Our house is 20 years old this year and having lived in it for over 16 years, we have seen many decorative changes. Over the next few months we will be revamping our tired hallway, starting with the floor. I have chosen some beautiful Italian terrazzo tiles. At the moment we have rough concrete flooring beneath our feet. The old tiles were damaged so we had to remove them. We also removed a layer of old linoleum from the previous owners. However, as we puppy trained two dogs during the lifetime of the old floor, it was probably due a refresh if not a complete makeover!
The old hall floor
We puppy trained two dogs during the lifetime of the old floor, so it was probably due a refresh if not a complete makeover!
The hall floor, in the beginning…
When we moved into our house we inherited a cheap beige carpet, from the previous owners (I know! beige in a hallway, can you imagine?) Oh the horror of it, filthy within minutes, it needed hoovering everyday we got static shocks from it and it did not wear at all well.
Worth thinking about:
A hall/entrance way takes the heaviest footfall of any room in your house. It is also the first impression that people will have of your home. Therefore, some serious consideration is needed when choosing hall flooring. It needs to be welcoming, pleasant to walk on, hard-wearing and easy to clean.
Hall floor and stairs Circa 2018, you can see its beginning to lift!
It needs to be welcoming, pleasant to walk on, hard-wearing and easy to clean.
How it was back then
Within a few months we ripped up the carpet, to discover laminate style lino underneath. We cleaned it, popped some rugs down and lived with that during the winter months. Later that spring we redecorated the hall completely and sourced some unique patterned tiles. Can you tell I was very much into colour and Orla kieghly back then?
Those tiles always turned heads, and have been much admired. Years later a cleaner ruined them by accidentally ‘steam cleaning’ them and they began to lift and break. Marc had warned me that they weren’t hard-wearing enough for a hallway! So although I still liked them it was time for a change. Up they came…
Plans for new floor & Terrazzo Tiles
A History of Terrazzo tiles
Terrazzo is the Italian word for terraces, invented a few centuries ago by workers in Venetia using discarded pieces of marble. In the 15th century, marble workers in Venetia used odd-sized marble pieces that were thrown away in the production of marble slabs
While credit is given to the Italians, it is widely recognized that terrazzo was invented by the Venetians. Archaeologists have found evidence of terrazzo-like floors in ruins in Turkey that date back 8,000 – 10,000 years ago. Talk about sustainable!
Archaeologists have found evidence of terrazzo-like floors in ruins in Turkey that date back 8,000 – 10,000 years ago. Talk about sustainable!
My first choice
My Top Terrazzo Choices So far:
I am still waiting for a few more samples, but so far my first choice is these black terrazzo tiles with large flecks. We will also use half a tile as a skirting board, as we have done with the other tiled floors in the house.
I found the best price on these Italian tiles from Porcelain Superstore and no charge for delivery. So far so good…the ones I originally wanted were from Italy, but the price was horrendous just to import them.
The Bannister & Stairs:
The Bannister will be powder coated black (Marc handmade it years ago at my request) We originally we had the wooden banisters that you see in every new house and I didn’t like them.
The stairs will remain the same, just with fresh coats of paint, and the walls will remain white, as they have been for the last 16 years.
Blending in Terrazzo tiles and textures
I wanted to see a blend of natural textures and colours from our new tiles that looked good with our existing sea-grass carpets. I think the black tiles work well together…Murphy thinks so too!
Update:
The Black tiles above have now been ordered and will arrive next week, happy days indeed!
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