Manalapan Resident Inspires Creativity With Tile & Stone Business

MANALAPAN, NJ — Manalapan resident Tina Serpico is bringing her creativity to homes throughout Monmouth County and beyond with her small business, Tiles By Tina.

Serpico, 55, started out in the architecture field back in 1993.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, Serpico started her tiling career at Ann Sacks Tile & Stone, where she stayed for the next 12 years.

Once Serpico decided to start a family and move closer to home, she expanded her experience to places such as Artistic Tile and Design & Direct Source.

Eventually, her passion for tile and stone and helping others' dreams become reality led her to start a business of her own.

“I knew a lot of people by then, a lot of customers and vendors, so I said ‘Okay, I’m going to try this on my own and make my own schedule,’” Serpico said.

From there, Tiles By Tina was born.

Based in Manalapan, Tiles By Tina offers a variety of tile and stone products for commercial and residential projects, plus design consultations with Serpico, who can help clients figure out what to do with their tile or how to place it.

“Say a client is like ‘I like this tile, but I’m not really sure what to do with, I don’t know what to put it with,’ I can say, ‘Okay, you like this tile? Well, it comes in these different sizes – I think you should do this on the floor, on the wall,” Serpico said. “Maybe it should be matte, or maybe it should be glossy. I’m there to help them figure it out.”

In addition to Serpico’s background in tiling, she said her experience in architecture also helps with project design and gives her the skills to draw sketches of what projects may look like for clients.

Since starting Tiles By Tina, Serpico said the local community has been an essential part of the business, as she often collaborates with other designers and architects, and works on projects throughout the country.

“I do want to work more in New Jersey,” Serpico said. “I want to drive to people’s houses and help them pick their tiles, help them pick their paint and things like that.”

Going forward, Serpico said she hopes to expand on the design portion of her services and continue to bring her creativity to whatever she works on.

“I think about expanding on design and not just doing people’s tile, but also helping them pick everything [for projects],” Serpico said. “Whether that’s their fixtures, their fittings, and anything in-between."

To learn more about Tiles By Tina, you can visit their website.