Serious interiors lovers may well have expected the love of all things alabaster to be well and truly over by now but it’s clear that not only will the Teenies (I have no idea what 2010-2019 will be named, does anyone know yet?) be known for industrial styling, but they’ll also be remembered for the resurgence of marble.
White carrara and calacattas have been having such a moment, whether your budget stretches to the real McCoy and you care not a jot for Shiraz spills, or whether you’ve cannily fitted one of the rather splendid copy laminates or manmade surfaces and can throw your wine around willy-nilly. You’ll be delighted to hear, therefore, that according to the KBB 2018 show marble is still here and is making it’s way into the bathroom.
Brands have realised very few people can afford real marble tiles and finishes, plus also real marble takes a considerable amount of maintenance to prevent water and soap stains, not matter what anyone tells you. Those huge bookend marble slabs you see on Pinterest are a tad hard on the bank balance, so if you want the look but not the bankruptcy, take a look at the new faux panels.
Lots of stands utilised the look to great effect. Done well and done bravely I think they look super. 
At one time, effectively plastic faux panels looked awful. I mean, truly awful, The stuff of cheap hotel nightmares. But now, with new photographic technology and finishes, these contemporary panels are pretty bloody good. In fact, better than good, excellent. Look at the ones above by Bushboard from their new range. Not only good looking but also hugely practical too. Hotels & residential landlords have long used such sheeted materials, the canny buyers that they are, but these new designs mean the boards are seriously in trend too.
I’d have rather like the above room set with one of the new Critt… oops, nearly gave the next Moregeous blog post away there 😉
Now I know these are propped up against the wall but they aren’t wall panels, they’re, wait for it, shower trays! The styling – what styling? – does absolutely nothing for them but in a super cool bathroom these shower trays could look brilliant. Yes, even the red one. Earthy tones are coming back, don’t you know.
Not so sure about the drawers mind. Maybe if the black ones were actually black instead of white, with a black marble top, that’d be better. Completely different in fact. But I like the trays.
KBB isn’t really a show where tiles predominate but a couple of my favourite suppliers were there with some little crackers on display. Though it’s a terrible picture, for which I humbly apologise, these marble effect tiles from British Ceramic Tiles are particularly good, both in a gloss and matt finish. The dark black veining is excellent and I’ve already recommended them to someone on Instagram. Nice work BCT.
There’s always got to be a bonkers shot at any trade show – remember the giant Caesarstone worktop from 2016? – and this year’s is the incredible Hamman bath by Compaq. 
Innovatively utilising quartz cut into 20mm thick sheets, it can be fabricated into pretty much anything really, even a bath big enough for Mr M. I think you’d need to reinforce the joists in your terraced bathroom for this one. That or build a new house round it. Probably the latter.
More black veined marbling over in kitchens courtesy of Caple. I’m heading to the dark side for the Moregeous kitchen and I love this worktop, shot through with amber gilded hues. I’d like it with a brass or golden tap maybe, and matching waste, though here the taps does complement the oven so I can see why they’ve chosen it. Did you see my post on tap bravery earlier? Check it out here.
I’ve specified marble effect laminate a few times now and have been pretty impressed with the affordability and finishes. These two, again by Buschboard, were noticeably good: Turin Marble and Calacatta Statuario. You can buy them through most kitchen showrooms or google good trade outlets in your area.
Style gurus and cutting edge furniture designers are all over marble in every hue, not just black and white, but I’m not convinced this latter interiors trend will make it to the mainstream, even though I currently adore green marble in particular. I suspect black marble finishes will grow in popularity with trendsetters and then filter down, but won’t ever be as all consuming as the white Carrara’s have been.
So that’s me done on some of the marble finishes I spotted at KBB. What about you, are you already hooked on them and have been for years, or is it only just winning you over? Will you be utilising these clever faux finishes to ensure keeping to a realistic budget or are you going to blow the lot on the real stuff? Whichever you choose, the bonus now is that a fantastic look can be achieved with either option.
