I used to work aboard a (docked) 1930s luxury ocean liner - a total dream when it came to fine craftsmanship, details in every piece (I still remember the most beautifully detailed set of small hinges on a small closet door), art deco artwork and more.
There is one very unique aspect of this ship that applies to my home renovation: the #flooring. Corkoid flooring was used throughout her public areas that were not "on deck." Manufactured in Inverness, Scotland, Corkoid came beautiful colors and allowed for inlaid art deco designs. It also served a very specific reason - to keep passengers from slipping. High seas were known to reach the upper decks on the ship during her trans-Atlantic passages, and having someone slip and fall in their art deco finery was not an option.
I hoped to find Corkoid as a floor covering for my #kitchen #remodel project, but found the next best thing: Marmoleum, manufactured by Forbo. This all natural product (made from wood flour, pine rosin and linseed oil with a hemp backing) has been around since the 1890s. It is real #linoleum with a beautiful marbled look that comes in huge range of colors - not that thin vinyl stuff that was in 1980s tract houses. Added bonus, it has the intoxicating smell of linseed oil when it is first installed.
#Marmoleum has a few different formats that it comes in - sheet, tile and Marmoleum Click - a floating floor panel system. Sheet has the most colors available and the flexibility to create amazing designs. I wasn't looking to go all crazy with the pattern, but wanted to create a nice floor with a simple border that period appropriate. I toyed with using the tile squares to create this, but once I discovered that that colors I wanted were only available in sheet, my destiny was determined for me. Sheet Corkoid was what was used onboard the ship, too.
Check out some designs from the original ship flooring that inspired this choice, plus some inspiration from vintage #advertising and modern installations below.
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