Why I love terrazzo

Terrazzo is trending with quite a marmite response hence discussing it here. To be honest at first, I couldn’t separate it from nostalgic images of unattractive post-modern designs and cheap apartments from holidays as a teenager in Europe. However in its new renaissance, terrazzo is being executed in very cool, design-led ways and in some gorgeous colour ways. In fact, forget the dirty yellow stained resin colours and who knows what the ‘chips’ were!

This past year while attending Europe’s largest design fairs I’ve been genuinely inspired by the clever, quirky and beautiful ways this mish mash surface of twinkling chips of marble, quartz and granite can be, and completely fallen for its aesthetic and versatile qualities. I like the randomness of the small pale chips on a pastel backdrop so from far away it’s a pretty pattern. That said the jumbled up large pieces has a cubist, geometric appeal and a greater sense of texture as you see the pieces in detail*.

It’s also worth noting* terrazzo was traditionally made with small marble chips whereas now they feature mother of pearl, lovely marble, metal, glass and all sorts of interesting materials making it totally tactile and beautiful. I’ve also seen very contemporary and traditional furniture married beautifully against a terrazzo background, all I would say is that it is a busy backdrop that doesn’t fight for attention so furnish sparingly.

If you find large swathes of terrazzo a bit overwhelming, get involved with the terrazzo-like furnishings and home wares (which copy the pattern). It’s an incredible easy and inexpensive material to work with*, which really adds to its humble and raw quality. Some interiors call for a more casual, effortless style and in this instance terrazzo will be your trump card.

*can you see I’m persuading you!

Share this post