I just returned from Design & Construction Week in Las Vegas. This is where the International Builders Show and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show combine forces to put on a blockbuster display of new home products. It's a good place to look for emerging trends and one that captured my attention is the renewed interest in wood, and the representation of wood in other materials.
One of the coolest products for the do-it-yourselfer that I saw is Stikwood, which is peel-and-stick planking of reclaimed wood that is responsibly sourced and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified.
The planks are basically timber veneer with a strong adhesive backing: you just peel off the masking strips on the back of each plank and affix the wood to the wall. The white wood wall vignette at the top of this post was at the show. Some plank examples are shown above -- note that there is even planking made of gym-floor wood! The company was founded in 2010 by master woodworker Jerry McCall and his wife Laura, a designer. In addition to reclaimed woods in a wide variety of colors and finishes, Stikwood offers so-called "Plank Prints,"
which are reclaimed planks with various designs printed on them, as shown above, in another image from their website. This reclaimed planking offers new possibilities for accent walls where you want the warmth and texture of natural wood without having to hire a contractor!
Wood imagery has long been used in laminate flooring and ceramic floor tiles, but surprising new variations are appearing. For example, solid-surfacing manufacturer Neolith has just introduced an elegant wood-look product in their Timber Collection of "sintered compact surfaces" by The Size. (Sintering is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat and/or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction, according to Wikipedia.) The Size's La Boheme BO1 is only 12 millimeters thick and can be used for counters and floors.
Lebanese Cedar is the imagery model for this material and it's very realistic -- I suppose you could think of it as a kind of petrified wood! Unlike real wood, however, this material is great for counters and floors because it's scratch resistant, easy to clean, hygienic, waterproof, and resistant to high temperatures.
The BO2 version offers a more subtly figured pattern, as shown here.
Daltile, which is known for its wide range of ceramic and porcelain tiles, offers a "Season Wood" line. This
photo shows 12-by-48, 8-by-48, and 6-by-48 inch field tiles in a staggered pattern (courtesy Daltile) that's a very realistic representation of rustic wood flooring.
Arizona Tile is another solid surface manufacturer, with a strong line of wood-look porcelain tile
flooring. Their Club Porcelain Tile Series comes in grey, beige, tobacco, and white, with the appearance of reclaimed, painted barn wood. There are two sizes: 6" by 24" by 10 mm and 6 1/2" by 40" by 10 mm (photo courtesy Arizona Tile).
More news from the show will appear in future posts, so stay tuned!
One of the coolest products for the do-it-yourselfer that I saw is Stikwood, which is peel-and-stick planking of reclaimed wood that is responsibly sourced and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified.
The planks are basically timber veneer with a strong adhesive backing: you just peel off the masking strips on the back of each plank and affix the wood to the wall. The white wood wall vignette at the top of this post was at the show. Some plank examples are shown above -- note that there is even planking made of gym-floor wood! The company was founded in 2010 by master woodworker Jerry McCall and his wife Laura, a designer. In addition to reclaimed woods in a wide variety of colors and finishes, Stikwood offers so-called "Plank Prints,"
which are reclaimed planks with various designs printed on them, as shown above, in another image from their website. This reclaimed planking offers new possibilities for accent walls where you want the warmth and texture of natural wood without having to hire a contractor!
Wood imagery has long been used in laminate flooring and ceramic floor tiles, but surprising new variations are appearing. For example, solid-surfacing manufacturer Neolith has just introduced an elegant wood-look product in their Timber Collection of "sintered compact surfaces" by The Size. (Sintering is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat and/or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction, according to Wikipedia.) The Size's La Boheme BO1 is only 12 millimeters thick and can be used for counters and floors.
Lebanese Cedar is the imagery model for this material and it's very realistic -- I suppose you could think of it as a kind of petrified wood! Unlike real wood, however, this material is great for counters and floors because it's scratch resistant, easy to clean, hygienic, waterproof, and resistant to high temperatures.
The BO2 version offers a more subtly figured pattern, as shown here.
Daltile, which is known for its wide range of ceramic and porcelain tiles, offers a "Season Wood" line. This
photo shows 12-by-48, 8-by-48, and 6-by-48 inch field tiles in a staggered pattern (courtesy Daltile) that's a very realistic representation of rustic wood flooring.
Arizona Tile is another solid surface manufacturer, with a strong line of wood-look porcelain tile
flooring. Their Club Porcelain Tile Series comes in grey, beige, tobacco, and white, with the appearance of reclaimed, painted barn wood. There are two sizes: 6" by 24" by 10 mm and 6 1/2" by 40" by 10 mm (photo courtesy Arizona Tile).
More news from the show will appear in future posts, so stay tuned!
