Why Neutral Flooring Is The Best

DIY / Home Improvement

With minimalistic decor such as Scandinavian design and clean-cut finishes taking over the interior world, neutral flooring has grown ever popular with homeowners who are bursting at the seams to replicate this in their own homes. Some of us associate neutral colours with being dull or boring, but this simply isn’t the case! They actually open up your home and make it look more spacious, as well as matching with all sorts of other colours, whether that be the wall or furniture.

Whitewashed Wood

White is a very popular choice for interiors and for good reason. With it being a common choice for walls, furniture and ceilings why not go for it on your walls too? This is because it complements nearly every interior theme, opens up your room (giving the illusion of more space) and offers that desirable fresh and clean look. With this being said, whitewashed wood is the perfect choice for your floors – but you’re not settling for something too plain and some would say ‘boring’. White washed wood actually offers a shabby chic appearance, something very on trend at the moment! This will give your room that much needed touch of character and charisma. If solid wood is out of your price bracket, then engineered wood or even a pale laminate can do the trick too!

Grey Flooring

Grey flooring’s popularity has risen significantly in recent years due to its superb versatility. You can get away with grey flooring in nearly every decor theme, from a rustic, contemporary to traditional interior – whatever your style, grey floors will go fantastically with it! It’s truly a classic colour and is very hard to take against, beneficial when selling your home too. There’s so many shades you can choose from too, all of which give totally different looks!

Cream Floors

Cream isn’t just for walls! This elegant colour will add sophistication and class to your home while still remaining beautifully neutral. Not only is it used for calming a neutral look, but also comes in a wide range of styles – it won’t look out of place anywhere! It’s the ideal colour if you just want something as a backdrop and will go with everything, why do you think so many of us have magnolia walls? You can get a gorgeous creamy wood to polished concrete, there’s so many options with materials too!

As we’ve discussed, there’s plenty of options when it comes to neutral wood colours. No matter which one you opt for, you’ll end up with a beauty floor that will adhere to your tastes perfectly.

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Top Flooring Options for Your Home

DIY / Home Improvement Home Repair

The idea to renovate and upgrade your home is one that many homeowners have taken to heart today. They want a new kitchen or bathroom, or to make their family room larger, or even add an additional bedroom. These are all great upgrades that can add to the beauty and comfort-ability of your home.

One of the best home upgrades to make is to add new high quality flooring to some or all of the rooms in your home.

Flooring has become a top renovation statement and is sometimes overlooked as a way to upgrade the look in rooms, hallways and other areas of your home. That is until the homeowner actually does the upgrade and then the reaction is that they regret waiting so long. There are many options for new flooring. Here are some of the most popular options for you to consider.

Hardwood

In terms of the most beautiful and elegant type of flooring hardwood has virtually every other type of flooring beat. Hardwood flooring covers a variety of hard woods that range in color, style and have unique patterns. The wood planks come in a range of widths and are always finished with coatings that make the wood look beautiful and last for years. They can bring out the look of furniture, drapes and wall coverings improving the stylishness of each.

In terms of upkeep, hardwood floors are easy to maintain with only a dry mop needed for cleaning. Dust and food will not stick to the floors. You will however every year or so depending on traffic have to get the floors polished. And must be careful however because the floors can scratch easily and deep scratches will require a professional to remove. Also you cannot let the floors get excessively wet or the wood will warp. If you are a bit careful, and do not put them in high traffic areas, your hardwood floors will last for decades and give you great service.

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood is manufactured by binding or fixing the strands, particles, fibres, or veneers or boards of wood, together with adhesives, or other methods. Engineered wood flooring is made from the same hardwoods and softwoods used to manufacture lumber. They contain a thin layer of hardwood on top and a plywood base beneath. Since engineered wood has a thinner layer of hardwood on top, it is not as durable as hardwood flooring. It can also chip of break more easily.

However engineered flooring does offer some advantages over hard wood. First, it can be purchased for less than expensive hardwood flooring. Also, is an excellent choice for areas where solid hardwood cannot be installed, like in basements, over concrete floors or over radiant heating systems. Engineered wood like Kahrs engineered wood flooring can be purchased in the most elegant styles and many that cannot be found in traditional wood flooring. It also is has advantages over carpet because it does not hold dirt or dust that can trigger allergies.

Carpet

Carpet has been a go to floor covering for forever because of its many positive attributes. It can be purchased in all price ranges. It is very durable and suitable for high traffic areas. Carpet comes in a huge range of styles and looks to match any room or furniture. And it feels great on bare feet.

Carpet can be challenging because it can be difficult to clean especially if spills get into the padding. If it collects too many spills, carpet can begin to smell. It also collects dust and even with frequent vacuuming it can be difficult to fully clean. There are however some great carpet cleaning services that can deep clean carpet and make it seem like new. In the end carpet remains so popular because of its versatility and look.

Although each flooring choice has great benefits, it may come down to the look and feel of the flooring you want in your home. Experiment with samples of each and you will discover the perfect choice.

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Different Ways to Get a Wooden Floor

DIY / Home Improvement

If you like wooden floors, you are certainly not alone. In the UK, hardwood floors were so popular that at one stage that the Office of National Statistics included it in the national “basket” of goods, which is used to measure inflation. This was the case until 2014, when demand for real wood floors started to fall.

However, that does not mean that the Brits fell out of love with wooden floors, quite the opposite. What happened is that consumers realised that there were cheaper and easier ways for them to achieve the wooden floor look they desired.

wooden-floor-and-old-wall

Wood effect laminate flooring

In 1977, Perstorp launched a new form of flooring, called laminate flooring, in Sweden. It sold well there, but did not become available in Europe until 1984.

This innovative new product is made by overlaying a high quality digitised photo of a real wood floor onto wooden boards. A tough transparent finish is then sprayed over the top, which protects the photographic print.

The tougher the final layer is the longer the floor will last. Provided high quality images are used, this type of flooring is very realistic, as you can see by visiting the Discount Flooring Depot website.

Laminate flooring is graded. There are five different types from AC1 to AC5. The higher the rating the better the quality is. If you want to lay a new floor in a guest room where there is very little footfall AC1 grade laminate flooring is fine. However, if you are replacing the floor in a high traffic area, you will need to pay a little extra and lay AC4 or AC5 grade flooring.

Engineered woods

Engineered wood is made in a similar way to laminate flooring.

It is also made up of three layers. This type of flooring consists of a composite board that is overlaid with a veneer, which is protected by a transparent protective layer. The veneer is made from thin slices of real wood.

Usually 2mm is the thinnest and 9mm is the thickest. From an aesthetic point of view, it does not really matter how thick the veneer is, but it does affect how durable your floor is. Generally speaking, the thicker the veneer is the more hardwearing the floor will be. However, that is not the whole story. You also need to look at how thick, and durable, the transparent finish is. It is best to use the grading system to ensure that you choose engineered wood that is designed for the level of footfall your new floor is likely to be subjected to.

Which option is right for you?

Of course, if you want to you can still buy a traditional wooden floor. However, doing so can work out expensive. Especially if you need a professional to lay it for you, which is why consumers are increasingly choosing to use laminate flooring or engineered wood instead.

Which option is right for you is dependent on your budget, how long you want the floor to be down for, and how much work you are prepared to do to maintain your floors. Typically, real wood floors are the most expensive option. In addition, as you can see from this page, they require much more maintenance.

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