Installation Design

Our Design Philosophy
A custom designed tile project is a piece of art, made expressly for you. Whether you work with a showroom in your area, with us, or design it yourself, reserve some time to have your project actually designed.
The result will be gratifying; something personal and completely unique.

Working With A Tile Showroom In Your Area
If you are lucky enough to be near one of our tile showrooms, you will be able to look at many current samples, get pricing, and get your questions answered by a friendly person right away. Many showrooms offer design services as well. Always call ahead to set an appointment and ask for a salesperson who is experienced with Motawi Tile. Click here to find a tile showroom representative in your area.

Working With Motawi Tileworks In Person
We love to work with people to create installations that are unique, personal and beautiful. If you can visit Motawi Tileworks in person, you’ll get to work with one of our installation designers to talk over your ideas and perhaps take advantage of our in-house design services.

Working With Motawi Tileworks Long Distance
If you cannot get to Ann Arbor and are not near one of our tile showroom representatives, then you may want to use our in-house design services via phone, fax, e-mail or mail. This process takes a bit more time, patience and expense since we will be sending drawings and shipping samples for your approval.

In-House Design Services
If you would like to explore the possibilities of a Motawi installation with one of our in-house designers, you can set up a free one-hour initial consultation appointment at our studio. E-mail or phone Colleen Crawley, (734)213-0017.

We will listen to your ideas and offer suggestions about your project. Glaze selection, tile selection, and project costs will be discussed. We will also show you samples, drawings, and photographs of other projects. After your initial consultation, you may wish to engage our services to fully develop a design.

It works like this:

1. For a nonrefundable fee of $300, our designer will provide up to 5 hours of design time on a single project, based on measurements you provide. This does not include site visits or time spent beyond 5 hours which are charged at $60 per hour rate.

2. Our fee provides for a mix of some quick sketches and one or more fully rendered scale drawings of designs. The exact number of drawings varies, depending on the project. Designs will include our recommendations for details such as custom cuts, edge glazing, glaze color and decorative tile selection.

3. Each design is accompanied by a quote detailing the costs.

4. The scope of our work in this process is limited to tile layout design services only. Use of proper installation methods and adherence to structural guidelines are your responsibility.

5. Projects are scheduled for production upon receipt of a 50% deposit. An estimated ship date will be determined at that time.

Designing Your Own Project
One of the delights of Motawi Tile is the range of possibilities. Identify what you like most -- a glaze and the way it varies, a pattern of field tile, a decorative tile, a border tile, or a wallpaper type tile -- and design your project around those ideas.

You will find that your project will look more harmonious if you stay within a decorative series (Celtic, Poppies, or Thistles), a style (Dard Hunter) or a glaze colorway (Green Salmon). We rarely mix relief with polychromes on a single project and truly some of the most beautiful projects use only one glaze – varying in all its fire-born beauty.

Our art glazes vary significantly in shade, hue and surface quality. This natural variation is intrinsic to their beauty. However, to avoid misconceptions, we require that all customers approve a range sample (3-6 pieces of the same glaze showing the variation to be expected) before placing an installation order. By approving the range sample, you acknowledge that all or part of your order will look similar to all or part of the range sample.

Ask to see our photos or drawings of previously executed projects. They can function as good blueprints that may only require minor changes to be adapted to your project.

Once you’ve selected your glazes and settled on a project design, take a moment to consider grout color. Grout comes in dozens of colors and will have a big impact on the look of your project. Choose a grout that is close to the same tone (ie: darkness or lightness) as your tile or a shade darker. Remember, it’s a tile installation, not a grout installation! Because most of our glazes are medium to dark colors, we usually recommend medium grey, dark grey, and dark brown grout colors that do not contrast with our glazes. We never use highly contrasting grout colors or tinted shades such as blues, greens or rose colored grout. If you are not sure what color to use, we can recommend one or your installer can test-grout a small area before proceeding with the entire installation.

Finding An Installer
Selecting a tile installer who cares about your job is paramount to a good installation. Motawi Tileworks, your tile showroom, or your building contractor can help you locate a competent tile installer. Find one who is a little fussy, who really listens to you, and takes your concerns seriously. Asking for references or pictures of an installer’s previous work can help you make a good selection. Don’t be afraid to move on if you have misgivings about a particular individual. After all, you want your Motawi Tile project installed the way it was designed.

Additional Information About Motawi Tile
Please see About Our Tile for essential information on availability and lead time, ordering extra tile, tile sizes, glaze colors, grout, installation, our return policy and warranty information.