Before opening Bantam Tileworks,

owners Darin Ronning and Travis Messinger lived in Lower Manhattan and owned a store called Pepper Jones. The store was a combination of a coffee shop and tableware store that specialized in ceramics made by artisans. There they learned the value of working directly with customers to help them achieve their aesthetic vision.

It was in New York that the idea of Bantam Tileworks first came to Darin. While visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art a friend pointed out a fountain made by Louis Comfort Tiffany and suggested that he put his nose up close to the glass. Darin quickly realized how many layers of color were visible in each piece of glass. It was something that he knew that he wanted to try to replicate in ceramic tiled surfaces.

After moving to Connecticut in 2004 they got the chance to attempt just that. For over a year they worked with up to 8,000 colors, combining them to create multi-layered depth to the glaze. Through a lot of trial and error they narrowed the options down to the 100 most eye-catching combinations for the current, though ever evolving, Bantam Tileworks palette.