Tile and More at the NAHB International Builders Show

Posted by Kate Spencer on Jan 25th 2018

Would you like to hear about tile and more at the NAHB International Builders Show? There's a lot to share with you, including plenty of photos.

What's the NAHB IBS?

Welcome to NAHB IBS 2018! It's a great way to start out a New Year and learn what's new in homebuilding and how tile fits in.

If you aren't familiar with those particular letters of the alphabet, they stand for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders' Show® (IBS). This show represents building industry's end-all and be-all event featuring more than 1,400 exhibitors across 550,000 square feet.

Making it an even more exciting event for home-related trends is that the NAHB IBS is part of Design & Construction Week® (DCW). That's when it co-locates with the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show® (KBIS).

The result is a mega-event that brings together more than 80,000 builders, general contractors, remodelers, designers, flooring professionals, as well as product specifiers from around the globe.

Let me tell you, that is a lot of ground to cover!

My Tile and More Highlights from NAHB IBS 2018

Here are some quick highlights from my visit to the show. My goals when visiting this particular show include:

Getting a sense of home building trends and how those affect Tile Outlets of America
See how tile is displayed and fits into other home trends
To meet with valuable Tile Outlets' vendors

Home Building Trends at NAHB IBS 2018

When it comes to trends, wood looks continue strong.

Wood Plank Looks

As I noted in Tile Builder Trends from Design & Construction Week 2017, Stikwood does an amazing job bringing that wood look to walls and surfaces in the home. It's still one of my favorite booths at the IBS show.

Stikwood is the world’s first peel & stick reclaimed and sustainable wood planking resource. It sells thin wood plank panels with adhesive on the back.

The products are designed so you can easily add elements of the natural world into your environment. In just a few simple steps, you can transform your walls into works of art with these planks. Perfect for DIY customers.

Once again, it was one of the busiest booths at the show with really great ideas on how to use the products - from headboards to wall features and more.

From the images above, notice the rustic Barnwood-type colors and the fun decorative designs. These are looks you can definitely create with wood plank tile!

Outdoor Living Spaces

Outdoor living spaces are a must in Southwest Florida. That said, I was once again amazed by the options available for extending hospitality seamlessly outside!

For example, check out the fire pit below from Blaze Grills.

This outdoor fire pit seats eight people comfortably. And, in case there's a chill, heat comes out at the bottom to keep your feet warm.

What a classy way to eat dinner on a cool night on the back porch, especially if you have these outdoor grills nearby.

(Notice the building 'fire' sign with an arrow pointing down toward the grills.)

What's the point of food, though, without chilled mineral water, wine or beer?

Make a statement from that party in your backyard with a red Fiat ice chest. Fun, right?

Shine, Shape, and Textures in Copper

Copper made a big statement at IBS. Yes, these are some really blingy items that caught my eye.

Imagine, sinks are not just stainless. They can have texture, too. On the left, you see an unusual sink in copper with textured bubbles.

On the right, you see high shine copper that reflects light beautifully. Can you see yourself getting into that bathtub?

Some of the designs were unique in shade and textures. There are so many possibilities for adding interesting touches to a space.

Conversational Displays

This display caught my eye. I thought it was a great way to show off the beauty of our country and of the materials.

The company is Butcher Block and all the products are Made in the USA!

Meeting with Valuable Tile Outlets' Vendors and Partners and Seeing How They Display Tile and More

These type events are invaluable to meeting with the suppliers and partners who enable Tile Outlets of America to provide you with tile and more in the latest styles and at amazing prices.

Kertiles

I visited with our tile partner and friends Kertiles.

The first of KerGroup’s four brands, Kertiles boasts more than 30 years of experience in the industry and has solid and long-lasting relationships with distribution partners. Founded in 1996, Kertiles has grown into an industry standard for quality and service with focus on high-quality porcelain product at the most competitive price.

>> See Cement Tile: Perfect for Fort Myers, Sarasota and Tampa Homes

Kertiles created their booth made from a container ship. The uniqueness alone made you want to stop and check out all the new products and vanities they are offering.

Isn't it fun? It's a container cargo vessel turned into a booth.

Here's Priscilla admiring the results of the booth.

Kertiles was featuring their Kerdecora vanity lines. These are Made in Spain.

Here I am with our friends at Kertiles – Viviana Camelo on the left, Fernando Jimenez, myself and Priscilla Del Nero. We were just missing Zamir Amaya in the picture.

Bedrosians

As always, Bedrosians displays dynamic concept boards that both inspire and help you imagine what your space will look like if you combined these textures and colors.

Here's a board demonstrating how to combine solid colors with strong graphic tile patterns. Decorative tiles used on walls are a great complement to a room space. These decorative tiles can be used on walls and floors.

And here's a room scene showing how that wall tile looks combined with other mosaics and tile colors to pull it all together.

Look at this room scene below. The moon or teardrop ceramic mosaics create a stunning backsplash for a shower wall. See how it coordinates with a wood plank on the floor and the shower wall? I love the idea of putting these two design textures together.

Below you see an example of linen or textile looks which continue to be popular.

Look how the two different colors combine to define the space. The chevron mosaics on the wall are a fun feature.

James Martin Vanities

James Martin Vanities featured many great vanity designs in their booth including this oversized sink vanity. Don't you love how the wall tile pattern captures the same color as the vanity wood finish? These are large tile panels that create a continuous look and feel.

You'll find these vanities on special order at all Tile Outlets of America stores. They come in multiple sizes and colors, so please be sure to check out the collection to get more design ideas with James Martin Vanities.

>> See Find James Martin Bathroom Vanity Furniture at Tile Outlets of America

Grespania

We love products from Grespania.

>> See Marble and Wood Look Tile: Top Tile Trends From Cevisama 2015 in Valencia, Spain

During IBS, Grespania featured Coverlam in their booth. These are large porcelain thin panels that can be used in many ways to create a space. As you can see in the images below, the floors, walls, counters, and sinks are all covered in large thin porcelain panels.

You can create that modern design concept with tile as your hard surface.

Notice how the edges of the sink below are mitered together to create a seamless look.

Which Are Your Favorite Tile Trends?

As you see from these highlights, NAHB IBS has a lot to offer from the perspective of tile and more. Did you attend Design & Construction Week? Did you notice interesting trends that I didn't cover here? Let me know.

Thanks for reading!