As amazed as I was by the baths I saw at Cersaie this year, it is a tile show primarily. It's just 10 times the size of any tile show I've ever seen.

For the last couple of years, tile innovations have centered on improvements in printing technologies and stone-like tile continues to look more and more like natural stone with each passing model year. Still growing is the segment dedicated to making plank-shaped tile that looks very much like wood.

I knew all of that before I ever boarded a plane for Bologna and I was hoping to see something new, and I mean new in the tile world. Well I found it, the key words coming out of Cersaie were texture and shape. Of all the manufacturers' shapes and textures I saw, the manufacturer who showed off their innovations best was Spain's Apavisa. So much so that they called their very large booth an art gallery. They weren't kidding.

Apavisa products are distributed worldwide and can be found just about anywhere Spanish tile is sold.

Can you see yourself using some of these textures in your own home? They're onto something here and keep an eye out for other manufacturers to start playing around with shapes.