Choosing the perfect floor for your new house

Are you working on a building project or have you just bought a marvelous house but whose floors need work? Whether you are remodeling an old house or building a new one, here are a few tips to help you choose the perfect floor.

Look

What style suits your taste and your home? Choosing floor styles is hugely dependent on personal preference. What appeals to you may not appeal to your friends and vice versa.

Needs

What do you use the room for? For instance, wet rooms require tiles with some texture to avoid slipping. Living rooms and bedrooms will do well with tiles with wooden flooring, ceramic or “granito” tiles.

Space

What is the size and shape of the room? Is the room bright and full of sunlight or darker with fewer windows?

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Light floors make a room feel more spacious and can brighten up darker areas of your home, whilst mid-toned materials can add warmth to a space.

Darker tones scale a bigger room. Buy samples and test them out in your rooms at different times of day to see how the lighting looks against your floor choice.

Materials

Do you prefer the look of wood, stone or something unique and different? When it comes to wood designs, mahogany is a classic staple, but for something more unusual take a look at oak, walnut, hickory. Tiles come in ceramic and granite feel.

Colour

What colours feature most in your current decor or what colors will you be incorporating into your newly designed space? Natural colours are easy to match with furniture and fittings — what’s more, natural designs will keep looking great as your change and update your furnishings over the years.

Remember the floor is not a home feature that you change everyday so choose a floor you can live with for a long time.

Size

Do you prefer skinny or wide wood planks? Smaller square or large rectangular stone tiles? The size of your planks or tiles can be used to trick the eye into thinking that spaces are larger or smaller.

For instance, horizontal lines can draw the eye and make a small space seem longer. If you’re looking to make a small space seem larger, we suggest going for larger and wider scale planks and tiles.

The details

Would you like to personalise your floor with design strips, borders or other bespoke features? By using design strips and borders, you can easily zone your space and highlight architectural features. Or, go for bespoke features to make your home truly unique and original.

You can throw in a different-coloured tile or wood plank symmetrically in your floor pattern to create a different unique look. How you lay your floor will also help bring out its uniqueness.

You can use a vertical, horizontal or diagonal layout for square tiles. Parquet floors can be laid in a myriad of ways. Laminate floors however can only be laid in three ways. Oddly laid floors however have a lot of material wastage.

Practicality

Is the floor for a busy area in your home such as a kitchen or entrance hall? Will there be food and drink spills such as a kitchen or dining room? Water and bubbles in the bathroom? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need a floor that’s durable and easy to care for and keep clean. You can bet they will be able to withstand the everyday hustle and bustle of your home.

Get samples

Have you seen and touched your favourite floor to see the colours and textures up close? You can request samples from the shops or buy a few pieces to take home with you before you commit to buying the required amount.

Shop cheap

You have found the perfect floor for your space, needs and style. Conduct on-the-ground research in different shops to find the best deals and great discounts.

We don’t mean buy low quality or cheap as it will be costlier in the long run. Find reputable shops that stock the same floor colour, better yet buy from wholesalers. While at it, also ask for referrals for professional floor layers from the shops.