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Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms

Happy Monday to you all and welcome to our weekly stroll through some beautiful rooms that might give you inspiration for your own. This week we are mostly looking at reclaimed materials for floors. If I didn’t have floorboards and rugs, and if I owned my fantasy Italian house then I would definitely fill the floors with reclaimed terracotta tiles. Feast your eyes.

the victorian rectory kitchen by devol
the victorian rectory kitchen by devol

Here the owners have laid the whole floor in a classic herringbone pattern and then created a sort of “tile rug” in front of the AGA. I have seen this done with patterned tiles but here it’s about texture rather than more colour. It works brilliantly. You can do similar around a bath to create the impression that a free-standing tub is sitting on a rug. Or under a kitchen table if you feel that a rug would be impractical. It’s a little more complicated if you have floorboards as your builder will have have to cut out the boards and lay plywood down over the joists before putting tiles over the top which may play havoc with the levels but if you’re starting from scratch it will be easier.

devol kitchen of pearl lowe image by kate watson-smyth
devol kitchen of pearl lowe image by kate watson-smyth

We’ll come back to tiles in a moment but here is the gorgeous Devol kitchen in the home of Pearl Lowe which I visited earlier this year and I’m also a fan of these dark wooden boards. Sadly in my house they were all orange pine which is why we painted them but if you can get the stain right or have darker boards then it’s always a good look I think. Not least because kitchens are usually new and modern so a more rustic floor provides a good counterbalance to that.

reclaimed terracotta tiles by ormiston house
reclaimed terracotta tiles by ormiston house

Back to tiles and this is the reclaimed hallway of Ormiston House, which we also looked at a few weeks ago. I love the terracotta in the middle with the black and white edging. That’s another trick I’d recreate if I was starting again. It’s such a gorgeous combination of colour and shapes.

Or what about the reclaimed terracotta tiles in Sophie’s house. These apparently came from a French church and I love how they have faded so a soft pinky colour.

reclaimed tiles in the home of Sophie Robinson
reclaimed terracotta tiles in the home of Sophie Robinson

Last one on the tiles and these are square terracotta from Floors of Stone (all captions have links for you to follow) and they look great against the soft white kitchen cupboards. I’m a huge fan of a patterned floor tile but I think on balance I would go down this route on my floors and keep the patterns for walls, showers and splashbacks. Don’t hold me to that though, I’m liable to have completely changed my mind by lunchtime.

devol kitchen with tiles from floors of stone sister company
devol kitchen with tiles from floors of stone, their sister company

Leaving floors, I just couldn’t resist this gorgeous bathroom with its industrial brass chandelier by Workstead. On another note, I have mentioned before the idea of making the doors taller which makes a room feel more imposing. If that isn’t an option, then consider adding a window above the door. It’s unlikely to affect privacy but will pass light from one room to the next making both a little lighter. This will also help if you have a hankering to paint a room dark like this one. That said in bathrooms with natural light it can be easier to go dark as baths and basins tend to bounce the light around well as they are shiny reflective surfaces.

workstead chandelier in dark panelled bathroom
workstead chandelier in dark panelled bathroom

Finally to this gorgeous holiday home in the Vendée region of France belonging to Samantha Hansard, who rents it out if you’re interested (see caption for link). It’s the perfect example of modern rustic with its brick walls, old doors and natural textiles.

rustic bedroom in luxury boutique holiday home in the Vendee
rustic bedroom in luxury boutique holiday home in the Vendee

And then there’s a vintage chandelier for contrast, which looks perfect against the exposed brick walls and beams.

That’s all for today, I hope you have found inspiration in these rustic and reclaimed materials and do come back tomorrow for the launch of my Do Less Harm Directory, a growing list of companies seeking to reduce their impact on the planet – using reclaimed materials is a large part of that.

rustic bedroom in luxury boutique holiday home in the Vendee
rustic bedroom in luxury boutique holiday home in the Vendee

Have a lovely day everyone.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

3 Comments

  1. I have had floors of old brick (relaid), of terracotta and tiles. Unless you have underfloor heating these floors are cold and unwelcoming in winter. A solution for a new floor is to lay a system of electrically heated mats then the tiles on top. Lots of info on the web.

  2. Wouldn’t the textured tile “mat” in front of the range be a nightmare to clean? Seems to me it is in exactly the wrong place, however pleasing it is to the eye, and after a week I would be cursing it.

    1. Ha, that was my thought to – splashes of grease and food – I would be forever on my hands and knees trying to keep it clean…beautiful to look at though!

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