Sand… that’s really all glass is. Fancy sand. And yet, our eyes are unmistakably drawn to the magical way glass plays with light and color. Especially when that glass is rough and rustic, with that unmistakable hand-made quality.

Image courtesy of UKTV Documentary.

Hakatai Enterprises

of Ashland, Oregon imports a line of lovely, gem-like 1″ by 1″ tiles ranging from cloud white to smoky quartz, stopping along the way at ginger tea, burnt amber and tricycle red. Thirty shimmering colors in all, in standard, matte and iridescent sheens. My point is there’s a whole lot of great variation to choose from. Named the Ashland-E series in honor of the company’s Cascadian home town, this collection of tiles comes in single-color sheets, two off-the-rack color blends, or you might even consider creating your own blend with Hakatai’s online customizing tool.

Ashland tricycle red blend, bathroom installation (left). Ashland clear ice, kitchen counter installation (right).

And check this out – there’s also a custom gradient tool that allows you to visualize and special-order long, sweeping swaths of color (like the one pictured at right) to splash across a kitchen wall or bathroom counter. You’ll never want to design in boring old solid colors again.

The glass itself is 30 to 70 percent recycled, so you you can do good while looking good.

And while you’re on the site, check out the amazing gallery of mosaic artists like Mia Tavonetti, who who create shimmering visual landscapes with Hakatai’s product.

Cartglass classic porcelain blend, residential kitchen.