Sunday, September 25, 2011

Is this a carpet? Or not?


No, this is not a carpet but rather concrete tiles creating a kaleidoscope of patterns and colors in a house in Spain where I can imagine people walking barefoot to feel relief from hot summer days. In the South of Italy these floors are also very common.
For centuries the decoration of floors was an art, from the  most elaborate mosaics to the more simple and inexpensive, at the time, use of fragments of marble as in Venetian terrazzo. Let's see how we can enhance our homes starting from the...floor!


Gianni Versace villa Como
Late Gianni Versace’s villa at Como lake, Italy,  with a superb inlaid marble floor.


Villa_Panza_SaloneImpero_b
Villa Panza di Biumo, near Milan with a Venetian terrazzo floor.


solid-hardwood-floor-tile-248976
An example of floor by Berti, who perpetuates the ancient art of marquetry,  mixing and matching  different veneers and colors in patterns of flowers, figures, creating inlaid floors with Asian, Mexican, Middle east motifs and more.


parquet_01
A modern approach to create visual interest on the floor,  from New Mosaics collection by Parquet In, where different hardwood tiles play with golden mosaic tiles. I find this fascinating, perhaps best in a large hallway?


ts
What looks like a mosaic is a painted trompe l’oeil mosaic floor in the
Villa Paradou, in Nice, France.


concrete floor painted over
The most simple way of transforming a concrete floor with a trompe l’oeil rug painted over, very simple and monochromatic as in this image or more ornate and colored.

Painted floors, trompe l’oeil, marquetry, use of multi materials to create unusual patterns, mosaic… the choices are endless.

©2011 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

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6 comments:

Theresa Cheek said...

Love the Berti and the faux mosaic! Wonderful examples of treating a floor as a blank canvas.

peggy braswell said...

I am going to have a rug "paint" painted on an outdoor patio at a hotel..very much like your last image. Thanks xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

Carrie Waller Watercolors said...

I love it!!

Claudia Juestel said...

I have always loved decorative hard surface floors, and the Italians are amazing at it. You chose some beautiful examples. I LOVE the dark parquet floor from Parque In, stunning!

Villa Vizcaya in Coconut Grove also has some gorgeous inlaid stone floors.

Cheers,

Claudia

mbwife said...

These are great examples of what you can do with floors. I have terrazzo floors, I love them so much. So easy to keep clean, so distinctive looking.

GRNY Renovation said...

Wow! That's truly an amazing work! Thanks for posting such an interesting article! I already bookmarked you. Cheers, GRNY.

 
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