Category: Home Design

When deciding what type of floor is appropriate for each room, think about how frequently that area will be utilised and how low maintenance you’d like the place to be.

We instinctively identify particular flooring kinds with particular rooms, but modern production techniques provide a great deal of variety, with some products even imitating the appearance and traits of other flooring types.

Just because the hallway of your home typically normally gets the most traffic, the flooring needs to be durable and low-maintenance.

Since it will be the first area that visitors see, it must function well to set the tone for the remainder of the house.

Choose black and white checkerboard tiles for a timeless period design. Patterned porcelain and ceramic tiles will offer a classical attractiveness.

A different choice that allows for some creativity is painted flooring; one popular fix is to use the same colour on the stairs and pair it with a carpet runner.

For good durability, think about solid or engineered bamboo flooring or poured concrete for an ultra-modern appearance.

When choosing new flooring for bathrooms, you will want to consider what types of materials are going to be the most waterproof, because let’s face it, that floor will get wet. Especially if you have children, bathroom floors need to be able to handle water.

Waterproof Bathroom Flooring Materials

• Ceramic and porcelain tiles- are the most popular. They are beautiful for flooring materials and are naturally waterproof. Porcelain is especially lush but may have less variety than ceramic tile options.

• Natural Stone- is a very elegant and durable yet pricey choice. The downside is that sometimes they can be a little slippery when wet.

• Luxury Vinyl Tiles- will be a softer and warmer option that is waterproof and typically come in long planks.

One thing to remember with the first two options is that they can be hard and cold under foot, without the floor being heated, so be sure to keep that in mind. However, these three options are all great at resisting moisture in bathrooms and will look great.

As people adopt a more sustainable mindset in their everyday lives, one way to contribute is considering eco-friendly options when it is time to replace flooring. If your floors are looking worn and it is time to make a change, here are some of the best options for a ‘greener’ flooring approach.

1. Bamboo- is technically a grass but can be worked into hard-wearing floorboards and looks similar to natural hardwood but takes a quarter of the time to grow compared to hardwood trees.

2. Cork- comes from the bark of the cork oak tree which is harvested without harming the trees then ground up, compressed and formed into sheets bonded with resins.

3. Reclaimed Wood- is timber that has been salvaged from another property and can be reused.

4. Reclaimed Tiles- are an excellent option of tiles that can be purchased and reused and can range from simple to ornate encaustic designs.

5. Linoleum- is made from natural linseed oil and woodflour. It may seem ‘retro’ but is having a massive comeback with a large range of choices in patterns and designs. It even includes marble, stone-look and flecked patterns.

Whilst oak and pine are not necessarily considered one of the most eco-friendly options, they are significantly better to use rather than rare or exotic hardwoods which are much slower growing and more difficult to replace.

Tile flooring is generally used in kitchens and bathrooms due to how hard-wearing and long-lasting it is, but you can also place tile flooring in other rooms such as living rooms and dining rooms. Although tile flooring has a lot of benefits and looks stunning, they do have some cons. We have put together a list of the pros and cons of tile flooring.

Pros

– Water-resistant – tile flooring is highly water-resistant due to a top protective layer placed on tiles. They are also stain-resistant and temperature resistant.
– Easy to maintain – tile flooring is one of the easiest types of flooring to maintain and clean.
– Durability – floor tiles are known for their durability and long life span.

Cons

– Cold – floor tiles do not absorb or retain any heat which means they can get quite cold during the winter months.
– Slippery – floor tiles due to the material and the top protective layer, can become quite slippery when wet.
– Cost – floor tiles generally cost more for materials and installation than other flooring options.

Recently there has been an outburst of people deciding to rip up carpet on their stairs and opt for painted stairs with carpet tiles but there are some downsides to removing your carpet and not replacing with carpet again.

Carpeting your stairs come with a few benefits so it is always worth considering these before you decide to bare your stairs.

1. Aesthetic appeal – you may find when pulling up your stair carpet that the structure underneath isn’t perfect or could have chips or damage. This will be more common in older homes. If you do decide to paint over the overall look may not look very good if the stairs are not in good condition.

2. Noise – without carpet on your stairs you will hear people or pets coming up or down your stairs. The cushioning of underlay and carpet diminishes loud noises from heavy feet.

3. Safety – a fall down carpeted stairs is less likely to cause so many bruises or damage due to the cushioning effect of carpet.

There are many different reasons why you would hire a carpet cleaner such as spillages, general dirt, pet accidents, or odour but there are also many reasons why you shouldn’t. Sometimes the task of carpet cleaning should be left to the professionals but why?

1. Cost – many supermarkets or hardware stores have carpet cleaners that you can hire out for 24 hours or longer. Generally, these are hired out as reasonable prices but you then have to add the cost of specialist carpet detergent, your time spent collecting the carpet cleaner, time spent actually using the machine, and returning to the shop. When you total this all up it can come to well over £50 which is the same if not more it would cost you to hire in a professional.

2. Permanent damage – you are not an expert in cleaning carpets, you could easily use the wrong cleaning detergent which could ruin your carpet. Another issue is using too much water this could potentially leave your carpets damp and ruin them.

3. Equipment – the machines you can hire will not compete with specialist carpet cleaners used by the professionals. Those stains that you’re trying to remove may need more power than the machines you can hire.

The kitchen is a room which endures heavy use and is prone to more spillage, therefore a kitchen requires a durable and hard-wearing flooring to withstand heavy foot traffic which is also easy to keep clean without enduring damage from liquids and food.

Flooring in general has come a long way over the years and there is now much more choice. We’ve compiled a list of flooring that is suitable for a kitchen.

• Laminate flooring – this is the perfect flooring choice for those of you with kitchens that are prone to spillages, its very easy to clean and keep looking its best. It comes in a huge variety of different colours and patterns but you should choose a higher AC rating of laminate to ensure it is durable enough for heavy foot traffic.

• Luxury Vinyl – this flooring is also an excellent choice for kitchens as its water-resistant properties mean that the floor will be easy to clean. Luxury vinyl is very durable which means it’s able to resist the wear and tear of a busy kitchen while maintaining its aesthetic.

• Solid Wood Kitchen Flooring – for those of you who prefer a more traditional looking kitchen, solid wood is a great option. Solid wood flooring gives any kitchen a wow factor and is very hard-wearing.