopelessly lost, until Andy called out—“there’s a little blue building” (among thousands of little blue buildings) but which actually, and nothing short of miraculously, turned out to be our destination: a fantastic little bed and breakfast called Villa Sueno Azul. The first thing Teresa and I did was get a luscious corn on the cob from a street stall!
More of our adventures soon!

How Mexican Tile Designs was born

Utah Canyon Country

The Idea

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 2 years since my wife and I came up with the idea of creating a website that would be a resource for those who share our love for Mexican Talavera designs. We were heading back from a long weekend in the sandstone canyon country of Southeastern Utah. We were so into the discussion that we missed our turnoff and wound up taking a scenic tour of the Navajo Indian reservation which was great except our fuel gauge was square on empty. Well we made it to a gas station and on towards home excited with the idea of creating Mexican Tile Designs!

The Partners and buddy Raider

The Partnership

After months and months of scheming we needed to involve someone who had experience with importing  product from Mexico. We knew just the folks to approach with the idea. Rich and Jen Brown own a wonderful store, Artesanos Design Collection, here in Durango Colorado that is full of beautiful furniture, accessories and art from all over Mexico. Everytime I wander through the store, I discover new things tucked away here and there. Artesanos had the importing infrastructure in place but not the time and energy to expand into Talavera products. They too, were excited with the idea and a great partnership was formed.

The warehouse is stocked and ready

Making it Real

We have spent almost 7 months designing and developing the website, and loading the product description and inventory into the database. Looking at it now, I am struck with the same feeling I get when reaching the top of our many peaks here in Southern Colorado. It takes the same steady pace to make either goal a reality. The website will never be completely “finished”. We are committed to continuous quality improvement in all that we do and are on the constant prowl to find new and unique items that celebrate the spirit and beauty of the Mexican people. We are excited about the inventory we have put together for you and are planning another buying trip for the near future. We hope you will spend some time on our website www.mexicantiledesigns.com and return often as we continue to bring in new items for you to choose from.  As always, please do not hesitate to give us a call or send us an email with your comments and suggestions!