28 April 2011

Geometric Floor

the floor is painted with an interlocking hexagonal pattern 
I recently completed a floor for a new furniture and design shop in San Francisco using a really hip-looking interlocking hexagonal pattern.  I have a bit of thing for hexagons in general, so this pattern really excited me. 
the white painted floor / work in progress with giant stencil
My design was interpreted from African textiles, with a nod to the mid-century fabric patterns such those by mid-century design icon David Hicks, who had put his own spin on this look in the 1960's.
the finished painted floor
As the shop is in a long, narrow space, over 50 feet deep but only 10 feet wide, I designed a very large scale repeat, and elongated the pattern to help foreshorten the room; so even though the pattern is "stretched" it does look symmetrical, and the room appears wider and more stable as a result.

The pattern was painted onto the concrete floor using floor and patio enamel from Benjamin Moore, and a huge stencil I designed and cut in my studio Look carefully and you can see how the repeat fits together. 

owner Lara Ritch in her showroom "Ritches"
 "Ritches"  a vintage furnishing store  opened in the ActivSpace on 18th and Treat St. in San Francisco. Image via the Bold Italic.















6 comments:

  1. Hi, Lynne - I thought of David Hicks before I read the copy. Your appraoch to widening and foreshortening the room really works. Your before and after photos could be designer textbook material.

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  2. thanks Mark, thanks Emily!
    the real "before" picture was the battleship gray floor, but i could not bring myself to post it, it was so awful. i am cursed with an industrial gray painted concrete floor in my studio and may have to change that very soon.

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  3. Better you than me! Geometrics drive me crazy. Great idea with the foreshortening- it really worked.

    Geez, quite a challenging size for a store. It's nice when the client has faith in you!

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  4. Hi Lynne-

    I LOOOOOVE your floor - it's amazing! This is exactly what I'd like to do in my basement.... paint over the old asbestos tile, then paint on a pattern just like this. Any chance you'd be willing to sell me your stencil?? haha! If not, any tips on making my own? I'm an artist and feel confident I can do it... where did you get the large stencil paper?

    Thank you for the awesome post - your floor looks fabulous. I live in Baltimore, otherwise I'd visit your shop - it looks so cool!

    Susan

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    1. Hi Susan, thanks so much for your comment. I don't keep the stencils for my jobs and make a new one scaled to the room every time. You can make your own stencil with paper or mylar. I prefer 5 mil. mylar, single matte. It's easy to draw on as well as easy to cut. best of luck

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