i keep seeing terrazzo everywhere, and especially all over in europe — cafe tables were covered in it, and we discovered it beneath our feet on several occasions. terrazzo is a material consisting of chips of marble or granite set in concrete and polished to give a smooth surface, created by Venetian construction workers as an affordable flooring material to surface the patios around their living quarters. it became popular again in the 1950-60’s when modernist architects began using terrazzo in their designs and now, i’m seeing it everywhere again. i like it — it’s got a cool, italian vibe, and it’s also kind of playful and whimsical, perhaps because it looks a little bit like confetti. makes sense then that it’s also showing up in products lately, too — everything from iphone cases to shower curtains and pencils. terrazzo is definitely having its moment.
• photo credits in order of appearance: photo by olmo peeter of House DOMA designed by Nachman Kaplansky, renovation by MJVanHee architecten and MADE architects; interior junkie; bing bang nyc; skinny laminx; modern times coffee table; urban outfitters terrazzo shower curtain; Terrazzo Marble table, France, circa 1960 from 1st dibs; okdesign’s ‘confetti’ terrazzo boards; Marmoreal engineered marble, designed by British designer Max Lamb via miss moss; divisare; @ad_spain; white terrazzo Ipad cover by Woouf; urban outfitters terrazzo shower curtain; max lamb designed marmoreal via dzek; terrazzo iphone case; max lamb designed marmoreal via dzek; ferm living pillows; hay market pencils; max lamb designed marmoreal via dzek; maker and brothers max lamb marmoreal cheese board; more of max lamb’s marmoreal from dzek.
![my dear sweet pup lucy is very sick and in the veterinary hospital tonight and struggling for her life. so i’ve not been able to get to my blog posts, obviously. she’s got something called thrombocytopenia which came on quite suddenly yesterday and now we’ve discovered through ultrasound a mass on her liver. with the […] The post positive healing thoughts for lucy. appeared first on sfgirlbybay.](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/21/3f/3d/213f3d3b4829817850e9f59706ac4b2c.jpg)
It’s beautiful. A little bit of odd trivia about this, though: From where I grew up (the Philippines) this finish is commonly called “crazy cut”, and I’ve heard the grownups say it’s “bad luck” to have in the house. I suppose it’s because of all the broken pieces. It’s a superstitious thing to not keep anything that’s broken where one lives. I’m glad I’m not superstitious because terazzo is too pretty to skip.
oh, i love that bit of trivia! thanks so much for sharing!
Really enjoyed this post. Great content and pics!
Thanks.
I always loved those terrazzo type of linoleum floors in kitchens and bathrooms from the 50’s and 60’s. Did you know that Armstrong is still making their terrazzo style flooring that covered so many mid-century floors? https://www.armstrongflooring.com/commercial/en-us/products/het/decorart-corlon.html
I recently purchased a classic mid century modern ranch style house in New Orleans (of all places!). Believe it or not, the previous owner ceramic tiled over the terrazzo! I was so surprised to discover the terrazzo in all the closets- who would do such a thing? Why? Demolition begins next week by removing the tile and restoring the terrazzo!
Wish me well!
nice!! that sounds beautiful. you should watch Mandy Moore’s Instagram stories – she’s restoring a mid-century modern home in L.A. and just put in Terrazzo floors. They look amazing!