PRESS RELEASE: Glass Tile Pool Takes First Place $500 Reward in Photo Competition
TAMPA, Fla.: Mike Vitori, AquaBlu Mosaics co-owner, recently announced the winners of their October 2018 “Best Shot Contest”, where clients entered photographs that captured their use of tile in pools and other locations around their homes.
Steven Cowan, from Lakeville Minnesota’s Interior Concepts Tile and Stone, took the first place $500 Visa gift card with his stunning all-glass pool installation featuring 1” x 1” iridescent blue mosaic glass tile manufactured by Vidrepur enhanced with dark blue and glow-in-the-dark glass tiles for lane markers, depth markers, stair edges, and other design elements.
The project was part of an addition a Minneapolis-St Paul area homeowner was making and Cowan found the ideal tiles in AquaBlu Mosaics’ online glass tile catalog.
“This was our first project working with AquaBlu Mosaics and I had a very good experience. Customer service was awesome. From getting samples to show the homeowner to placing the large order of tile, the whole experience was great. The quality of the tile was great also. In the future we will definitely be using AquaBlu as a go-to resource for our mosaic needs,” Cowan said.
In addition to the grand prize winner, Vitori said they would be sending $25 gift cards to four honorable mentions: Cherilyn Wojcik, Antelope, California; Isabel Brinck, Pinecrest, Florida; Nina Develey, Elk Grove, California; and Jim Carrasco, Granada Hills, California.
Originally from South Lake Tahoe, Wojcik and her husband wanted to pay tribute to the area – and to her mother-in-law’s many years of living there – so they decided to create their own backyard Lake Tahoe. To highlight the pool itself, Wojcik customized it with a “Nessie” custom mosaic from AquaBlu inlaid into the pool bottom.
“The project turned out amazing! The whole customization process of our Tahoe Tessie was very easy and I would certainly recommend AquaBlu to any others looking to have a custom design created,” Wojcik said.
Brinck, a Miami area artist known for her colorful and vibrant paintings, took a different approach to winning her recognition. When she started to tackle a bathroom remodeling project she decided she wanted to create an abstract pattern using a color palette centered around various shades of blue for an aquatic, coastal effect.
“I purchased three different blue pool tiles from AquaBlu. I then cut them up and installed them in an abstract fashion to bring my vision to a reality and am super happy with the result,” she explained.
Develey of Elk Grove, CA also turned to the AquaBlu lineup of stock pool mosaics when they decided to eliminate their shower and tub to create one large shower.
“We love to frequently visit Hawaii and love the turtles! We wanted to create a bit of Hawaii and the turtles perfectly filled the empty space. They are a huge hit with everyone who sees our remodel. It was a wonderful experience with AquaBlu. Their selection is truly unique,” Develey said.
It was a combination of pricing and selection that prompted Carrasco, the final honorable mention, to use AquaBlu when it was time to remodel their pool-spa.
“We really wanted to install mosaics but they were quite expensive locally. Fortunately, we found AquaBlu Mosaics. We found the same exact items for far less money and it enabled us to purchase more mosaics for our pool,” Carrasco related to Vitori.
AquaBlu Mosaics was established in 2013 to make specialty glass and porcelain tile products easily accessible to consumers.
“We wanted to change the way people buy tile for pools,” Mike explained. “Traditionally, busy homeowners have to carve time out of their schedules and travel to showrooms to start looking at what’s available – and the products that are available in showrooms are often very limited. We knew that we could leverage e-commerce to give our clients a better experience and a much better selection.”
“With our website anyone interested in high quality tile can see great product images, videos, and installation photos from their computers. And when they narrow down their choices, we can send out samples,” Vitori explained. “We have hand-selected the best of the best tiles and mosaics in the industry for sale on our site, and if you can’t find it – we offer customization solutions including custom mixes, gradients, and mosaic murals.”
For more information, visit AquaBlu Mosaics.