Lantern Love

The popular arabesque tile a.k.a. Moroccan lantern motif is also used colorfully in other home decor.

Lantern motifs have become popular on drapery fabrics, rugs, wallpapers and stencils and, of course, for kitchen backsplashes. It also isn’t a stretch to say that arabesque tile has become an alternative to subways — finally! — because it’s a great shape with traditional or transitional kitchen and bathroom designs. In my interview with  Ann Sacks Product Development Portfolio Manager DeeDee Gundberg  last year, she explained the reason: arabesque “allows a design element without being too risky.”

I’m for making the lantern motif more risky, which is why I was impressed by the way it is being used in mediums other than tile and with intense colors. A collection of table linens by textile designer Kim Seybert [top] crossed my desk. Called Fez placemats and Tile napkins, it’s a mix and match collection and a clear homage to Moroccan tile. The napkins and placements are super colorful, semi-custom and luxe.

But even plain white white lantern tiles (which Home Depot stocked for a time) can be transformed into a two-tone pattern when their installation is tweaked a little. The pattern in the floor of a children’s bath results from the use of bright red grout that highlights the lantern shapes.  I can imagine brown grout or even a deep, dramatic green or dark greenish gray used with white tiles. The choice of a vivid filler hue to amp up white arabesque tile makes it more taste specific, to be sure. But colored grout would work as well on a kitchen backsplash or shower enclosure wall as it does on the bathroom floor. Colored arabesques have their own beauty, which was shown in our Kitchen Backsplash Tile Intelligence post. That’s why lantern tile remains a timeless shape and an excellent choice.

(Source: kimseybert, colvm)

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