Flooring is one of the most important design choices you will make for your new home, creating mood, texture, colour and flow throughout your home. It forms the basis of a home’s interior style, which is the reason many homeowners and interior designers in Australia will start from the ground and work their way up.
At first glance, the three obvious choices of carpet, tiles or timber flooring might sound simple. But with a wide range of flooring options on offer, and durability requirements to consider, it is worth putting some extra research and consideration into your floors.
When choosing the right flooring product for each room, first consider who will be using it. If you have younger children or pets, you may want flooring materials that are hardier than others. Likewise, high traffic zones like entertaining and living areas or hallways will need something more durable.
With practicalities out of the way, you can then narrow down the search for colours and textures you love — the choices that will reflect your style and turn a house into your dream home.
Floorboards
There’s no denying timber floors have timeless appeal. Solid timber floorboards are durable, easy to clean and become more resilient over time, but they can scratch and dent under claws and heels. But even if a rustic look is what you’re trying to achieve, your Studio M consultant will be able to provide advice on special finishes and ongoing maintenance you can do to keep your floorboards in top shape.
There’s an abundance of floorboard looks to choose from, catering to every lifestyle and every budget. An exclusive rustic or polished Australian oak floor will lift the luxe factor in your living room. Thanks to modern replicates, you can also achieve impressive results with more affordable vinyl and laminate flooring, which can create a high-end look without the worry of wear.
Carpet
Soft, sensual, cosy carpet makes a sensible choice for the quieter, more private parts of the home like bedrooms, the home theatre or study areas. Carpet choices are limitless in colour, style and texture. High-quality cut pile carpet feels like velvet under your feet but is known for ‘shading’ in high traffic areas. If you need something more durable, loop pile is a popular choice. It’s easy to clean and hard-wearing.
Hard flooring
In wet areas, particularly bathrooms, hard floors become a necessity. The biggest question that will arise around tiles is whether to go with ceramic, porcelain, marble or mosaic. In this case, think carefully about colour, texture, pattern and size. Larger, light coloured tiles reflect light and create an illusion of space. Darker toned tiles are contemporary and give a bathroom a more dramatic mood. Reflective gloss tiles add to the sophistication of a room and work beautifully in an opulent kitchen. If you want to mix it up, you can also create a unique focal feature with smaller, patterned tiles.
Bringing the look together
It’s perfectly fine to mix and match your floor coverings throughout the home, but remember to keep your transitions subtle. Starting with a mood board will help you choose complementary surfaces that flow. Then, when you meet with our Studio M interior specialists on your Metricon home selections day, you will get extra help to narrow down each choice to make sure it meets your functional requirements. With an extensive range of flooring choices and samples on display, you’ll be able to look, feel and creatively coordinate your flooring from our state of the art showrooms.
For further interior style inspiration, check out our collection of Lookbook Themes to see how our designers combine the best flooring to create consistent flow and style throughout our display homes.
