For quite some time now the variety and experimentation with splashbacks seems to have been endless – glass, solid surface, lit or un-lit, mirror, stainless, recon, the list goes on and on. But what happened to tiles, did I miss something or has there been a dearth of tiles out there in kitchens? I’m aware they are prevalent in the bathroom, but the kitchen tile seems to have been left on the shelf – so to speak! (sorry)
So last week, I was pleased to be invited to Ocean and Merchant in Sydney to see what tile aficionado, Richard Mackenzie and his team had to offer- and I was very impressed! Ocean + Merchant has been operating for the past 16 years importing and distributing quality natural stone, porcelain, terracotta & glass with their impressive showroom based in Alexandria.
Among their strengths are the strong relationships with their suppliers ensuring a quality and service that can be relied upon. They import hundreds of containers a year (ask to see the warehouse) and are constantly searching for new and exciting materials to bring to the Australian market, so much so that Richard travels to Europe at least four times a year to ensure new and exciting materials that inspire and transform are readily available to the design community.
They wholesale their products to many of the leading stone and tile shops around the country and work closely with many architects, designers and builders on projects both residential and commercial.
The Millau range as pictured is stunning, very reflective of current tones emanating from Europe, but what I liked about this range is that you get 25 tiles per square metre, but the kick is that there’s 21 different ones, the other four match four within the box – at random!
For more information on Ocean and Merchant, visit www.oceanandmerchant.com
