When moving into a brand-new house, or seeking to revamp your family home, flooring is a crucial component to get right.
A lovely wooden floor can add warmth to your living room, while decorative tiles can help bring your kitchen to life.
Kayleigh Murphy, showroom and marketing manager at specialist flooring company Boniti, explains four ways that flooring trends are changing, and how to make the right choice for your home.
1. Changing tastes
A material that enjoys immense popularity, especially for bathrooms, kitchens and outdoor areas, is natural stone. Having a smooth, easy to clean floor in areas where stains and spillages are common is always an attractive option. However, recently there has been a noticeable shift from the classic natural stone to porcelain tiles instead.
Kayleigh said: “Over the past couple of years, we’ve been noticing that people are definitely taking a lot more time with their decisions. Whereas natural stone would usually be a firm favourite, it requires you to clean it every year and a half, or up to two years. Porcelain tiles, on the other hand, are becoming more popular because they are very low maintenance."
2. Supply and demand
Trends and tastes in flooring are certainly varied, especially when taking into account the demand for specific materials and the access to them. Sandstone is usually a big seller for properties, for both indoor rooms and patios. Indian sandstone in particular has long been a favourite for Boniti customers, as its robust and water absorbent qualities make it perfect for the inside and outside of the home.
Container shortages and shipping issues have led to a hike in prices, as Kayleigh explains: “This year has been an incredibly difficult year to sell natural stone and hardwood floors, as such the prices for stone flooring has been going slightly crazy. Porcelain has been a little more consistent - I think that’s why people are finding it a better option.”
3. Keeping it cosy
Comfort and cosiness are the bedrock of a wonderful home, and it won’t surprise you that trends revolve around these two factors. Timber flooring offers a welcoming, rustic aesthetic which makes it an extremely popular option for living rooms and open plan kitchens. Using timber in offices also makes for a warmer atmosphere.
On the topic of creating a welcoming environment, Kayleigh said: “If someone wants to build a really snug, cosy environment, putting a wooden floor down is a very popular thing to do. When people look at tiles, whether porcelain or stone, sometimes it comes off a little sterile.
“When people are doing the cosier areas of their house, that’s when many of our timber flooring options become increasingly favoured.”
4. Colour is key
In the face of constant fluctuations in customer taste and product availability, there are some flooring materials and styles that never seem to go out of fashion. The uniting factor for all of these varied choices is colour. Whether you’re doing up an old bedroom, putting new decorative tiles in your bathroom or redoing the patio, there are certain hues that retain their lustre.
Kayleigh says: “When speaking about timeless flooring options, there are definitely trends that we pick up on amongst all of our customers. People always seem to enjoy the classic, quite muted colours such as greens and beiges. I can think of a few products that have been on the market for years now, and unless the material dries up, I can't see them going anywhere.
“The robust and neutral stone floors are traditionally very easy for people to get on with, especially when it comes to not clashing with other interior colours.”
To learn more about the wide variety of flooring options available, visit boniti.com or call 01225 892200.
