Flooring is the only part of a room you have to touch. So why not let your toes help make a few decisions when making those underfoot choices both inside your home and out in your yard?
While we all spend a lot of time obsessing about the vertical elements of our rooms, those horizontal 5th and 6th walls (ceilings and floors) are often passed over as opportunities for innovative personal expression or just fun home decor.
Well, I’m hoping that you’ll take a moment to consider options beyond just carpet, area rug, linear wood plank flooring, and tile for those inside spaces. And for your yard, deck, and garden, there’s more than just grass, pavers and wood planks.
Your floor can be the star in any space, giving that room character and energizing the experience of your entire home. Take a journey with me and consider a few ideas for your next makeover. Your friends and family will be floored by your mad style skills.
Tempting textures.
Texture is the easiest way to add a sense of luxe in any space. But beyond the look of texture, the tactile experience of a surface can change how we behave and react in a room. If you walk into a space with a hard smooth surface, like tile, the tactile feeling and the auditory experience create a sense of formality and sterility. It might be that we’re used to tile covering bathrooms, busy entryways, and kitchens. And when there’s less sound echo and a softer surface, like carpet or cork, we feel more casual.
Conversely, integrating softer, more tactile materials like plush fabrics, woolen rugs, or velvet upholstery can transform a room into a welcoming, intimate space. These textures absorb sound, reducing echoes, and create a sense of warmth and comfort. This is particularly effective in living areas or bedrooms, where relaxation and a sense of sanctuary are paramount. The psychological impact of these materials is profound; they invite us to sit down, relax, and stay awhile.
They also have a way of softening the overall aesthetic of a room, rounding out harsh lines and adding visual interest. This is why a balance of textures is crucial in interior design – to achieve both functional and emotional harmony in a space. So whether you’re going for a wood finish from stikwood.com or a rough natural textured finish like raw concrete, the name of the game is keeping your end goal in mind.
Mix it up.
Mixing surface materials can create an entirely new experience, like integrating wood and tile in a flooring design. By blending flooring changes instead of following the old rules of a linear transition strip between rooms, you can open up the experience of the floor beyond the typical.
And, changing the flooring in adjoining rooms doesn’t have to make that open floor plan home seem smaller. If you keep the change within the same color palette, it will feel just as expansive as if you kept it the same. For example, using tiles for garage floor that are similar to those in the adjoining interior spaces can offer a more seamless look that will flow from your home, making it feel more cohesive. The bonus is the visual texture that makes your home feel more expressive of your personal style.
Natural touch.
Use nature to make a custom picturesque backyard. It’s fun to use grass and hardscape elements to create ‘nature rugs’ as place-making patterns like a checkerboard or to use grass and stone in an organic placement that allows nature to grow between the gaps, making an outdoor space less formal. Wood decks and wood platforms that mix in different species of wood in non-typical patterns can become the most talked about part of your backyard.
Pattern power.
Flooring doesn’t have to be a grid. Try something unusual, and it will be the grand statement of the space. Taking time to lay wood flooring in a pattern can take the floor from being just a floor to being ‘home decor’ and gives a space more texture. Black-and-white stripes give any sleek modern space into a masculine luxe vibe.
Buffalo check tile flooring using standard black, white, and grey tiles can add a country chic element. A formal graphic tile pattern can feel global when paired with the right home decor partners. And a simple two-color graphic pattern floor elevates the look of any room.
Color me happy.
Flooring colors don’t have to be neutral.It’s true. You can have a red floor. It energizes a space, and takes it into a global style statement. A floor stencil is easy to add to a porch floor or any room of the house, and a stencil can personalize your home and add to a room’s charm. A favourite color statement for a floor is an eclectic tile collage, which is like a quilt for your floor and wall. If you are a bit unsure of the tile quilt idea, but want to give it a try, keep this in mind: tile can be successfully mixed when keeping the color story consistent.
Turn the corner.
Flooring doesn’t have to stop at the wall. Why not turn the corner? A flooring material can turn the corner and go up walls and other built-in surfaces. Take the flooring material up one wall, or up a section like the shower wall or kitchen backsplash. Or make a statement and run a stripe of surfacing like tile or a wood inlay down the wall and onto the floor.
Your flooring choices can change the look of any space, and completely affect your mood. I hope that we’ve helped inspire you for your next home makeover project.
If you have any home design and color conundrums, send me a Tweet and join me every Wednesday at 1pmET for a fun #HossColor Twitter chat.
