Total Interiors Eye Candy — These 6 Rooms Make Mixed Marble the Hero, and I Want to Copy Them All for My Home
Deftly layering multicolored stone helps designers create pattern-rich schemes — here's how they do it
I'm rightly obsessed with everything 'drenching' right now, be it color, pattern, or tiles. Going head-to-toe with a hue, a print, or a material can imbue a space with a richness; a real sense of luxury, akin to a boutique hotel.
So, of course, I was captivated when a PR recently emailed me about the concept of "technicolor marble" — an interior design trend about going all-out with stone in different colors and patterns to build schemes abundant in texture and that celebrate the raw beauty of this natural material.
Mixing marbles and stones isn't a new design idea for modern spaces, but I've seen plenty of clever examples by designers recently, who've used this technique to create interesting, layered spaces that really wow — and not all of them require drenching from head to toe, either. Here are some of my favorites.
Interior design studio Arent&Pyke paired custom-cut terrazzo floor slabs with a custom marble table top — then softened the scheme with high-shine gloss paint.
"We avoided overloading the senses by creating a push-pull tension of honed and polished, reflective and matt, soft and strong elements," they share.
Autoban transformed Manchester’s Stock Exchange Hotel with a renovation that honored the building’s rich history, drawing on carefully restored elements to create grandeur.
In the entrance hall, buffed checkerboard flooring sits against large rust-colored columns and doorways surrounded by green stone — ornate features punctuated by the deep burgundy gloss of the console table.
This striped stone kitchen island is the work of Bettina Neseker of Studio Vacay. "I chose the multicolored design because I love the material (onyx) and I also loved how the different colors look together — the pink and light blue pairing is amazing when you see it in real life," she says. "Because of the stripes of color, the island really is now the centerpiece."
Own London designed this striking bathroom floor with four marbles — Alpi, White Onyx, Rosa Portogallo, and Nero Marquina — arranged in a geometric pattern.
"Each stone was chosen for its distinct qualities: Nero Marquina for its dark tone, Rosa Portogallo for its soft warmth, White Onyx for its light translucency, and Alpi for its green depth," explains David Hartley, associate director of architecture. "The pattern balances contrast and cohesion, creating a stunning focal point."
In a project where checkerboard abounds in the main bedroom through cork floor tiles — the work of architecture and interior design studio YSG — the pattern continues in this ensuite, where two-tone porcelain tiles contrast with the small-scale mosaics climbing up the bathtub. The Bellini marble-topped vanity adds an extra dose of luxury.
The bulk of the marble in this bathroom is complex and detailed enough to be a showstopper on its own, but I love the way Nicholas Potts Studio combined it with a Verde Antigua edge band and a tiled floor — a mix of Lilac Reale and travertine — to dial up an already intense scheme.
The focus here, Nicholas explains, was on "stylistically embracing the over-the-top glamour of late-20th-century design in lushly layered, atmospheric tones and materials."
Love the way designers have expertly clashed the stones in these spaces? I bet you're going to enjoy the concept of 'pattern splicing,' too.
