The Tiles I’m Saving for the Perfect Project
You know when a brand hits your Pinterest board and just stays there, year after year? Not because you forgot about it, but because you are quietly waiting for the right home.
That’s Smink Studio for me.
I’ve been saving their tiles for ages. I haven’t used Smink Studio in a project yet, simply because I’m waiting for the right home. Their tiles have such a distinct personality that the space needs to suit them. The architecture, the light, the mood, the whole feel of the house. When it’s the right match, they won’t just work, they’ll make the space.
Their story, and why I’m drawn to it
Smink Studio is the studio of designer Marianne Smink, and you can feel her print-design background in every collection. Bold pattern, rich colour, and that gorgeous handmade variation that makes a wall feel alive, not flat.
The tiles are produced in a traditional handmade way, and each one is slightly different. That “beauty of imperfection” thing is exactly what I love in a space.
What makes their process feel so considered
This is the part that really seals it for me. Smink is not just selling tiles, they’re helping you design an installation.
Their process is basically:
you choose the designs and screen-print colours you love
they put together a sample pack so you can see and feel it properly
then you give them your dimensions and they create a layout design by hand
you give feedback, they refine it, and only then do you order
That is why their finished projects look so intentional. It’s not random tile selection. It’s design.
The one colourway I can’t stop thinking about
Sunrise is still my favourite. Those colours just pull me in. It’s fun, vibrant and fresh, but it also feels warm and calming at the same time. The mix of blush, terracotta and soft golden tones makes the whole space feel like it’s glowing. Fun, vibrant, fresh, like morning light, but in tile form.
The details I can’t stop thinking about
I keep coming back to their Relief tiles. They’re hand-produced, pressed for literal depth, then smoothed by hand, so you get this subtle pattern of shadow and reflection that changes through the day depending on the light.
That kind of detail is everything to me. It’s the difference between “nice tiles” and a space that feels like a moment.
The projects that made me save them even harder
On their Projects page, there are so many examples of how these tiles can shift the entire feeling of a room.
The Berlin kitchen is a perfect example. The brief was “Mediterranean sunset vibes” with earthy terracotta colours, inspired by a hand-drawn “sand hills” illustration, and you can see how they build the layout to mimic flow and movement, not just repeat a pattern.
And then there’s Londrino, where they created a layout using different screen print glazes on an off-white base glaze, and even wrapped the bar edge with V-Cap tiles so it feels smooth and satisfying in real life. That kind of thoughtfulness is so my love language.
Why they feel so “Logan Brae Collection”
Logan Brae Collection is all about creating spaces with personality. Not overstyled, not generic, not built from a template. The kind of places where you feel something as soon as you walk in.
Smink fits that, because it’s craft-led, design-led, and the final result is unique to the space it’s made for.
So for now, they stay pinned. Saved. Waiting.
Because I know when the right project lands, the one with the right bones and the right light, these will be the tiles I reach for first.
