Inside Porcelanosa’s Spanish Showroom: A Student’s Perspective
By Trish Semmoum | June 1, 2018
As an interior design student and a Chaise Lounge Podcast listener, I won an all-expenses-paid trip to Spain in March 2018 to experience Porcelanosa’s Madrid showroom. From Granada to Valencia, Madrid, and Seville, I learned about Spanish culture and enjoyed the company of incredible interior designers while gaining insight into Porcelanosa’s exquisite manufacturing process, showroom and product line! Here’s a guide to what goes on behind this tile maker’s doors, as well as some of the lessons I learned from some of the dozen-and-a-half designers (and one Chaise Lounge podcaster!) that became great travel partners.
Tile Factory
The first building we toured was where the production of tiles took place. We walked through the whole factory as a Porcelanosa representative explained the process and art of creating tile. Being able to see the process of shaping the raw material, coloring, painting, cutting, and heating of the tiles was fascinating and educational. Sorry, but build a bear had nothing on this! I could not believe the process and the effort it took to create ONE tile, let along the millions of tiles they had neatly packaged. There was even an employee at a station checking every single tile to ensure perfection. Each tile was treated as an individual, with care and thought, even though they are mass produced. They do not cut corners!
A Stunning Showroom
After touring the tile factory, we moved on to explore seven of their amazing showrooms, receiving an interactive wristband to scan products for information that was sent to our email. I walked around the showroom scanning everything I had time for as if I was scanning to get onto a roller coaster ride. From tiles, floors, and lighting to kitchen and bath, I was inspired aesthetically through their luxury design that is both functional and affordable. The products that Porcelanosa offer are all must-haves!
During all of this I am thinking to myself: how did I live without all these my whole life? Their showers, in particular, were incredible. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anyone in our group that wasn’t drooling over the options they had to offer. Like a kid at a candy shop, I was consumed by the shiny, colorful surfaces and all the different products that interacted with all our senses in their showrooms. One thing I loved about Porcelanosa is not only is ALL of their products aesthetically pleasing, they are also functional. They are true problem solvers. For example, consider their toilet design. What is one place on the toilet that is annoying and hard to clean that gets built up? (Okay the whole thing, but really.) The grooves on the sides of the toilet that are at the bottom that are always gross. To solve the problem, they have toilets that don’t have that! Cleaning toilets has never been easier and more sanitary. Or, are you short like me and struggle to reach top cabinets, even on your tippy toes? Guess what? They have top kitchen cabinets that have an easily accessible button to open and close the cabinet.
KRION- My Superhero
We had the pleasure of experiencing a product Porcelanosa calls KRION. KRION was my favorite and just like the name sounds like a superhero, that’s pretty much what it is. It is a solid natural surface that is stain resistant, fire resistant, UV resistant and antibacterial. They demonstrated its characteristics right in front of our eyes — because you really must see it to believe it. Our guide scratched the surface, lit it on fire, and to top it off, he put nail polish on the beautiful white, perfectly clean surface. At the end, he just wiped it clean as if nothing was there. (Ummmm can we create floors like this please?) Finishing our tour, we actually got to work with the material. They heated a piece of the KRION, provided us with gloves and handed it to us to mold as we wished before it cooled.
What I Learned
My Porcelanosa experience has been more than I could ever dream of. Being exposed to Porcelanosa has opened my eyes to the business of interior design. They knew as a student I wouldn’t be buying anything — yet there I was being treated no different than the CEO or worldwide designer next to me. They even went out of their way to give me career advice and fill in gaps on processes that I was not yet exposed to at school.
The wonderful designers I got to go on the trip were just as amazing too and wanted to make sure I understood the process. Such as: “Trish, this bathtub weighs 500 lbs, but the hotel wants it on the 27th floor, how do you get it up there?” (And Porcelanosa even put thought into things like that by offering some big products that break down into manageable pieces.) Not only do they take care of their guests and clients, but they also care about their staff, which makes a world of a difference. Their staff is so vibrant and extremely knowledgeable, something Porcelanosa strives on and takes the time to educate their workers, and in turn, they share their knowledge with us. I wish that more companies could be like Porcelanosa, connecting with students, because we are the future of the design world.
Making Connections
I constantly hear of how important connections are in the interior design world, even though I have yet to see that in action. Well, I am here to tell you at events you may get 100 different individual cards, so how do you truly make yourself stand out? Porcelanosa stands out and only in the best ways! They treated ALL of their guests, potential clients, clients, and me (the student) the same. They educate you about their products and really care about connecting with each individual. I knew that part of our industry is about connections, but actually experiencing it made a world of a difference and how truly important it is.
The Ultimate Take Away
Porcelanosa has exposed me to things that only expand my creativity and design mind to a place I never thought existed. I’m a firm believer that, as we become adults, our realistic thinking can really limit our creativity. But on this trip, I rediscovered that inner child in me that aims to be fearless and driven in my designing. Instead of thinking there is no way to tackle a problem, have confidence that you can make your vision a reality. Thank you Porcelanosa for inspiring and nourishing my future career of design!
To see more of Porcelanosa’s product line, click here!
