Project Spotlight
Block Shop’s New Store Has the Coolest Black & White Kitchen Tile
By Blair Hagensen
Tile: 4x4 Squiggle in custom Daisy + Basalt motif | Design: Block Shop Textiles | Image: Laure Joliet
If you like your handmade textiles with a side of dreamy tile inspiration, Block Shop Textiles’ new Atwater store is a must-visit. To complement their ethically made apparel, home pieces, and art, Block Shop chose to clad their kitchen backsplash with Handpainted Squiggle Tile in a custom black and white colorway from (what else?) the Block Shop x Fireclay Tile collection–and the result sets this space entirely apart from your typical retail experience.
We chatted with sisters Grier Stockman and Hopie Stockman Hill from Block Shop about the inspiration behind the stunning store, how they narrowed down their tile choice, and their best tips for designing a space chock full of personality and purpose. Keep reading for the full interview!
Image courtesy of Block Shop Textiles
Your Atwater store looks incredible! What was the inspiration for the design of this space?
Thank you! We’ve wanted to open a store since Day 1 of Block Shop so this was our shot to really go for it. Hopie drew a watercolor & that ended up being the blueprint for the entire store. These were a few things we were thinking about at the time….
Snails. We have notebooks full of them! The first snail at Block Shop appeared three years ago hidden in the strawberries of one of our favorite wallpaper patterns. Hopie sculpted a giant snail out of clay & our friend Imirio cast it in bronze for our door handle. Snails are slow, steady and a little bit strange; a reminder for the course we want to be on.
1930s Milanese Apartments. We often look to the Art Deco buildings of LA, Miami, Mumbai and especially Milan for inspiration in our patterns, where we’ll take architectural motifs and repeat them as patterns. The fabulous & quintessential Art Deco apartment buildings in Milan and their bold materials inspired the idea of our red marble countertops (heaven!)
Shakers. We spent a lot of time visiting Shaker villages as children (thank you mom) so Shaker furniture came up a lot when we were considering joinery for the store’s cabinetry. We designed the flame shelf using Shaker techniques & my teammate Liza & I ultimately convinced everyone else it should be painted “flame” orange, something my sisters resisted but ultimately loved (surprise surprise)!
Images: Block Shop Textiles, Laure Joliet
Can you share the process behind choosing Squiggle for the kitchen backsplash?
We debated this for months! We think the Squiggle strikes the perfect middle ground between classic black & white kitchen tile with something that feels fun & fresh at the same time.
Squiggle in Lapis Motif prior to going in the kiln at our California Factory
The tile’s matte black and white motif looks so sumptuous! How did you land on the custom Daisy and Basalt colorway?
We thought the Daisy & Basalt colorway was something we’d want to live with forever and we do! We’re always subconsciously gathering in the kitchen at Block Shop. We painted the fixtures the softest sage green so the tiles could be the focus. They look fantastic with our black soapstone countertops if we may say so.
Tile: 4x4 Squiggle in custom Daisy + Basalt motif | Design: Block Shop Textiles | Image: Laure Joliet
5% of proceeds from the Block Shop x Fireclay Tile collection were proudly donated to Allies in Arts from 2021 to 2024–can you elaborate on why this partnership was important to Block Shop?
We’re so proud to be working with Allies in Arts through this collaboration. Breaking down institutional barriers to representation & increasing the visibility of underrepresented artists through grants, exhibitions, networking, and employment is essential work. Like Allies in Arts, we see art as a means of reflecting and celebrating the full spectrum of human experiences and fostering empathy and understanding, something that’s impossible to achieve without equity and inclusion.
How did sustainability influence your design and material choices for the store?
Just about everything you see in our store was sourced or built locally from friends & neighbors in LA. While we’re on the topic, shoutout to RAD Furniture in Frogtown who built all of our beautiful custom tables in a gorgeous rich cream.
Design: Block Shop Textiles | Image: Laure Joliet
What was your experience collaborating with Fireclay on this project? Were there any memorable moments during the design and/or installation project?
We love working with the team at Fireclay! We’ve never led a major renovation project before and learned pretty quickly that nothing, literally nothing, goes according to plan or arrives on time for that matter. Our Fireclay tiles were the first (and perhaps only?) thing that arrived ahead of schedule. It was our inspiration for our entire work zone and Kali (Fireclay's Senior Brand Manager) and I chatted constantly about the project because we were both so excited about it. During the install we accidentally oriented one row the wrong way and didn’t realize it until our mom pointed it out. Luckily a quick fix. Thanks mom!
Image courtesy of Block Shop Textiles
What advice would you offer to designers or brands aiming to add personality and purpose to their space?
One: use Fireclay x Block Shop tile!
Two: Lighting is everything. We scoured Ebay for months until we found the vintage murano chandelier of our dreams. Worth every penny. It makes our space feel beautiful & original.
Aside from Squiggle, do you have any other personal favorite pieces in the Block Shop x Fireclay Tile collection?
I feel passionately about the Dot Dash in Lapis…. I mean c’mon! It’s so good!
See more of the Handpainted Block Shop x Fireclay Tile collection here:
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