If you’ve noticed that furniture has been getting much groovier in recent years, you’re not alone. That’s groovy in the literal sense, of course, as in vertical grooves, or fluting. The textured trend has appeared in console tables, nightstands, dressers, and coffee tables. DIYers have even been crafting fluted elements with wooden dowels, as seen in an IKEA shoe cabinet hack. Fluting has also popped in other decorative elements, including wall sconces, table lamps, and candles. Yes, we are in the midst of a full-fledged fluting frenzy.
A general accessibility factor as well as new manufacturing technologies have fueled the trend’s popularity, says designer Leah Alexander of Beauty Is Abundant in Atlanta. “People want a different look, and I think fluting—as we’re seeing in kitchen cabinets, for example—is more accessible than other trends like brass or stainless steel kitchen cabinetry. I also think it has to do with manufacturing. With modern technology, we’re now able to get fluting more easily in a number of different finishes and materials, including marble.”
Alexander also points out that fluted materials aren’t new, as reeded glass has long been used for privacy, and fluting was often used in commercial buildings in the 70s and 80s. The origins of fluted materials actually dates back to the ancient Greeks, who used fluting to lend a lightness and elegance to the exterior columns on their buildings.
No doubt the Greeks would be impressed with Alexander’s use of fluted marble in a recent project—a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta.
“This was my second project with this family and they were very much in a place of ‘yes’ about the design,” says Alexander. “They wanted color and they wanted bold.”
One way she gave them bold was with fluted marble tile with deep purple veining in a guest bathroom. And while these tiles aren’t cheap, the payoff is huge: It adds depth and dimension that a flat marble slab backsplash just can’t match, turning your walls into a true design moment.
“I knew this was a good place to take a risk because it’s a Jack and Jill bathroom between two guest bedrooms, so it’s not something that someone will experience every day,” she says. “I balanced the intense marble with a neutral white quartz countertop, white sinks, and a natural wood vanity. Then I added a sculptural vase by Julia Elsas, a ceramicist in Brooklyn, to add some funk to the space.”
Alexander sourced the fluted marble tile from Ann Sacks. “I saw the tile in the Ann Sacks showroom in L.A. and knew it would be perfect for this project,” she says. “So often you see something you love and have to wait a year or two or three to find the right project for it. But this was instantaneous—I saw it, loved it, and off we went.”
Because this particular fluted tile comes in three different colors, Alexander had options for a second bathroom in the home, where she went with a similar look, but with less intense veining.
“This is an everyday bathroom off the teenage son’s bedroom, so I chose a more subtle white for the fluted tile, but then brought color into the vanity,” she says. “And this is the same Julia Elsas vase as in the other bathroom, but in a different colorway. It’s so special—it kind of reminds me of a human heart.”
Finally, Alexander incorporated the tile’s third color option—a dark green—into a kitchenette off the son’s bedroom.
“This one is so luxurious—it’s like a jewel,” she says. “And then similar to the first bathroom, we went with neutral cabinetry to balance the intense marble veining here. The floor is a concrete-looking porcelain tile that’s really just for wear and tear. So it’s all about the fluted tile walls. With those nooks and crannies, the tile reflects the light so beautifully. It’s a design element worth saying yes to.”
