Zebra Hides

Here I am happily munching away at my cardamom-saffron rice last evening while browsing Domino-- the great one that made interior design accessible to us ordinaries-- and I stumbled upon a most spectacular use of hide. I will tell you about the spectacular in a minute, bear with me.

But first I must digress. I had this hide, below, in my home office seven years ago. And now it's in the master bathroom of my home. Yes, my bathroom. Tile floors made so much warmer by the hide (and when we use the bath or the shower we throw down some Ikea floor towels on it).

I was scared to buy the hide at first because I thought (and this was eight years ago) if anything was clichéd in interior décor, it simply had to be a zebra/hide rug. But I still had to have one. A lot of decorators still love them, it seems.

When I got mine years ago, I had to seek inspiration on how to use one in my space. I found plenty.

But with décor, trends come and go. And this one, I thought, had passed. But people are still happily using their hides. Great, is what I say. While I was at Domino the other night, I came across a bunch of other inspiration. See the ones below.

And then....and then I saw the spectacular below on Domino!!!!

Mother of all that is clever!!! This is the home of one Lisa Sherry and Ron Royal. Brilliant. Do you not just love this use of the hide as a stair runner? It looks custom-made, right?  It isn't. It's actually three hides cut in half to form the pieces for the runner. So brilliant! God bless the internet and clever interior decorators!!! You can see more of their lovely home here.

Inspirational Flooring

I hope to God someone's renovating because I've brought you some inspiration for flooring.

1. A Checkered Kitchen Floor

Now this is not your ordinary two-colour tile layout. I think I see three graduating shades of grey here. This is linoleum. So clever!

2. Brick tiles

 

Could you not see the utility of these in a seriously high traffic country kitchen? Just imagine: 3 dogs, two cats, a goat and an assortment of human children on top of the animal children. This floor would be so warranted. Especially if the kitchen leads directly to the winter-slushy outdoors.

 

3.  Moroccan Tiles: Kitchen or Bathroom for these?

 

 

You know what, I would use Moroccan tiles in either kitchen or bathroom. Just a little goes a long way. They do not have to cover the entire room space and it would be so useful in delineating different spaces in a house or room.

 

4. Entranceway Design: A Different Spin on the Checkered Look

 

 

 

I think this is a great way to make a big impression. This kind of tiling work can be time-consuming and therefore more expensive than the regular tiling job. So, cost-wise, it would be suitable for a small entranceway or a powder room. The Vogue picture appears to show mosaic tiles. I cannot tell if the tiles from AD picture are a composite design or two different sets of tiles. I think the last picture above shows a composite design. But it opens the mind to the possibilities when you go tile shopping, no?

 

5. Unexpected Pattern: Carpets

 

 

I love the American 90s/00s sitcom called Frasier. And I used to despair of the oatmeal-coloured carpet on the floor of Frasier's apartment. My dog would put that carpet out of commission in two hours flat! And the blandness of it made me itchy. At the same, I do not want my carpets to take over my rooms--as in, they shouldn't be crowding my décor and be immediately visible and jarring to the eye. But I could see me going for a pattern that almost disappears into the wood of my oak floors and stairways or a wall-to-wall patterned carpet that makes my bedroom feel like a big hug. These ones, above, really do it for me.