INVEST IN STYLE UNDERFOOT WITH THESE FLOORING TIPS
Welcome to Week 9 of my mission to fix the 10 most common decorating mistakes. Last week I gave you tips on making your television feel right at home and this week we tango with flooring mistakes, including the three biggest: Mixing too many wood tones, being influenced by trendy choices, and creating contrast between flooring types. With my simple fixes you’ll be sure-footed when choosing flooring for your home.
MATERIAL CHOICES
Wood is by far the most popular flooring for indoor living spaces. The trend for the past 20 years has been to put wood in every room, but some spaces aren’t suitable for wood (like mud rooms, foyers, bathrooms and busy kitchens). Manufacturers have responded to consumer demand with look-alike wood products in tile, vinyl and laminate. You can buy solid wood that’s often sanded and stained on site, or pre-finished engineered wood, which can often be installed with minimal mess in one to two days.
Laminate flooring comes in plank or large tile formats that usually groove-clicks together and floats on a foundation floor below. What is laminate? An image is laminated on a thin sheet of wood and then the top is protected from wear, tear and scratches. You can buy many styles, including the look of tile, painted floors and the most popular look, wood. Laminate is a budget flooring product and can be used in most rooms throughout the house. A quality laminate looks realistic and may even sport a textured top that mimics the image.
Cork flooring is made in a similar way to laminate flooring except the top image layer is a thin layer of real cork, which can come in many coloured stains. It’s a soft, sound-absorbent, casual-style flooring with a durability that’s great for mud rooms, basements and playrooms. Good quality cork flooring can last 20 years and is considered one the most environmentally friendly flooring choices.
Tile floors are perfect for foyers, bathrooms, kitchens and mud rooms, and are also gaining popularity for extended rooms off the kitchen, such as a family room. Larger tiles seem to be all the rage nowadays. Shiny finishes imply modern or contemporary, while matte finishes (such as a terracotta or concrete) achieve a casual look. Grout lines are becoming smaller, and the colour of grout is matching the tone of the tile in order to create less of a visual grid pattern.
Wall-to-wall carpeting is back in vogue and is a great option for bedrooms and family rooms. Look for woven loops rather than plush cut fibres. Looped style will create a dense, easycare floor that won’t show foot traffic (or vacuum brushes). Choose a neutral colour (a light to medium caramel colour, similar to a wood floor) to create a base for the room’s decor. Wool carpeting will shed for the first year as fibres unwind with wear — this is normal. A good quality wool rug will last a lifetime. A synthetic-fibre carpet will be easier to keep clean, require less maintenance and last five to 10 years.
DESIGNER DETAILS
Plank Size: A standard wood plank width (for wood or laminate) is about 3.5 to 5 inches. Wider planks imply a casual or traditional look, while thinner offers a mid-century modern feel. Proportionally, large rooms or open concept spaces can hold wider planks, while a tiny room should feature thinner planks.
Stain Colour: Wood tones should match the historical architectural style of your home, so it always looks appropriate and never goes out of fashion. An Arts and Crafts style home would have a cherry or walnut stained wood, while a 1970s apartment would have blond wood, reminiscent of early modern design. Stain colour trends change about every 20 years, so be careful as to how long you might want a trend around.
Trend patterns: We are seeing a lot of patterns coming to flooring, including handpainted concrete tiles, stencilled wood flooring and patterned laminates. Most patterns have a popularity span of about eight years. If you want pattern, I suggest wallpapering the walls instead, as it’s a much easier and less expensive way to add pattern as compared to changing the floors.
COST CONSIDERATIONS
Knowing the price per square foot helps you budget before you shop. Pre-stained, engineered wood: $5 to $15. Laminate: $3 to $8. Cork: $5 to $10. Tile: $2 to $15. Carpet: $4 to $15. Add 10 per cent overage when purchasing to cover labour associated with prep of the original floor and installation of new floor. DESIGNER RULES Include no more than three wood tones/colours in a room — flooring might be one of them. If you want to mix different wood flooring throughout your home, (or are adding onto or opening up a room) choose the same wood species (oak, walnut, maple, etc.) in the same stain colour. The most popular wood floor is oak in a medium walnut stain. When mixing flooring types throughout a home (tiled foyer, carpeted bedroom, cork kitchen and wood or laminate everywhere else), choose the largest surface first (usually the living/ dining area), and opt for a similar tone and colour throughout to create flow and avoid visually chopping up the space between the various types of flooring. Next week I’ll take the dizziness out of mixing patterns. Do you have a design dilemma? Email me at: klohnesdecor@ sympatico.ca