Looking to breathe new life into your space? With a vast range of flooring finishes available, from concrete to bamboo to timber, the answer may lie beneath your feet.
Flooring is an element of interior design which is often overlooked, but adds greatly to the value of your home. We tend to focus on quick wins – brightly coloured lamps or decorative touches – failing to see that flooring has a huge impact on the overall aesthetic, providing the all-important foundation and setting the tone for the space for years to come. With thousands of options at your disposal, it can be a daunting task knowing where to start. Read on to discover the latest and greatest flooring to spruce up your home.
Polished concrete
Hard wearing, modern and striking, the concrete floor trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere just yet. Driven by the industrial aesthetic popular in many contemporary restaurants over the last few years, this look has well and truly embedded itself into residential spaces. With colours veering towards neutral and muted tones, concrete flooring will match most shades and textures, ideal for those who like to redecorate often.
Herringbone parquet
Herringbone is known to be one of the first parquet patterns developed in Europe and was a favourite of Francois, the first King of France. Found in traditional Parisian apartments filled with chic antique décor and artwork, parquet flooring screams sophistication. You can steal a slice of this ‘je ne sais quoi’ for your own space, with selected Australian retailers stocking the traditional solid French oak herringbone parquet.
Timber and hardwood
Beautiful, authentic and timeless, timber and hardwood are a stalwart of the flooring industry which only seem to be growing in popularity. Hardwood gives your home a warm and natural look, it’s easy to maintain and creates a neutral base for styling and décor. While in 2017 there is a trend toward very dark, blonde or grey hardwood floors, one of the great things about hardwood flooring is you can easily change the colour over time. Do your research and source sustainably produced timbers.
Bamboo
Touted as tough and environmentally friendly, with the style of timber at a cheaper price, bamboo flooring is all the rage. Just like timber, bamboo can be stained in a huge variety of colours and the finish is remarkably similar. It’s also is easy to maintain, affordable, water resistant, durable, environmentally friendly and uses low embodied energy. It’s easy see why it’s
being called the ‘new timber’.
Cork
With the rise of the conscious consumer, cork flooring is another eco-friendly style of flooring becoming increasingly popular. Its versatility and reasonable price tag means that cork floors are a favourite for those who are environmentally conscious or watching their pennies. As well as being a practical and inexpensive solution to flooring, cork looks both stylish and contemporary and is warm under foot.
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