Hotel-inspired design ideas for your renovation

Luxury hotels offer plenty of interior design ideas for your home, and a new book showcases exactly how to incorporate some of the best. Hotel to Home: Industrial Interiors Inspired by the World’s Most Original Hotels by Sophie Bush, founder of Warehouse Home, is packed full of concepts and advice to inspire your renovation project.

Grand Designs picks out three of the book’s finest hotel interior design ideas…

1. Polished concrete

A smooth concrete floor immediately creates a strong industrial aesthetic, but it also has several practical benefits. Once the raw concrete has been polished and sealed, it becomes a sleek non-porous surface that is durable, easy to clean and ideal for allergy sufferers. 

Javelin Block is a design and building company based in Birmingham, in the Midlands. Since 2010, the firm has been responsible for the reanimation of much of the city’s Jewellery Quarter, a district home to Europe’s largest number of surviving nineteenth and twentieth-century jewellery buildings. Derwent Works is one such project; a Victorian metal works rescued from dereliction and sensitively converted by Javelin Block into four apartments.

Each loft has a unique layout and original features are retained or restored throughout. Brick walls and steel beams were left exposed. New steel-framed windows replaced the existing fenestration and returned the building to its former glory. In the open-plan living, kitchen and dining area of each loft, the concrete flooring instantly creates a strong industrial tone that suits the old building. But modern under-floor heating has also been installed. Metal-clad kitchens mimic the finish of polished concrete. Salvaged factory lights complete the impressive heritage conversion. 

2. Terrazzo

Terrazzo is a colourful composite material combining marble, glass or quartz chippings, bound in cement or resin. It is both on-trend and timeless and there is an abundance of small accessories available, but large-scale terrazzo applications make the greatest impact. Furthermore, here are three ways to use terrazzo in your home…

Transform kitchen surfaces

Marmoreal is an engineered marble terrazzo developed by Dzek in collaboration with British designer Max Lamb. It is available in two colourways, with either a white or black background. Each version comprises four Italian marbles, making up around 95% of  the material, moreover tiles and slabs come in a variety of sizes, with polished or matt finishes. Marmoreal is an original alternative for kitchen counters and splashbacks, especially when it is fitted alongside brightly coloured cabinets. 

Juxtapose bathroom tiles

Terrazzo is a colourful and captivating alternative to concrete when remodelling a bathroom. Terrazzo Nouveau is a lovely porcelain tile by Mandarin Stone which mimics the appearance of real terrazzo. With a matt finish, it is suitable for use on floors as well as walls. Setting the cobalt Terrazzo Nouveau against Mandarin Stone’s Norse midnight blue subway tiles creates a bold bathroom. Select brass elements are the perfect finishing touches for a sophisticated scheme. 

Try an alternative to terrazzo flooring

Foresso is a radical solution for sustainable interiors. Timber offcuts, mixed woodshavings and wood dust are combined and bound in resin to create a distinctive timber terrazzo. Natural oils and waxes give Foresso a durable finish, making it suitable for a range of applications including countertops. The floor tiles and planks are designed like terrazzo but manufactured like engineered timber, pre-finished with a tongue-and-groove base, making them easy to fit.