You may have noticed the recent trend towards industrial flooring – but wondered just how you can have a beautiful, creative floor in that fashion. Don’t worry – there are a whole bunch of methods you can take, and here we’ll look at some of the materials and designs you could explore. There are three main materials we’ll look at – concrete, resin, and rubber, and what you can do with each of them.
Concrete
Yes, that’s right – concrete. Concrete is surprisingly on-trend at the moment, and it’s not just for your driveway any more. It’s available in a whole range of colours, and since it can be laid both inside and outside you can make use of when doing some open-plan extensions. Since it can be poured, you don’t need to level the layer below – it’ll settle naturally as you do. Of course, concrete is heavy so you want to check in with an engineer if you’re going to do anything above ground level with it!
If you fancy something a bit more interesting than a plain colour, why not try one of these ideas:
Underwater Effect
When glossed, concrete can have a slightly water-y effect, so why not emphasis this by washing it in blue-green paint? If you’re really up for the challenge, try adding wave effects and varying “depth” in your colouring.
Stencil
With a little bit of spray paint and a homemade stencil, you can basically create any pattern you want. We like Victorian iron-work patterns, or delicate lace, but you could do chevrons, stripes, anything that takes you fancy!
Woodwork
If you’ve always wanted a wooden floor, but hated how much care it’d take, you (or professionals you hire) can stain a concrete floor to appear like wood. This is amazing for open-plan extensions, since this doesn’t have the risk of getting rotten like wood does.
Resin
Resin is lighter than concrete, and incredibly hygienic. It’s great for kitchens – or areas likely to see a lot of mess, such as living rooms that feature children or pets. It’s also easier to give a gloss finish to than concrete – but it can matt easily as it’s not as durable, so it’ll need more maintenance. Remember: there’s a chance there’ll be variations in it when it’s finished, due to how it’s applied, so if you want perfection, it’s not for you.
Clear Resin and Objects!
Since you can get clear resin, you can do some fabulous things with physical objects. From a floor entirely made up of pennies, to creating the effects of smashed mirrors, the ability to poor clear resin and seal in objects means there’s a whole world of designs you could do.
Glitter
Similar to the last one, but we think this deserves its own section! Mix some glitter and clear resin together and you’ve instantly got the material you need for the sparkly, most disco-like floor you could wish for. Just make sure you have a top-coat of just plain resin by the self, or glitter will get everywhere.
Rubber
Rubber is less hard-wearing than concrete, but it’s much easier to install than the previous two options! It’s amazing for bathrooms, but another great use is for playrooms – it’s easy to clean, and you can get in a bunch of vibrant colours.
Studded
Studded rubber tiles can work in a bunch of designs – two of our favourites being a primary-colour style lego floor for children, or a steely-grey industrial/science fiction feel.
Jigsaw
You can get rubber tiles in jigsaw-like tiles, so why not take advantage of this and buy two separate colours (or more!) to create a jigsaw effect floor?
Wooden Effects
It is similar to the concrete flooring but far more useful for bathroom remodelling. With rubber being so light, it’s easy to install above the ground floor so if you want a luxurious bathroom with a wooden effect floor, but are worried about water stains, getting patterned rubber flooring is the solution for you.