dressing
” I love that ! sums up designer Geneviève Simard when asked for her appreciation of vertical slats. “It’s the very architectural side that it gives, it’s the fact that it’s very linear, very straight, very sequential,” she says. It has a very strong design side, in my opinion. “We find them everywhere: on furniture (especially kitchen islands), on the ceiling, as a partition, and most often on the walls. In addition to creating a height effect, they dress them up wonderfully, says the designer. “Sometimes we have big walls and we don’t know what to do with them, and even a very, very big painting isn’t enough,” stresses Geneviève Simard. The slats make it possible to create a psychological separation between two rooms that have a continuous wall. They can also enhance an “unappealing little nook” by creating an interesting focal point, she says.
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Tendency
At Vertika Design, a Quebec company that manufactures and installs designer coverings and walls, vertical slats were the flagship product this year. “We’re seeing them more and more, both on walls and on furniture,” says Sascha Romer, Director of Franchise Operations at Vertika Design. “The slats create a balance with the other textures of the environment”, says Mme Romer. People take them in wood to bet on the contrast – which adds a rich and warm effect to the room – or tone on tone, which is “very fashionable in Europe at the moment”, notes Mme Romer. Mounted on acoustic felts, wooden slats can help absorb sound in rooms where there is too much reverberation.
Japandi
The vertical slats are highlighted in the very current Japandi style, a cross between Japanese design and Scandinavian design. The Japandi relies on simplicity, comfort and natural elements such as wood. “It’s a style that highlights natural textures,” explains Stéphanie Longchamps, associate designer at Les Stéphanies. Instead of going into color punches, we’re really going to go into textures; the slats are therefore quite appropriate in this style. “We can find vertical slats in a Scandinavian style, for example in walnut, or more classic, for example in marble, stone or concrete, indicates Mme Longchamps. “Vertical slats are part of current designs,” she concludes.