This article provides some of the newest and best flooring options
Flooring defines your house. Good and practical flooring provides you comfort and certain warmth every time your feet or eyes fall on it. The economy is not in a particularly good condition at the moment but flooring is still driving trends. Updating or changing the flooring is a big, time taking and lengthy process. In addition to all that, replacing the flooring is expensive and thus the customers want to have full value of their money. According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the World Floor Covering Association, things have shifted from spending to saving. He also says that even though people have started to spend less, it does not necessarily mean they have stopped investing in flooring; it merely means that they are looking more for value and comfort.
The floor manufacturers and designers have also realized the changing dynamics of the trade and so they are developing new technologies for flooring. New floorings are being developed which have low maintenance and high durability. Furthermore, the manufacturers are trying to bring the costs down as well.
Read the complete article to learn more about some new and great flooring trends!
Vinyl in demand
Choices for resilient vinyl flooring include a spectrum of styles, colours, textures and patterns. Add in vinyl’s easy-to-clean characteristics, comfort under foot and family-friendly stain-resistance, and the result is increasing popularity with value-hungry shoppers.
The demand continues for the “luxury vinyl” segment — top-quality resilient flooring with lookalike qualities that are increasingly difficult to distinguish from stone, wood plank and ceramic tile. At $4 to $5 per square foot, luxury vinyl products sit at the middle of the flooring price range. Nevertheless, the ability of these products to mimic traditional high-end materials, such as tumbled marble and exotic hardwoods, puts extraordinary good looks at the feet of ordinary homeowners at a fraction of the cost.
Carpet leads the way
Carpet remains the market-share leader, accounting for more than 60 percent of retail flooring sales. Manufacturers’ response to the stagnant home market has been to provide more fashion-oriented options at all prices.
“The variety of carpets these days is nothing short of amazing,” says Davis. “Pattern, design, colors, interesting cuts, the whole feel of the material. There’re more wow-factor choices than ever.”
Growing with green
If there’s a growth category in flooring, it’s the green market. Although the notion of green flooring has been au courant for years, demand for commercial flooring that complies with LEED standards has helped lower prices for green residential flooring as well. That translates into more new products and more consumer acceptance.
Most flooring manufacturers are jumping on the green bandwagon, adding lines that boast high recycled content and raw materials obtained from sustainable sources.
Author: John Riha
Link to the original article:
http://www.hgtv.com/design/decorating/design-101/flooring-trends
