It’s not so long ago here in the UK that our homes were filled with very formulaic interior decorating concepts; Bathrooms and kitchens would have small ceramic tiles on the walls with a vinyl on the floor and everywhere else would be wallpapered walls and carpeted floors.
Things have moved apace, particularly in the last two decades, and we’re now seeing UK households come way more in line with our European counterparts in recognising the hygiene and design benefits of using quality hard surfaces in more living areas. Our argument was always ‘it’s too cold under foot’, and we would stand by our tried and tested carpet options – despite the dirt and dust they cling onto and bury deep into their forests of weave for microscopic insects to feed on – but with underfloor heating systems more advanced and price conscious than ever that’s no longer the case. Hard floors are no longer the cold option – quite the opposite.
At first it was the wood effect laminates that paved the way until their flaws of separating, wearing down, scratching and delaminating became apparent. These were followed by an upsurge of good looking solid wood equivalents that are still hanging in there despite scratching, staining and creaking more and more as time passes.
The most up to date entry in this evolutionary timeline of UK interiors is PORCELAIN. There’s now such a diverse range of styles and designs available beyond anything we could have imagined in the early 2000’s that interior designers, architects and retail customers alike are making porcelain tiles the floor covering of choice in the majority of projects. Wooden floors are being replaced for wood look porcelain floors due to their realism, hygiene and hardwearing properties. Porcelain tiles are now made in every size imaginable from the smallest of mosaics right up to 3.2m x 1.6m slabs. They’re produced in 6mm thick to lighten the loads of the largest slabs so they can be used on walls and floors in almost any setting, 10mm thick for ‘regular’ tiling projects and now also 2cm thick for use outdoors and in areas where you might need heavy load bearing on a raised floor.
Our most popular showroom enquiry at the moment is for large format floor tile ranges that will enhance the whole design ethic throughout the home and can also be supplied in thicker models to run outdoors without changing the aesthetic at all. Bringing the outdoors in and vice versa.
Combined with intelligent app based under floor heating systems, could we at last have evolved and developed the perfect flooring solution?
We think so.