Carpets are a thing of the past. Gone are the times when we would wear a previously fluffy carpet right down to the weave – now, we’ve become much more practical. Wooden flooring is long-lasting, cost-effective, and most importantly, it is beautiful and modern.
There is one problem with replacing your carpet with wooden flooring though, and that is the sheer scale of options that you have at your disposal. With carpet all you had to do is pick how fluffy you’d like it (and end up having to pay through the nose for the pleasure). With luxury hardwood flooring you’re looking at a range of options that could totally alter the atmosphere and character of your entire room. We’re here to help you navigate that wooden minefield.
1. What Wood
Your first, immediate option when faced with putting down new hardwood flooring is which wood to choose. It is this fundamental question that could decide the scheme for the furniture of your room. Whether you choose a light wood like oak or a darker, chocolate coloured conker wood will set the tone for your whole arrangement.
2. Pattern
With numerous tiles of wood to lay down, you have an option as to which order you do it in. It might seem like the options are fairly basic at first, but the array of choice you have available to you is quite extensive. Herringbone Parquet flooring allows you to pattern your floorboards in a number of different ways, all creating a different effect. Each effect can alter how you might want to arrange the rest of your room, so choose carefully!
3. Texture
Some rooms aren’t being designed to look modern and new, but rather have a distressed or gothic effect. Rooms like this will look out of place with brand new hardboard flooring, all pristine and smart. Sometimes it is nice to have a rustic look applied to your flooring to make it fit. In this case you can have different effects applied to your wood to give it that distressed edge. Different techniques can be used to engineer weathered and worn wood in a contemporary refurbishment.
4. Engineered Effects
If you aren’t going for a traditional wooden look, you might consider engineered effects, where professional companies apply a number of techniques to wood to induce wild colours and stains to create a bold and unique aesthetic.
Such bright colours are often popular with stylised rooms and shops.
5. Paint
Much like the engineered effects on offer, you also have a range of different paints that can be applied to luxury hardwood flooring. Rather than stained wood, you can select solid blocks of colour, crackling paint or other unusual textures that aren’t achievable with normal wood. These can be applied to create numerous styles, and ultimately they can be what creates the anchor for design in your room.
Whether you want solid, bright pink tiles of wood in a triple solum pattern or a naturally dark and distressed floorboard in straight lines, the versatility and durability of luxury hardwood flooring completely outshines carpeted flooring, and you should consider the options fully when you next redecorate.
Joe Bishop is the Director for luxury hardwood flooring specialists – William Beard Flooring. Joe has over 11 years’ experience in working with timber flooring, he is a highly skilled installer and restorer of wooden floors.