Tried a herringbone pattern on a fireplace in Nashville and got roasted by the homeowner

Thought it would look sharp, but she said the diagonal cuts made the mortar lines look like a mess from 3 feet away. Learned that some patterns just don't pop unless the lighting hits them right - any of you had a design idea backfire on site?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_dixon789d ago

Man, that "mortar lines look like a mess from 3 feet away" line hit me hard. I did a herringbone backsplash in a kitchen and the homeowner stood there squinting, saying the pattern looked "wobbly" because the cuts weren't all exactly the same width. I learned the hard way that herringbone really needs a perfect light source and dead-level walls, otherwise those diagonal lines just make every mistake stand out like a sore thumb. Your Nashville client wasn't wrong, it's a tough pattern to pull off in real life.

sam_rivera9d ago

Honestly, I just read a piece in Fine Homebuilding that said the same thing. They found that if you don't tape off the work zone and control light from the windows, the pattern can look totally off from certain angles.