The Inaugural Alzheimer’s Tennessee Designer Home and Garden Tour is in full swing daily, except Mondays, through October 14th.  The home, originally a Southern Living Style home built in 2003, has been transformed, inside and out, into a Highlands Style home.  The homeowners, Scott and Hope Davis, moved out of their home in March and won’t move back in until late October!  There is so much to see on their 14+ acre property, the main home, the guest suite above the garage, the redesigned pool and more.  Make your outing complete with a sandwich from Ham ‘n Goodies in the Party Barn and pick up a few Christmas presents in the on-site gift shop while you are there.

The Design Team at Tile Sensations is a proud participant in this designer home, along with 13 other top designers in Knoxville.  We were awarded 3 rooms to transform, so when looking for our spaces just think Organic, Pink, Animals and Bugs.  We commissioned a pair of beautiful wood art pieces for the hall, had custom window treatments made and carefully selected each item for our rooms.  All in all we had fun designing these spaces!  Sourcing from local, family owned businesses like ours was a top priority for us, so we reached out to Mango’s Decor & Co., West End Antiques and Bill Cox Furniture for the main pieces in the rooms.  Next we contacted local artists and vintage shops for accessories.  

 Nationally recognized companies, Corbett Lighting and Thibaut provided support as well.  Once they heard that the funds raised would benefit Alzheimer’s Tennessee they generously donated products for permanent installation in the Davis’ home.  Our rooms would not have been complete without their help, we greatly appreciate them.

We hope you enjoy the entire home tour, but especially, we would love your feedback on the rooms we designed.  Remember, 100% of the tour price and a portion of the proceeds from each item purchased, from inside the home or gift shop, will benefit the good work that Alzheimer’s Tennessee does in our community.

Happy Touring!

Jennifer

#tileanddesignaddict  #TheDesignTeamatTileSensations  #ResisttheOrdinary #NotJustTile

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We are free to worship as we please.  Free to be who we are.  Free to strive to be our best.  Free to choose our own path.  Free to speak up when we disagree.  We are Blessed to live in the United States.  Despite our growing pains we are a great nation with a proud history.

Our blessings have been and continue to be protected by our military, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.   These men and women are our neighbors, our families, our friends.  We are grateful for their service and their sacrifices.

“No one has greater love than this,^j to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – John 15:13

On this Memorial Day I ask you to stop for at least a few moments and say a prayer for our service men and women.  A prayer of thanks for their willingess to protect our freedoms.  A prayer for all those who gave their lives to protect us.  A prayer for their families and friends who miss them and whose lives have ever been changed because of their willingness to serve.  A prayer of thankfulness and remembrance.

Tile Sensations will be closed Saturday, May 26th thru Monday, May 29th to observe Memorial Day.  We know we could be open, offer a sale and capitilize on the hype.  However we choose, out of respect, to honor the men and women who have fallen.  Some things are more important than selling tile.

Jennifer – #tileanddesignaddict

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Years ago when, a design degree was unheard of, design information and pictures were not so easily found and many people relied on their own instincts to create their space.  If they didn’t have confidence in their own choices they would involve family members or friends to help choose just the right sofa or dining set.  In the world of tile there weren’t many readily available options to choose from.

In the US you may remember the era of the Pink or Blue bathroom tile.  Just about everyone during that time frame picked one of these colors because it was the hip thing to do.  Here and there you might find a yellow or green bathroom, but the pink and blue were predominant.  Tile was definitely the product of choice for ease of care and the clean look it provided both in the kitchen and bathroom.  The choices were limited, so many people had duplicate bathrooms, often neatly coordinated with the sink, tub and commode in the same color as the tile.   If I run across one of these bathrooms today, they make me smile.  The bold colors, usually paired with a fantastic wallpaper was, in its day, true style.

Today our choices in design are practically unlimited.  With top notch designers leading the way we can create a space with any feel we want.
Do you love the look of homes in Bali ? You can have that!  Or do you like a Hacienda style??  You can have that too! Or any style for that matter.  Your influence might be Asian or Adirondack or. . . ?

There is no reason to not design your home in a style that you enjoy.  In fact, if you want different styles throughout your home, we will just call you Eclectic.

Rather than Pink or Blue 4″ x 4″ tile, today’s common tile of choice is the 3″ x 6″ Subway tile.  Subway tile sales in the US have skyrocketed in the last few years.  There will likely be a time, years from now, when many bathrooms and backsplashes tiled with subway tile are pinpointed to the 2010’s.  The subway tile, which is not square, is a nice choice for many homes.  But with all the fantastic options available is subway tile right for your home? A better question might be, is it right for your personality?

Before jumping on the subway tile bandwagon ask yourself a few questions.  Is it my favorite color?  Will I smile every time I walk in the room?  Will I be glad I chose it?  Does it reflect my personality?  Will it be money well spent? If the answers are yes, go for it.  If the answer is no or maybe, DON’T SETTLE!  It is time to explore the options.  There are so many to choose from! Stop by or call Tile Sensations soon for ideas.  Our staff, who are not square, would LOVE to help you on your way to a space that is truly yours.

It is time to step out of the box. . .  Don’t be square.

Jennifer – Tile and Design Addict

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In November 1996, I embarked upon a journey I would never have imagined.  As a former banker, office manager, airline employee and waitress, owning and running a small business was not in my plan. But here I am in 2017, just that, the owner of Tile Sensations in Knoxville, Tn.  2016 was a milestone for me, it marked 20 years working and serving the Knoxville area and beyond.  Cliché, this may sound, but in some ways it seems a blink of an eye, in another view, a lifetime of lessons.                    FYI – In addition to Knoxville we have clients in Florida, Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Missouri and California. We would love to add a few more states to our list in 2017!

Over the last 20 years, I have been challenged with finding the right path for not only my family, but for Tile Sensations as well.  While Tile Sensations is not the biggest tile store in town we offer the most complete tile selection, in all price categories from spec to boutique, and it is a place I am proud to call my own. We serve clients from all walks of life and thoroughly enjoy our interactions with each of them. My staff and I face the small business challenges of each new day as a team using the Kaizen Theory* as our guide.  My goal is to provide learning and service opportunities as a regular course of business.  At all times the question of what is good for the staff is as important as what is good for business, so yes we will be closed on holidays including Good Friday, we allow our staff a week off between Christmas and New Years to recharge and of course we are closed most UT Home Football game days. We will always be closed Sundays regardless of what our competition is doing.

We as a team provide the best and most heartfelt customer service we can.  Eat, Sleep, Design describes   the showroom team, we lean upon one another to create unique and appropriate design for each of our clients, always keeping the budget in mind.  Eat, Sleep, Track describes our office team. Where is that tile order? Is it the right color lot? They need it WHEN? We do everything in our power to meet a client’s time schedule too.  Sometimes it simply isn’t possible, but rest assured we have done everything in our power to meet those needs and we will keep you updated with any changes that affect your order.

 We offer Made in the USA as often as possible, we love the selection of handcrafted tiles we offer.  If you can imagine it, we will find a tile artist to make it!
Handcrafted One-of-a-Kind Art Tile Pieces and Sinks is one of our specialties.  We also offer a huge selection of Natural Stone and Porcelain Tiles for every tile need and style and our degreed designers love to help choose combinations that will make you smile for years to come.  Don’t want help with your selections? That’s ok too, come in a browse and let us know if you have questions, we understand the creative process is different for each person so we can stay out of your way if you prefer.  Are you one of those people that cannot imagine a room unless you see it?  We offer 3D Modeling and Rendering services to help you with your final decision.

Simply put, we strive to provide service second to none, just let us know how we can help and we will do our best.

Tile Sensations is also a place of service.

•  We wholeheartedly support the mission of the Haiti Outreach Program and will continue to support their good works. Visit www.haitioutreachprogram.com for more information.
• We support the design community by offering a drop off location for samples no longer needed. Fabric, granite, cabinet, books and samples of all kinds are recycled in our student library.  These samples provide inspiration and are given to students free of charge for their design projects.
• We recycle everything we possibly can. We offer excess packing materials to Etsy and EBay sellers at no charge, we recycle pallet wood into wall coverings and all excess cardboard and paper is recycled locally.
• Recently Tile Sensations has become a spot for local artists and artisans to sell their wares. Beginning in December 2016 we offered a Pop-Up Holiday Shop, emptying our store of tile and replacing it with some of the finest local jewelry, soaps, vintage items and art for our clients and friends to shop. We plan to offer this no charge event to local small businesses several times a year.

Over the next months and years I plan to share my favorite stories and insights into the world of tile and small business through this blog. If there is a topic you would like covered just send me an email Jennifer@tilesensations.net and I will see what I can do.  2017 will also be bringing other changes to Tile Sensations which we will announce as we unveil these exciting new changes!

May your 2017 be joyful, prosperous and fulfilling; May your good spirits influence those around you; May you find yourself in a position to share your blessings and may you act when opportunities are offered to you.

Jennifer – Tile and Design Addict

*Kaizen Theory – Ever Changing, Ever Improving

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