Matt or glossy: the slippery floor worry, answered
Many families avoid shiny floors for fear of falls, especially with elderly parents. What really makes a tile slippery, and what to choose.
Old floors of Jaipur: where to see historic tiles and terrazzo
Some of the city’s best floors are in its palaces, museums and old havelis. A half-day route for anyone planning a floor of their own.
Before you choose a floor, it helps to see how good floors age. Jaipur is full of them, many laid a century or more ago and still in use. Here is a half-day route that our design desk often suggests to customers.
Start at Albert Hall Museum in Ram Niwas Garden. Look down as much as up: the galleries have patterned floors and inlaid borders that have carried visitors since the 1880s. Notice how the borders frame each room. It is a good idea for any large floor today.
Drive into the walled city to the City Palace. The courtyards and halls show marble, sandstone and lime floors side by side, and the famous painted gates of the Pritam Niwas Chowk show the colours that inspire many of our cement tile patterns. From there, walk through the bazaars to the older havelis around Johari Bazaar and Chaura Rasta. Several are now shops or guest houses, and many still have the grey and white terrazzo, or mosaic tiles, laid in the 1930s to 1950s. Ask politely before stepping inside.
Finish at our showroom in C-Scheme, about 15 minutes away, and compare what you saw with the ranges in our mock-up rooms. Take photos of floors you like on the walk; our design desk can match colours and chip sizes far more easily from a picture than from a description. Avoid Fridays at the City Palace in peak season, when the crowds are heaviest.
