Choosing Interior Flooring for Your Home

Choosing an interior floor that is right for you and your lifestyle can be tricky and there are lots of styles and materials to choose from.

Home improvement portals reveal flooring will experience a big increase in investment during 2020 with 30% of homeowners citing their existing flooring as something they want to replace.

Whilst interior trends come and go, flooring is having something of a ‘renaissance’ with dynamic new materials and original patterns making the common floor a ‘statement piece’ in the home!

What should you look for in an interior floor?

Interior floors need to be practical and hardwearing but most of us also want them to add character to the room we’re creating and complement furniture and soft furnishings.

Perhaps you want your new space to be warm and cosy or to reflect the heritage of your property, in this case you might opt for a more traditional or aged floor such as yorkstone or slate. If however, your tastes are more classic then beautiful smooth, sandstone or limestone flooring has a timeless appeal.

Porcelain flooring may be relatively new to the market but wood-effect porcelain is the No 1 flooring trend for 2020!  It adds a new dimension to interior flooring allowing you to have the look and feel of natural wood or stone but in a smooth porcelain floor tile. As well as being extremely durable and low maintenance as interior flooring, porcelain is non porous and slip resistant, so is ideal for areas around water, such as kitchens, bathrooms, utilities and indoor swimming pools.

The current craze for seamless indoor/outdoor flooring can be hard to achieve if you don’t go for the right product. The beauty of stone floors is that they are ideal as robust frost and algae resistant paving but are just as lovely waxed or varnished for low maintenance interior floors.

Top 5 Interior Floor Design Tips

When planning your interior flooring consider these simple design tips and acquire a floor you will cherish forever.

1. Consider the period of your property and your personal style and opt for a floor which will enhance both of these.

2. Consider the orientation of the room and how much natural light it receives, this should set the tone for how dark you want the flooring to be. If you have patio or bi-fold doors you might also want to consider flooring that can run outdoors too for paths or a terraced area, to create a seamless indoor/outdoor finish.

3. Don’t be afraid to mix materials and styles, period floors can work really well with contemporary furniture and different floor materials can be used from room to room.

4. Kitchens and hallways by their very nature can lead to children and dogs running in with muddy feet & paws. Consider a practical, hardwearing floor which will be easy to maintain and keep clean (or opt for a dark floor so the mud won’t show!).

5. Always consider underfloor heating, it prevents the need for wall mounted radiators (which can be particularly useful in a kitchen) and will keep your room cosy underfoot. All of Westminster Stone's flooring ranges are compatible.

Before You Buy...

Take a sample home with you, the colours may look different in the light of your home. Also think about the texture for each room, lovely rustic floors may be the look you’re after and are perfect for hallways and boot rooms but will your dining table sit on them without rocking!

Think about how much maintenance the floor will require. Some floors such as porcelain are maintenance free and are easy to clean, whereas natural stone floors are porous and will require re-sealing from time to time to prevent staining.

Budget carefully to include all fitting costs, grouting and sealants - have you budgeted for underfloor heating? Laying the wrong floor is a costly mistake so get some good advice from a reputable retailer.