Wow! It has been a really busy month. Several houses staged and sold (more to come on that), and the celebration of my birthday and my husband’s birthday in Chicago. What a fun city! We had a blast with all of the typical tourist sites, but one site stood out for me – Merchandise Mart. We spent a whole afternoon (could have easily turned into several days…but we did have a plane to catch) in the world’s largest design center – I was like a kid in a candy store.
First of all, can you believe how big it is? It is the world’s largest commercial building, and second only to the pentagon in terms of size. Over 4,200,000 square feet, it covers two full city blocks and has its own ZIP code. With my design credentials, I had access to floors reserved for the “trade” as well as floors that were for the public. From lighting to flooring, furniture to rugs – this place has everything! Over a few posts, I’ll share some of the trends that I saw. First up – tile.
I’m always happy in a tile store – Columbus has a few good ones, my favorites being The Tile Shop and Floor, Decor and More. But this place took tile to a whole other level. Lets look at some of the trends that we might be seeing in the months/years to come.
Trend #1 – Neutrals: whites, greys, beiges and blacks – neutrals are everywhere. From travertine to marble, neutrals are anything but boring. Pieced together in amazing ways, these sample boards are works of art, which brings me to trend #2.
Trend #2 – Patterns: This bathroom is stunning! While I don’t even want to think about how much this costs per square foot, it goes to show that tile is being cut and placed in new and unique ways. No boring squares and rectangles on these walls. The circular pattern is a star.
Trend #3 – Texture: Another trend that I saw everywhere is texture. While there were still a lot of flat, classic subway style tiles (simply timeless), everywhere I looked there were textures worked into the surface, creating drama and visual interest. In the right space, some of the tiles above would be stunning. The more practical side of me does wonder about cleaning – all of those nooks and crannies – but they sure are beautiful.
One last picture for inspiration:
In the weeks to come, I’ll share more of what I saw at the Mart.