When designing a new home, you have the freedom to choose the aesthetics. Your vision can become a reality, within budgetary guidelines, everything from floor to ceiling. And when it comes to flooring choices, you now have many more options than just carpet vs hardwood. Interior designers are constantly keeping up to date with the latest trends in flooring options, at all budgetary levels. Not only can you choose from a seemingly infinite range of color choices, but materials range from tile to faux wood to marble.
Most wood floors are typically stained, but when it comes to modern options, the latest trend is a technique called fumed flooring. Also known as smoking, the tannins in the wood are brought to the surface by heat, thereby changing the wood’s color. Since no two pieces of wood will fume alike, be prepared to have a colorful, nontraditional look for your room. Another option to replace the typical brown glossy look is to have bleached, lighter wooden flooring. Blanched wood has had a chemical treatment applied that strips the outer layer, leaving the natural wood grain underneath. It gives off a very beachy-feel to any room.
Distressed furniture has been all the rage for a while, and now people are applying the same design motif to flooring. By intentionally aging the wood, it gives it a rustic, homey appearance. By contrast, contractors are now seeing distressed concrete flooring as an option for incorporating wood in home design. Some people love the indoor/outdoor look of repurposed barn tiles. They don’t even need to be symmetrical, and the directional finish looks even more authentic.
Patterned tiles and wooden slats are also very popular, whether they are black and white or feature an iconic pattern like a Chevron or Herringbone, the only limit is your imagination. Many home remodeling projects focus on an accent bathroom floor. This is a relatively minor project that can add incremental home sale value.
For those with a more daring side, it is quite simple to use tiles on the floor to create a work of art. Any pattern you can dream of is now available these days to spruce up your house and make it your own. Porcelain tiles in the kitchen are starting to join the popularity of the subway backsplash wall tiles.