PROJECT FILES
(left) Travertine tile in a variety of textures and cuts creates depth and interest in the guest house bathroom, while glass tile adds a splash of color. (right) Leah chose materials specifically engineered to withstand high temperatures for the "duck room" fireplace surround.
green and Celeste blue tile, which are two of my favorite marble products to use,” she enthuses. Once Erika had settled on the marble selections, Leah proposed using Ming green on the floor with a mosaic. They opted for three colors in the shower tile, and used a “chair rail” along the top and bottom (they simply flipped it upside down to fit the bottom!). After working together on many more spaces for the home, including the kitchen and a room affectionately dubbed the “Duck Room,” Leah and Erika concluded their collaboration with the guest house. “Entering the guest house, I wanted to have some sort of differentiation…an entryway,” says Erika. “Leah and I also wanted to pick up on the planks from the duck room, which you exit through to enter the guest house. So we just picked a stone option that looks like wood planks, but is less-costly and sets off the space from the surrounding wood floor.” Moving onto the guest house bathroom, Erika and Leah built their color palette off of a 19th century French chest Erika turned into a vanity. “We felt travertine, a favorite stone product in the Lowcountry, picked up on some of the colors of the chest,” says Leah. “Then we incorporated pretty
mosaics and textured tile on the walls that brings out character, and the glass tile really ties in the colors of the chest and wallpaper.” According to Erika, the glass tile in the bathroom was a splurge—but one that was worth it, as it makes the room “pop.” She considers travertine a clever option to pair with glass tile—as they did—because it can be quite cost-effective. “To get around the travertine feeling underwhelming in comparison to the glass tile, we mixed up the cuts and the way we installed it,” Erika explains. “Palmetto Tile has such a wide range of products; outside of a budget, your creativity is the only limit.” After their extensive stint working together, Erika and Leah both walked away from the project feeling satisfied with the end results. “Erika is so creative, so we got to do a lot of cool things that are out of the ordinary,” says Leah, “Since she is such a great designer, we came up with some great solutions when we put our minds together.” Erika counts the many different applications they discovered as solutions to design dilemmas as one of the many reasons the project was so successful. “Having lived here a year, we are very pleased with it,” she remarks. “With tile, I try to tell people
VIDEO EXCLUSIVE Check out our full interview with Leah at charlestonhomeanddesign.com/videos or take a photo of the QR code below using an application on your mobile phone or computer. For more information on QR codes, visit page 26.
that there’s a sense of permanence about it when you are building a house; it’s not the area to cut back on if possible. You can always go back and repaint a room or switch out a light fixture, but your tile is part of the bones of your home.” v To consult with Palmetto Tile Distributors on your own project, call (843) 266-8700 or, for more information, visit palmettotile.com. To speak with Erika, call Stone Ridge Interiors at (843) 768-4049.
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