Floors of beauty and strength

Flooring is the highlight of the latest trends in interior designing today and everyone wishes to get the best of it for their abode. Classy flooring adds a ‘luxe’ factor to the decor of any space, thereby enhancing the beauty of the place. Everyone wishes to give a unique identity to their homes and offices. And having exotic and exclusive flooring spices it up.

In recent times, wooden flooring has caught the fancy of many. While many love it for its ‘no nonsense’ maintenance aspect, others like it for its subtle appeal. Of all, hardwood flooring has found many takers in today’s age. Let’s a take a look at some of its trends:

The ‘in’ colours
Reds and oranges are out and browns and greys are in. In fact, in some ways, it’s all about colour. Widely available finish colours include an array of browns, greys, whites and even blacks. Choose the perfect colour of flooring to match your decor and bring style and excitement to any room in your house.

Wider, longer planks
Nowadays, wider planks are in fashion. Wider planks visually open up a small space and can create a more spacious visual, making them an excellent option for living rooms, master bedrooms, or any section of the home. Wide planks can be installed horizontally, vertically, or even diagonally — for a more dramatic look. While there is still a strong market for more traditional narrower planks, the wide plank trend seems to be on the rise, with some newer products offered in planks as wide as 10-12 inches.

Grey tones
Grey tones are now one of the hottest options in hardwood flooring. Grey hardwood flooring is the perfect way to modernise an outdated room. Grey tones can range from light neutrals to deep saturated charcoals.

Grey tones bring out the beauty of natural wood, highlighting the grains and texture, which adds visual interest to a room, allowing the flooring to be a true statement piece. While at the same time, neutral grey tones won’t overpower a room and will compliment many decorating styles.

Darker woods
Want to make a bolder statement? Consider the trend toward darker stain colours, such as ebony, for a rich and contemporary look. Or for a more traditional feel, consider a deep, warm jacobean or dark walnut. Today’s hardwood flooring is all about colour — and the deeper and darker the colour, the bolder the design impact. Dark hardwoods, such as oak, cherry, and walnut, are perfect choices for creating this sleek, dark look.

Vintage style
Old is new again and one of the strongest trends in hardwood flooring continues to be the move towards more authentic-looking wood. Think of the rustic feel of homes built in the 1700s, 1800s, and the early 1900s with the knotty pine, maple, and hickory that reveals wood’s natural graining and colour variations.

White-washed appeal
It’s not the same floor you remember from the ‘80s. This new white-washed wood floor evokes high-end beach resorts and summer escapes. The wide planks are what updates this look, and adds lightness and modernity to your room. Like grey floors, it’s expensive to achieve the colour and also needs the same type of finishing.
(The author is country manager — Indian subcontinent, Junckers)