Previously I looked at affordable floors, well this time I am going to cover the other end of the spectrum with floor that reach a cost of around £100 a square metre for the material alone. As an interior designer the flooring is quote often the first consideration I make when choosing materials for an interior. be it a shop, Restaurant or someone’s home. This is because the floor in design terms is a lot more restricted in choice than other finishes due to the practical issues it has to forfil. So what are the options?
Timber flooring
There is a type of timber floor called chevron, this is made up out of shorter pieces of wood with a 45 degree angle to both ends. This gives the effect as seen below. The floor can be brought from here or here.
Carpet
My all time favourite carpet is hand woven in India and is super bobbly. I have always promised myself a rug of it one day and once we have completed an extension we are building I am going to order it. It is by a company called Jacaranda and is called Abha. You would not be able to use this particular carpet on a stair but it will certainly feel good under your feet. The only other aspect to consider when choosing this carpet is that it will not be suitable with underfloor heating, although if you are building from scratch there are now radiators that you can set under floor level that have grilles that the heat permeates from.
Tiles
For years now tile manufacturers have been trying to hone their skills in making porcelain tiles look like timber planks. There are now a good range of these and the repeats are few and far between also. The joy of this and there main strength is that when designing a interior dining space meets exterior patio space you can use the tile in both and heat in interior part. This gives you the ultimate inside outside feel. The only design factor to consider is that the exterior version has the correct slip resistance. There are a lot of companies that supply this type of tile but here is one of them
Leather flooring
Leather flooring is not for certain types of spaces, but I imagine it is amazing in bedroom where you are most likely to be walking around in Bare feet. You can now get leather flooring tiles which are installed on walls as well as floors. one of the places that supply them is here, this is not for everyone (my wife is a vegetarian for instance) but your bedroom is your own personal domain which can lead to some interesting design choices.
Looking back at all of these floors makes me want to move house (to one that deserves expensive floors) and spend a lot of the refurbishment budget on designing some amazing spaces around some lovely floors. For the next few years I will just have to put them into some of my clients houses instead.
The next article will be about what the choice of flooring is for interiors with under floor heating.
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