Chequerboard floors are an iconic look traditionally created using natural marble tiles. The design treads an elusive path that straddles both classical styling and contemporary chic. Our award-winning Antique Marble porcelain collection opens this classic aesthete to a wider audience.
Classical to Modernist Monochrome
Monochrome flooring patterns have ancient origins in classical Egypt, Greece and Rome. Their style symbolised harmony, representing light and darkness held in perfect balance. From the cathedrals of the Middle Ages to the Palace of Versailles, the look has been prominent right through into the 20th Century, when it was taken up in succession by the Art Deco and Modernist movements. The perfect definition of a style icon, they now bring geometric drama to contemporary interiors.
Traditionally, chequerboard floors were often used to define entrances and hallways, but modern day interior designers are increasingly using them for other areas of the home too, including bathrooms, where they also make striking feature walls in showers or cloakrooms.
In large open-plan, multi-purpose spaces such as kitchens and living rooms, patterned areas can be laid together with co-ordinating plains to define particular zones. Forming a direct connection between the classical world and today’s interiors, the simple geometry defines them as a true modern classic, offering a wealth of new design potential.
Get the Look of Antique Marble
To achieve this monochrome look with a more cost-effective and practical material, try Lapicida’s Antique Marble porcelain. New-generation porcelains are high-tech materials, which are thin, light and extraordinarily durable. They offer easily installed solutions for a wide range of projects. Non-porous and maintenance-free, they also work beautifully alongside natural materials including new and antique marble.
Lapicida’s Antique Marble porcelain collection offers six different marble effects: Nero Marquina, Grigio, Calacatta Oro, Macchia Vecchia, Arabescato and Bianco Carrara. There are also two marble-effect mosaics: 3 Dimensional and Basketweave – winner of the best surface design at the Homes & Gardens Design Awards 2019.
Antique Marble porcelain chequerboard floors in Arabescato and Nero Marquina (featured above centre and left) make for a striking combination. For a subtle variation on the theme why not create a black and grey floor using Nero Marquina and Grigio (above right).
Contemporary Modern
If natural stone or marble is your preferred choice, Lapicida offers a wide selection of surfaces suitable for creating a contemporary chequerboard look. Venetian White and Venetian Black marble are popular choices.
Explore the possibilities
Require more information regarding our Antique Marble porcelain collection or any Lapicida surface? Please call us on 01423 400 100 or contact us here.
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Article originally published October 2019; updated May 2021.
