Everywhere I turn these days, I see tropical decor and colors. Sure, it’s summer, but I think the trend is more deeply rooted: It’s very 2017, and hooray for us, very retro, too. Wilsonart also spotted the trend, and has jumped on board with their “Lush Jungle” laminate. It’s part of their print-to-order Virtual Design Library, which makes it easier to offer lower-volume laminate designs to selective market niches. (The Retro Renovation® by Wilsonart laminates are also in the Virtual Design Library.)
And as you can see, laminates aren’t just for countertops — you can use them vertically. I’ve been noodling how to fit some into my Mahalo Lounge, but I already have acres of tropical floral going on in my pinch pleats. Still. Hmmmm.
Hey: Big green Monstera Deliciosa leaves on a field of nubbly linen-like cross-hatching: Yum!
Link love: Wilsonart Lush Jungle laminate.
tammyCA says
Neat! Been loving jungle-y decor for a long time & noticed too a lot more items in stores. The laminate on the wall is very reminiscent of the interior of the pink Beverly Hills hotel. Have you ever seen the Jungalow blog? She’s designed some pretty leafy retro looking wallpapers..love her boho style.
Ree says
I also like the comments by Ineffablespace and have this to add. Last summer when I remodeled my kitchen to return some of the MCM vibe that had been removed by previous owners, I decided I wanted a laminate counter top. From the looks I was given by a couple of contractors who bid on the complete job, you would have thought I had asked for the worst thing ever. I hired a contractor who “got” my vision, but he commented that trying to find a laminate countertop installer these days is getting more difficult. The 2 guys who showed up for the job were a trip down memory lane and houses from the 50’s & 60’s. They were both in their 60’s and talked about how they love it when they have a job installing laminate counters in a house and not a commercial establishment. The kitchen turned out great and everyone comments favorably on the counters when they see them for the first time.
cathie says
Can I ask what you paid for the install and how many sq. feet did you have?
Up here, IKEA charges a minimum of $750 to install a laminate sheet that you can buy from them for $70.
Mary Elizabeth says
Installing laminate is a relatively easy DIY task. And it can be installed over a preexisting laminate surface if it is still flat and well adhered. Study up on method, types of adhesive and safety precautions. Renovate safely, as Pam would say.
Ree says
Cathie, I don’t know how much it cost to install. It was part of the overall remodel and lumped into the total cost.
Karen says
You can get Wilsonart and Formica countertops fabricated for you at The Home Depot. The cost is about $25 per square foot, installed, plus plumbing fees. These are the prices at a Jacksonville, FL store. Still about $10 per square foot less than low grade granite – and AWESOME!
Karin says
What A lovely story, thank you. It’s great that you found people who “got it”. It gives me hope. I got a similar reaction from a contractor who asked me why nothing in their standard existing stock worked for me. It’s hard when you have a vision. Once your project is successfully completed, however, people often say things like, “I don’t usually care for retro, but this is lovely”, lol.
cathie says
Very nice, but only in on a small area. I can see this in a pantry area, or a bar or on a backspash in a small kitchen, but not as a countertop in a large area, too much in-your-face.
That’s a good post by ineffablespace above. As they noted, laminate seems to have so little appeal nowadays. I posted this here before, but until Wilsonart, Formica, et al figure out how to make this product more DIY-friendly i,e, an easier install without having to remove sink/faucet, which currently (for me) is $200 for the product but $1,000 for the install, plus $$$ for the plumber, this option isn’t happening.
Jay says
Cathie, no matter what material you choose for a countertop you will encounter the same issue. If unable to do DIY (and I’m including myself) the biggest chunk of any project is the labor cost. That’s why so many of the reader’s projects featured here are so impressive. Not only did they retro renovate but they did it themselves.
Erika T. says
So pretty! You should put that on the top of your bar!
Carolyn says
I can see this in…a SHE SHED! Even one sheet cut in half to cover the top of the wall…
I was researching the different laminate offerings for suggestions for a 1958 Liberty travel trailer and, of course, got lost in all the possibilities (you’ve been warned!). The original bathroom has mint green with gold cross-hatches(?) With the proliferation of trailer glamping re-vamping, here would be a market. Or vertical laminates in a kids’ bathroom, laundry room, mudroom. There’s a “thing” up here in WI that “texturizes” (slubbing?) the drywall – what a nightmare to keep clean!
Can you clarify if these Virtual Design Library laminates will available to regular people or only for designers and the construction industry? I’m not understanding “selective market niches”. Even if some of us could only afford one sheet to be used judiciously, would these not be available to the general public?
Lastly, I’ve only started watching certain cable channels focused on “making old houses habitable”…can anyone comment on an uptick in renovating period appropriate for MCm’s?
Pam Kueber says
Yes, these are available to the general public.
Karin says
Love this pattern! So fresh and pretty. Thank you for the post.
stacia schaefer says
That is so cool! I could see using it behind a bar or even in front of a homemade bar.
ineffablespace says
With the continuing development of new laminate patterns, I have to wonder what the target demographic is.
In the US, it has to be the commercial market, because I can’t remember the last time I saw new construction in this region that had laminate countertops, and I look at real estate listings daily.
This includes rental units in all but the poorest neighborhoods, in which some of the recent renovations have standard post-formed countertops–the ones with the integrated backsplash and curved front lip.
In my region anyway, it’s cheaper to get an entry level granite with no particular seam matching than it is to get a custom laminate top.
My kitchen isn’t all that old and it has prefab laminate top, but it also has white melamine cabinets of the quality people put in garages and the kitchen was probably demolished the first day, cabinets put in the second, and done by the end of the week, so it’s a relative outlier. When it gets its badly-needed renovation, laminate will be part of the picture, somewhere, no granite.
When you were developing your laminate line, did they talk about where most of their product is headed?
Pam Kueber says
I don’t recall having that conversation explicitly. I think we both thought: Retro Renovators!
ineffablespace says
Your particular line, sure…but I was thinking in general: patterns that aren’t retro, new colors that are introduced, things like that.
Where is “Arabesque” (a new wood mosaic look) going? “Diamond Plate”? And the bright purples “Amarena” and “Cassis” from Formica?
It’s kind of a rhetorical question, but these choices must be researched prior to production, and I wonder where these are being utilized.
Jay says
I have wondered about this as well. It’s not like these patterns are on a ring of laminate sample chips that someone can flip through and say oh I like this one (that’s if they are even seeking out laminate).
linda h says
I like this one as much as Wilsonart’s daisy pattern. And I think it would go perfectly well with my tropical print shower curtain.
I always loved to see pictures of the vertical application on the walls of the Wilson house.
Bette Jean says
Wish I knew about this last year BEFORE I had the kitchen back splash tiled. It’s a perfect match for my cornices.