If you’ve a hankering for a versatile, durable, easy-to-clean wall-covering with a signature texture and an unprecedented aesthetic, look no further than Studio Art’s appealing line of Omni Leather tiles. Exhibiting at #NeoCon09, Studio Art hails from the sunny SoCal enclave of Chico, which is somewhat apropos, given that the 5 x 5 and 10 x 10 (that’s centimeters in case you’re wondering, the metric system seeming to have won sway here) peel-and-stick tiles are the child of another land with a similarly Mediterranean landscape—ardent Italia.

Omni Leather Tiles. Manufactured by Studio Art.

Studio Art seems to have inherited a European’s flair for the baroque, at least where their web copy is concerned: “Mosaics seemed to Studio Art to be the ideal outlet for freeing the decorative and architectonic potential of leather, a material symbol of strength and nobility: mosaics, musaicum, or wall art… an art of composition on the same level as music, with which it shares its etymological origin as work of the muses, the mythical goddesses, protectors of the arts and sciences… an anarchic art whose order is made up of the scrupulous production, selection, and weaving of single fragments.” I (and Studio Art) could go on, but instead I’ll simply say that omni leather tile mosaics is an idea whose time has come.

They’re easy to install (just stick them straight to mounted press board); they use water-based dyes; and they’re eminently versatile: living, bed, and bathrooms (yes, bathrooms—they handle the elevated moisture levels of said spaces extremely well, I’m assured) come to mind as spaces that would make the most of the singular look. The Omni line is composed of seven styles, each of which lend themselves to easy integration into “multiple compositions.” The upshot is manifold combinations of divergent textures, colors, and materials: suede, hair-on-hide, and smooth leather appearing side-by-side with tantalizing reds, glowing golds, and moody blues and greens. Stop by Studio Art’s booth here at the show for an up-close-and-personal encounter with the latest innovation in up-scale wall coverings.