Confused? Spanish tile or Spanish tile pattern?

Our love affair with tile patterns began almost at the beginning of our business life. My daughter had just moved into a new house and asked for a sign with a Moroccan design, having previously enjoyed a holiday in that country. As a result our Moroccan Tiles house sign was born.

Later on a potential customer from Beverley Hills in California asked if we could do something similar but based on tiles in his property. I copied the tile in full, and arranged the pattern around the edges of a rectangular sign. The customer was delighted, and we decided to launch the design for others to enjoy.

We called it ‘Spanish Tiles’ because of the Hispanic design heritage of the West Coast USA. A sister design, called ‘Mexican Tiles’ originated in the same way, copied from an existing wall tile in that part of the world. We’ve been pleasantly surprised to find they’ve become our best-sellers.

There’s no doubt that this has been spurred on by online searches for ‘spanish tiles signs’ or similar. The use of ceramic tiles for house numbers became popular in the UK when package holidays to Spain grew from the 1960s onwards, and tourists brought back a reminder to decorate their home. As a result, there is occasionally an expectation that Selene is selling ceramic tiles, and not our aluminium signs.

There are many existing suppliers of ceramic tile signs, either as individual numbers that stand alone or can be combined to make a longer house number. Then there are makers of larger signs, often handpainted, that provide a greater area in which a full house name can be included. The latter understandably can be expensive, reflecting the amount of work that goes into them.

We try to make clear what we are selling, namely a design based on a tile pattern, and not a ceramic product. Our signs are beautiful in their own right and we’re not trying to pass them off as a different material. And we offer so much more flexibility as to how much wording can be included – you only have to look at our earlier blog to see the fun and enjoyment our customers have in thinking up names for their Villa, Casa or Casita! 

There’s room for both types of products in this crowded marketplace, each with different advantages and benefits. So if you’re thinking about a house sign with a Spanish design, please ensure you’ve picked the right one before placing your order. Dias felices!