A single slab of marble will always be a luxurious design choice, but using small pieces or even offcuts opens up a whole world of creative possibilities. These projects from the ELLE Decoration archive show how splicing different types and colours of marble can result in a surface that’s both bespoke and incredibly beautiful.
The scarily good bathroom in London
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the home of set designer Anna Burns is cinematically inspired. The bathroom takes it design cues from 1977’s cult horror film Suspiria, with a striking floor created from marble segments sourced via Diespeker & Co. Glossy black tiles from Fired Earth and a pumpkin-coloured ceiling add to the gothic glamour of the space.
The jigsaw installation in London
Designer Lara Bohinc used offcuts from an Italian quarry to create a striking wall installation in the ensuite of her London home. The arches of the marble are mirrored in the black arched doorway, designed by Bohinc to include concealed sliding doors, as well as the black curved vanity by Ideal Standard.
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An all-stone bathroom in Paris
This masterclass in marble was the brainchild of homeowner Ramdane Touhami, who designed the marble and terrazzo bathroom in the home he shares with his partner Victoire de Taillac and their three children. Inspired by Cubism and using a combination of Rosso Levanto, rosa tea, verde Guatemala, blue Bahia and blanc de carrare marble, the result is the ‘feeling that you are inside a stone box,’ he notes.
A custom hallway in Amsterdam
This multi-coloured parquet flooring was custom cut by stone specialists Solid Nature using ten different varieties of marble. It’s just one of the very playful touches of pattern and colour in this Amsterdam home designed by Nicole Dohmen, interior designer and founder of Atelier ND.
Playful marble pieces in London
This five-storey listed townhouse in Kensington, designed for two brothers and their families, is a place where creative director Alicia Meireles envisions ‘tradition and modernity could coexist’. Marble features throughout the home, from a brightly coloured mosaic-style floor, to the bathroom with its baby pink wall and vanity paired with a geometric patchwork on the floor.
The made-to-measure marble floor
The parquet hallway in this south London home was meticulously designed by the team at Gruff Architects and the design-savvy homeowner, who cited a love of the flooring in fashion house Celine’s London store. They travelled to Diespeker & Co, who specialise in marble, stone and terrazzo, to choose the individual pieces from large slabs to achieve the perfect patchwork of shades.
A creative checkerboard floor in London
When designers Rose Hanson and Charlie Tilbury couldn’t find the perfect floor tile for Rose’s Victorian townhouse, they got creative and sourced three separate marble styles which were then meticulously tiled to create this bespoke checkerboard-style floor.
A herringbone marble floor in London
Pink is the word for this Primrose Hill home designed by Colette Ward, who drew inspiration from the surrounding eclectic neighbourhood – ‘the area did inform my design because of its sense of colour and uniqueness,’ she says. This pretty herringbone marble floor riffs on the pink scheme while adding contrast with shades of forest green and claret.
