Blog

As the calendar turns, we often get asked about new trends in design and tile for the year ahead. While we are a fan of classic, sophisticated designs that last for many years, following current trends can help ensure your home stays fresh and inviting. As you select tile for your home re...

Once you’ve made the decision to take on a new tile project, there are a number of questions that should be asked before installation ever begins.  Will you be installing it yourself or hiring a professional?  Is there a specific budget you’re looking to stay within?  Do you have a design in place,...

If there’s one thing that unites those who make the decision to install new tile floors, it’s how often they proclaim wishing they had done it sooner. We may not spend great portions of our days thinking about new flooring, but once you’ve seen the visual impact it can have on an entire home, it’s u...

Regardless of whether you’re remodeling, rehabbing, or building a new home from scratch, creating custom tile designs is a fun and rewarding way to give your home a completely one-of- a-kind look.  Tile can be used to create everything from the most subtle borders and accents, to visually stunning m...

With so many families making the move to Western NY, it’s no surprise that not every room in every recently-purchased home looks exactly the way we might like. There may be rooms that are perfect as-is, as well as those in dire need of a makeover to reflect your unique sense of style. As many are di...

It’s amazing how something as simple as the perfect kitchen backsplash can add entirely new levels of depth and dimension to even the most humble kitchen. Today, the options are boundless when it comes to the design and installation of custom tile backsplashes. At Concept II Tile in Rochester NY, we...

If you’re the kind of homeowner who’s never been keen on products from big-box home improvement stores, Concept II Tile offers a luxurious alternative to store-bought and mass production tile products.  We take pride in offering the best selection of high-end, premium and practical tile from some of...

Tile floor is ideal for any area of the home and is most commonly found in kitchens, bathrooms, foyers or hallways, laundry rooms and sunrooms. Rectangular tile has been by far the most popular floor tile over the past 10 years. With the variety of options for tile materials, the first decision is w...

Choosing tile that is true to your old house without looking dated can be tricky. In this article we've reviewed some old house bathroom tile trends that we'd love to see in your old house and some trends that would be more challenging to pull off. When choosing tile for your old house, keeping in m...

When choosing flooring, many people consider their lifestyle and the wear-and-tear the floor will need to endure. Dogs can be particularly hard on floors - tracking dirt into the house and digging nails into the floor when they run and play. Clients come to our tile store looking for flooring...

If you've recently been shopping around for tile you may have realized that tile prices vary widely. One of the questions we get quite often is why a similar type of tile can vary so greatly in price from one manufacturer to another. A great example of this is in a marble mosaic tile. Clients will c...

Concept II Tile store is not your ordinary tile store. When you visit our showroom, you will find a vast selection of some of the finest tile options. The comment we hear most from first-time visitors is, “everything here is beautiful,” and we think that is true. On their own, clients would stru...

Choosing the right pool tile is more than just design esthetics, it can mean the difference between a long-lasting product and a short-lived one. Using high quality pool approved tile for your pool is imperative. At our tile store, we have several excellent options for pool tile which are not only...

Making the decision between handmade and machined subway tile is a tough one, but hopefully, after reading this article you’ll find the decision a little bit easier to make.   The good news is that if you’re choosing subway tile, you’ve already made one great decision. Subway tile is sure to loo...

Why Bars Are Making A Comeback Built in bars were popularized in the 1970s and 1980s, but recently have made a comeback. More and more people are seeing their home as a place to entertain family and friends, opting for open floor plans, great rooms and even outdoor kitchens. Having the ultima...

“Wood-look tile is a great option for people who want the aesthetic of wood in a space where real hardwoods would not be best suited: bathrooms, laundry rooms, mudrooms, and even some kitchens.” – Designer, Nicci Winrock Wood Look Porcelain Tile – The Benefits Porcelain tile is extremely...

Have you ever been to our tile showroom? I only ask because if you haven’t shopped for tile lately, or if your experience is limited to the big box chains, you aren’t seeing the whole picture in tile. One of the most exciting developments is the supply and demand for encaustic cement tile....

arabesque noun ar·a·besque Simple Definition of ARABESQUE: • a complicated decorative design made with many lines that curve and cross each other • a ballet position in which the dancer stands on one foot and holds one arm forward while the other arm and leg are held out behind Sour...

Have you ever been told to go to “your happy place”?  Maybe it was at the end of a yoga class, or in those countdown seconds before a surgery? Well this is image you see above is mine and you are welcome to use it anytime. I look at images of tile all day long, sometimes at night too, come t...

The waterfall, as a tiled shower design, termed tile waterfall, is a reaction to the widely used horizontal decorative tile band that has been around since Roman Bath houses.  Sometimes called a listel (French) or listello (Italian) this has been a go-to way to add color/design/sparkle/motif to...

This drives my family and friends crazy. Everywhere we go, I’m looking at the floors.  I could tell you about the tile flooring in every restaurant and store I go to.  My brain is noting and cataloging every surface, for better or worse.  Of course this goes for hardwoods, carpeting, and vinyl, b...

Every year the tile manufacturers come to the tile convention trying to outdo each other with bigger, and bigger tile. They are doing it for you, because you made that face, and complained about the grout.  (There are other reasons, more on that later.) Let’s take a trip, back through time, an...

I don’t love to clean. I know that some people really enjoy it. I appreciate clean, and the ability to maintain clean, but that has not been a priority so far in my busy life. I accept that daily cleaning is not one of my strong suits, but I can also say that I will be the first to volu...

During the last ten years of working in this field, one of my greatest pleasures has been the observation of the evolution of design vocabulary.  I’ve even kept a little notebook of popular words and phrases that clients use to describe what they want.  I could probably write a blog on each one…...

When people walk into the Concept II tile showroom for the first time, they often have the same thought, “How do you pick?!” I know this is true because as a Tile Designer at Concept II, more often than not, I hear it said out loud. “How do you pick?…” That question is usually accompanied by...