| Want to give your bathroom a new lease on style? | | | | Glass shower floor tiles began to pop up in different |
| Get new shower floor tiles! Right now, the hottest in | | | | sizes, shapes, and edges. But forget flooring; they're |
| bathroom tiling is glass. Glass tiles have become so | | | | not using the material for that purpose alone. |
| versatile you can use them for just about anything, not | | | | VitraForm, for instance, is now making glass sinks and |
| just for flooring. As a matter of fact, hardware and | | | | countertops in 9 patterns, 11 colors, and 2 shapes. |
| toilet excepted, you can use the material to finish your | | | | Glass That's Not Easy to Break |
| entire bathroom. But where did this trend for the | | | | But who is buying these sinks? The answer: high-end |
| transparent come from? | | | | homeowners and international hotels. |
| The Beginning | | | | Hotels like the Grand Hyatt Shanghai and the Grand |
| Tile suppliers credit Denver artist Judy Collins. | | | | Hyatt in Fukuoka in Japan use glass sinks. Is |
| According to the co-owner (and general manager) of | | | | maintenance a problem for these hotels? Not at all, |
| Euro Bath & Tile in Denver, Colorado, Lori | | | | says Greenstone. To keep their sinks clean, all their |
| Greenstone, Collins inspired the penchant for glass | | | | staff has to do is spray Windex on them and then |
| thanks to her artistic glass pulls. | | | | wipe with a soft cloth. Breakage is not a problem |
| Not long after Collins bowled people over with her | | | | either, unless of course a guest deliberately drops a |
| creations, the owner of Denver's VitraForm followed | | | | hammer onto the sink. You see, the sinks are made of |
| suit and came up with glassy sinks... and that was | | | | a material that is the equivalent of an auto windshield in |
| when the style took off. | | | | thickness. Can anyone say strong? |
| Who Wants Glass Sinks? | | | | So the next time you have a hard time deciding how |
| In time, other tile manufacturers caught on and | | | | to go about your tiling, try glass. Not only will you get a |
| improvised. Suddenly, style boundaries where the | | | | very durable surface, you can make it double as a |
| material was concerned were being pushed. | | | | mirror, too. |
| Manufacturers came up with many ways to innovate. | | | | |