Beata Heuman loves lino and maybe you should too
Linoleum flooring – lino – if you’re on first-name terms, might have felt like a dirty word only a few years ago, when it was still struggling to shake off its passé reputation from those of us who grew up in ‘70s houses with brown patterned vinyl flooring that had started to curl up at the corners.
The truth is, not only are lino and vinyl entirely different beasts (more on that later), this underdog of the flooring world is suddenly as desirable as a skirted sink after being featured in kitchen projects by some of London’s best designers. So, would you pass on the reclaimed parquet or tiles in place of inexpensive, hardwearing, eco-friendly lino? We’d argue that you should at least give it some consideration.
The designers using lino (and vinyl)
Unless you’re one of the few people who isn’t keeping an eye on (and then plotting to emulate) Beata Heuman’s joyful interiors, you’ll have noticed the Swedish designer’s penchant for lino flooring in kitchens. If Beata’s is the first name that springs to mind when thinking about good old linoleum, rest assured she’s not the only tastemaker who’s used it in their homes and projects recently.
Artist and maker Bridie Hall has used an arresting red and white marmoleum checkerboard in her London kitchen and designer and artist Luke Edward Hall chose the same colour combination for his Parisian hotel project, Les Deux Gares. Designer Sophie Rowell covered the kitchen and bathroom floors of a seaside apartment in blood-red vinyl, and garden designer Butter Wakefield has large-scale black and white lino throughout the ground floor of her home.
A quick scroll through some of the homes in our archives turned up more checkerboard lino in projects from Tara Craig, Natasha Howard and Max Rollitt. We could go on, but that’s already quite a roll call of linoleum endorsement.
What’s the difference between vinyl and lino?
Lino and vinyl are often mistaken as being one and the same; two interchangeable names for one type of flooring, but this accidental belief is wildly incorrect, so allow us to clear this pickle up. Despite their similar smooth and glossy appearance, they’re as different as night and day. Vinyl flooring is a synthetic product, it’s made from chemicals and plastics, amongst other things. At the opposite end of the scale, linoleum is all-natural. So natural in fact that people say you could eat it, (we wouldn’t recommend it – nothing says indigestion like a lunch of leftover kitchen floor). Lino is made up of friendly materials such as cork, linseed oil, wood flour, tree resin and ground stone on a jute backing. If lino was a person, it would be clean eating and possibly at a health retreat in the mountains.
Why choose lino?
As well as being relatively affordable (especially when compared to alternatives such as hardwood, ceramic tiles or stone), lino is so durable that – assuming you don’t get tired of it – it will comfortably last for years or even decades.
Where vinyl would melt if an awry match fell on it, bubble and lift if it got too wet or end up scarred by a dropped knife, lino won’t. It won’t melt, it won’t be destroyed by spilt water and even if you did chip the surface, it could be filled and restored. This makes an already economical choice even better value because you know it will withstand wear and tear in a family home. On that note, its eco-friendly, natural composition (it’s both hypoallergenic and antibacterial) might make it more appealing if you’ve got children.
Not to say that you should avoid vinyl like the plague as high-end vinyl can still look wonderful, but it’s important to be aware of the differences with lino, so you know to be more careful if you’re accident-prone (and definitely don’t try to eat this one). Either way, both options are easy to install as they’re simply glued down in large sheets or tiles.
If you’re wondering how marmoleum comes into this, that’s also a type of lino and it’s even more appealing as you don’t need to use an adhesive to install it and it has no odour when it’s first laid, whereas lino can have a faint whiff of linseed oil, which will fade over time.
How to use it
Kitchens and bathrooms are the two obvious spaces to use lino but of the two, a kitchen is most ideal as the floor is more likely to stay dry. Lino can also be great extending out of a kitchen and into a hallway to give the ground floor of a house continuity. Butter Wakefield has done this in her own home and she’s now a lino fan for life ‘I’ll always have it – it’s fantastically hard-wearing, soft underfoot and easy to clean’.
Wood-effect lino (or vinyl) is still a style we would pick last in sports at school as it doesn’t do full justice to the capabilities of the material. We say go bold with an interesting marbled pattern or use the individual tiles to create a classic checkerboard design (or something altogether more experimental). Timeless black and white will always look good, or make a statement and choose a bright colour for the most impact.
Where to buy your lino
For the best lino and marmoleum flooring, try Sinclair Till or Forbo. If you’d prefer vinyl, look at Karndean for natural stone and wood effects or Amtico for more colourful options.
Milo Brown1/8Interior designer Lonika Chande has transformed an owner's rather dark childhood home in Holland Park into a light-filled oasis perfect for family. The laundry room was a necessary addition to the house. Inside, cabinetry is painted in ‘Yellow-Pink’ by Little Greene and the worktop is a sky-blue Formica, while the flooring is a chequerboard linoleum which brings the primary colours front and centre and makes this a fun space.
Simon Brown3/8Black and white flooring in oversize checks unites the the kitchen and conservatory in Butter Wakefield's west London house. 'I blame the floor,' she says laughing. 'That's where it all started.' She is referring to the palette of green, black and white that runs throughout much of the house, but comes to the fore in the kitchen and conservatory, where there is a cornucopia of lettuceware plates and monochromatic fabrics.
4/8In the kitchen of Bridie Hall's north London house, cheery red and white Marmoleum floor tiles arranged in a chequerboard pattern contrast with traditional cabinets with olive-green paintwork in a gloss finish.
Simon Brown5/8Max Rollitt was charged with adding character to this London flat, which had been unsympathetically modernised by a property developer. In place of the previous Ikea kitchen, Rollitt installed custom cabinets and freestanding furniture atop an unusual blue and white checkerboard floor.
Davide Lovatti6/8In the hallway of Tara Craig's tiny, utterly charming London flat, the geometric black-and-white lino flooring was inspired by a Georgian oilcloth floor design in Dublin.
Christopher Horwood7/8Designer Natasha Howard created a simple, practical checkerboard lino floor for the laundry room of this London house. The walls and cabinets are painted in Paint & Paper Library's 'Rouge II'.
8/8Luke Edward Hall has brought his signature style to a new Parisian hotel, Les Deux Gares in the 10th arrondissement. The gym has wildly clashing red and white lino floors and floral walls. See the rest of the interiors here.
