While at Coverings  in Chicago a few weeks ago,  Ryan and the Statements crew made a new friend and fellow blogger, author of the book The Art of Tile, Jen Renzi, of  Tilest.  She took some time to check out Ciao,  so I find it only fitting to post her  post.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Go check out  her site- it’s pretty great.

-Tile Chic 

While drooling over the gorgeous laminated-stone penny rounds and glass river-rock mosaic in the Terra Verre booth (more on that later) at Coverings, we met friendly tile enthusiast Ryan Calkins. In addition to his role as president of showroom/distributor Statements in Seattle (they carry beautiful stuff–check it out here), Ryan also publishes a super-informative blog, Ciao! The site spotlights new products (like Rex’s Extralight glass mosaics, above), cool installations by designers and contractors who’ve sourced their goods, and offers maintenance and sustainability primers. It even has a section called “Tile Chic” covering topics like fireplace-appropriate tile options and the beauty of discontinued tile–all in the form of hilarious 90-second YouTube videos, hosted by the charming-funny Britt. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn tons about tile. Tune in!