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The hottest trend in the 2012 fashion forecast is LEATHER so it’s no surprise that these haute hides are finding their way into every avenue of design from sheik interiors to designer pet products. The use of leather has come quite a ways from the overstuffed cigar chair for granddaddy’s study. Interior designers are finding new ways to incorporate leather in unexpected ways. Spinneybeck offers leather drawer pulls, handrails, throw rugs, and my personal favorite, hexagonal leather wall tiles. Leather hex tiles do double-duty in the trends department. (Hexagons are the new circle, but we’ll save that for another post.) The greatest thing about this look is its new-found versatility. What used to be reserved for bachelor pads and stuffy offices is now finding its way into retail, restaurant, and healthcare interiors.
Of course, if you’re anything like me, the hardest part of specifying leather in your design project isn’t the cost or the maintenance… it’s coming to terms with the cowocide or all those sweet Bessie’s sacrificed in the name of fashion. For those of you, who like me, love the look of leather but can’t bare the guilty conscience I am happy to introduce some of the most realistic vinyls on the market. So close to the real thing that even a well-trained eye would be hard-pressed to tell the difference. For you, my fellow heffer-huggers, I share with you Brentano’s Faux-Leather line, Joseph Nobel’s Technology Leather, and Innovations Faux-Leather line of vinyl textiles. These pseudo-leathers have impressed me so much I don’t think I’ve had a project in the last three years that hasn’t had at least one of these manufacturers in the specs. Two words of advice… SHOP AROUND… Prices vary dramatically so if the first one you fall in love with is out of your budget… keep looking. They really run the gamut.
Need that leather look in a tough-as-nails material? Dal Tile (as well as just about every other tile manufacturer worth their salt) is offering leather-look porcelain tile. Dal Tile’s Couture d’ Leather line is suitable for walls and floors. Nothing warms up an interior like leather draped walls. Yum.
Got a bigger budget? The Matouche line from Walker Zanger made my heart stop when I saw the crocodile pattern on this bathroom floor. Leather… croc print… AND chocolate brown! That’s a trifecta that can’t go wrong.
