In August, Daltile’s updated Denver showroom’s opening was met with fanfare. Nestled in scenic Colorado between the lush, climbing mountain range and sprawling city, the international tile company’s new showroom provides designers and end users alike with a liberal sampling of the brand’s products.
Just a couple of weeks after Daltile’s opening event, i+s met with designer Carol Koplin, NCIDQ, ASID, of Koplin Interiors, LLC., bright and early to see what the company has in store for the Centennial State.
Walking in, a lounge area and in-wall fireplace offer unique detail which draws the eye. The fireplace not only matches Colorado’s overall aesthetic, but also provides a comforting meeting area. While there are spaces to meet throughout the showroom—including a conference room—this space gives end users a unique perspective. “This area is a prime example when talking to clients on how to match up stone, like a book or slip match, because they have a slab there that is a great example of book matching,” Koplin explained. “It also creates a nice, comfortable, and casual environment to review details.”
While the Daltile showroom is full of samples visitors can pick up and walk around with, the large-format tiles in the front of the space help designers and end users alike see all the ways in which they can use tile in their own projects, from highlighting how product would look together to patterns that can be created.
“I find it’s an efficient use of the client’s and my time to bring them into the showroom to understand what they’re really looking for,” Koplin said. As many designers have experienced, the use of tile and natural stone—which changes with clarity and cut—can be difficult in that some end users have a hard time imagining the final look of the project once the product has been laid out in combination with the other materials of the space. “The showroom is nice because the background is neutral white, so it’s nice to see color, and there’s a lot of natural daylight. On top of that, everything is open, so you can make a quick assessment of the very different styles, patterns, and selections.”
A couple of standing work surfaces along the back wall house tile and stone details, and are situated perfectly to act as grab-and-go
stations while in the planning phase. “I think that those are nice areas because you can lay out a number of color pallettes and schemes,” Koplin noted. “All of the samples are readily available to pull together to see the end results quickly.”
The most surprising element of the showroom would have to be the slab warehouse. During the space’s renovation, the site was enlarged, allowing Daltile to hold more inventory. “Often you’re using slabs for countertops, and [the warehouse is] nice because you have all your tile samples in the showroom, and you can pick those up and put them right in front of the slab.”
In the far back right corner of the showroom sits the most high-tech piece of equipment in the space: a large-screen television which can be used to display renderings, blueprints, or other samples. “It’s a useful feature because everything now is digital, and it’s a great way to access documents that you may not have with you at that time to keep the process moving.” Information and materials that end users may not have brought with them but are stored on the Cloud can be displayed on a large scale, making the planning stages that much more painless.
Photography by Libbie Holmes
