Mineral Based Wall Coverings!

You can really tell the world is changing when your grandmother asks you how you’re doing and if you’re eating well…….via Whatsapp!! Hence it should come as no surprise that in this increasingly tech-centric era the feeling of being alienated from the natural surroundings inevitably engulfs us, leaving behind a desire for a personal sanctuary to switch off occasionally to say the least. Moreover owing to globalization and our world becoming more and more interconnected, people’s perceptions have actually matured to acknowledge the importance of life-like features of the non-human environment – how they are instrumental to physical, emotional and intellectual well-being. Thus bringing these to the forefront of the universal list of priorities. Interior designers today are striving to develop design solutions and ideas that not only emulate nature but also incorporate them into the final scheme/product itself. What’s more, it is no longer considered unconventional to make nature a recognized part of the design process itself!

I came across Omexco’s Exclusive Wall Covering Collection and sincerely felt that these could very well serve the purpose of achieving the profound attunement to the natural world around us, that we all seek. Omexco’s “minerals” collection in particular, brings the ‘outdoors’ ‘indoors’ in the most literal sense, in that they are made of actual ‘mica’ and glass beads. On their website, they explain how mica or ‘vermiculite’ is a mineral produced as a result of a chemical reaction between ‘quartz’ and ‘granite’. Further, extreme heat exposure causes mica to become almost 3000 per cent of its original size resulting in a spectacular array of breathtaking glinting sparkly hues including onyx, jade, amethyst, mother of pearl and topaz!!! I cannot help but imagine being at a scenic location such as Peak district, the main Roman Roads of Derbyshire surrounded by mineral deposit shades and rocks which enrich the environment with colours such as sage green, grey, grey purple, and powder blue:

Additionally, the sheer exquisiteness of these wall coverings took me back to the times when I visited Sir Bani Yas Island situated in the UAE a few years back; one of the hotels had brought down large pieces of rocks from the native mountains, primarily for the purposes of landscaping for the hotel entrance. To date, I have not forgotten how whenever the sun shone down on these rocks, their mineral deposits reflected whimsical sparkly shades and effects which most definitely seemed ethereal to the naked eye:

Glimpses of the mineral wall coverings from Omexco’s website:

In my opinion, these mineral coverings become extremely relevant and especially alluring in the light of interior design trends today – not only do they conform to the 2018 trending colour choices such as ‘jewel tones’ and ‘foresty hues’, but also exemplify other prominent trends such as ‘bling gaining prominence’, ‘recycling/upcycling’ and ‘bringing nature indoors’. Most of these are washable, fire and light resistant and utilize ecological paper. Oh and what wonders would these work when paired with the ‘pantone colour of the year 2018: ultraviolet!!!! Engendering a scheme likely to fall exactly in line with what pantone claims to be originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking with a futuristic orientation – meanwhile also connoting a certain peacefulness of the mind and offering exotic refuge from today’s so called over-stimulated world:

Besides Omexco, there are various other companies providing clients with mineral based wall coverings –one of them is Armourcoat. Their sculptural three-dimensional wall finishes in particular are known to be non-toxic mineral based coverings which armourcoat claims can add depth, glamour and grandeur to any setting whether residential or commercial in nature:

Other companies dealing with mineral based products/wall coverings are Compaq, OWA, Europlac, Rexa Design, Isomi, Amos Design, Rehau, Staron, HasenKopf, DuPont Corian. If you wish to know more about these companies be sure to check out the links given here. Happy designing!!!