Renovating your home is fun, exciting and creative – but it can also be stressful. As the project starts, it’s easy to get caught up with all the colour, furnishings and finishes detailing. The aesthetics of your home are obviously of great importance. It’s a reflection of you and your family, your personal taste as well as how you live and function in your home. We are endlessly exploring design magazines and Pinterest for inspiration and the latest trends to give us a direction in our renovation. Not wanting to compromise, we aim to create a magazine-worthy look in our homes while being true to our budgets. When designing a space, many of us look to fabrics and colours as our inspiration… Why not look down and get inspired by your floors instead?

Expansion of flooring products

Flooring can often be overlooked, but regardless of whether you consciously notice, flooring actually can make a large impact to the overall aesthetic of your space. It can inspire your design direction, and with well curated decisions, elevate your home. When it comes to the more permanent finishes in your home, such as flooring, it is important to find materials, styles and colours that suit your functional needs, while complementing your style and budget.

Over the years, we have witnessed a huge expansion in flooring products. With advancements in quality, durability and applications, as well as colours and finishes, there seems to now be endless choices to suit all budget levels. We are all familiar with traditional hardwood and engineered flooring. Traditional hardwood, due primarily to the installation method, is not a customary option for condo living. Engineered wood, with its many options, on the other hand, can be a great option for condo flooring. Much like natural hardwood, engineered wood floors add wonderful warmth and elegance to a space, but with the added benefit of being lighter in weight for condos and have varying installation methods that are just not suitable for solid hardwood. Engineered also has the added benefit of reduced shrinkage and expansion that is more customary with solid hardwood, offering greater stability with less warping and gaps.

Trends have been moving more towards softer naturally warmer more organic tones for flooring. Rich mid-toned walnuts, lighter natural white oaks and a resurgence of rich, deeply saturated darker browns to name a few. While the lighter tones are a perfect neutral foundation that integrates well with anything from a more minimalist, modern style to traditional, these warmer yet richer tones can create a sense of luxury, drama and sophistication.

Expansive options

Technology has expanded and now more than ever the “faux” options of flooring look more like the real thing and can also be a more affordable option for your home. Not only are they highly durable and waterproof, they’re also beautifully texturized to appear natural looking while being low maintenance. Laminate is a hard surface flooring that is manufactured using material such as medium or high-density fibreboard which forms the core.

Luxury vinyl, on the other hand, is a soft surface flooring product that is flexible. It comes in a variety of installation options, providing not only a great look but also comfort. Luxury vinyl is available in an abundance of fantastic options that have the look of wood, stone or other natural material.

Vinyl composite core, another flooring option, combines the best features of laminate and luxury vinyl. Boards are rigid planks that click together like laminate but are constructed from a water-resistant vinyl composite material that gives them the flexibility of vinyl flooring that can be installed anywhere – even bathrooms and laundry rooms.

By using longer, wider boards for your flooring, regardless of product type, you are not only creating a more contemporary feel that draws inspiration from European design, it can also give the optical illusion of making your space appear larger; especially if you continue the same floor throughout your entire space. This is especially alluring in smaller spaces such as condos, so don’t be afraid to think big in your flooring selection.

Inspirational look and feel

While on the topic of “wood” floors, we should not eliminate parquet as another choice. Parquet flooring is pretty much a mosaic of wood pieces combined to create a pattern. The most common patterns for parquet are basketweave, diagonal and herringbone. Parquet flooring was trendy in the 1970s and 1980s, however, we have seen a resurgence in recent years. The modern version of parquet is a classic, luxurious, “Euro” look that is durable and affordable.

Flooring often does not get the attention it deserves, and though it may seem unconventional to imagine that flooring could be the root of the designs for your space, with today’s flooring options, it’s completely possible. Your floors are a core part of your home setting the stage for your design and decorating. Beautifully worn, 100-year-old floors tell a story of their previous life while still inspiring a vibe of eclecticism and current design trends. Herringbone floors feel elegant, sophisticated and well-curated. Warm toned, wide-plank floors can create an inviting, relaxed and cosy vibe, while the lighter blonde tones can convey a more contemporary feel.

Whatever style, texture and colour of flooring you choose, it will inspire the look and feel of your home.