Home improvement tips abound, and there has been a great deal written about the best colour for your feature walls and swapping your soft furnishings, and re-arranging the living room. We all have too much time on our hands at home, and there is a trend to invest this time into home improvement and redesign.
The time may have come for you to take on one of the top challenges for home DIY. Either because you have done everything else or because you’re starting your DIY journey, and the best place to start is generally at the beginning, and that for many of you out there will be your floors.
Floors are the base from which to build the room
In fact, the entire house design is literally built on the floors. The wrong carpet or cheap laminate flooring that is uneven and poorly laid is just not going to cut it and will detract from the overall room and house design. The floors are the first thing you see when you enter the property and the last thing as you close the door behind you. The floors are a worthy challenge as they cover the entire base of your home and will need to serve many purposes so you can have some fun and be practical. With the improvement in technology and design, you can also pretty much have any colour or texture that your heart desires.
Floors can make the biggest design statement
We can all visualise white marble floors and imagine the coolness underfoot. Choose a bespoke wood flooring company, and you can pretty much design a one-off colour and pattern in wood. Alternatively, use the same wood and colour throughout with minimal patterning, and you create a serene background for the wall art, lighting, and colour. Floors are a design must, and even on their own, can add depth and texture to a plain room.
They are the most long-lasting feature inside the house
Wallpaper, paint and detailed finishes are all changed a lot more than the floors are and for good reason. Changing your floors can cause a lot of damage to your other finishes, as you have to remove carpets:-sand, scrape and then insulate or heat, varnish and or paint or glue if you’re doing carpet and laminate. It’s a lot of work to do, and you don’t want to have to do this more often than you need to. Choosing the right floor when you do them is going to be the best decision you make. Take the time you need and plan each room, one at a time, if you have to.
Floors are integral and affected during painting and other refurb work
Think of them first as they are the largest expanse of colour. If you’re remodelling the entire home, painting replacing, and fixing, then plan on the floors as well. The general rule is to prep walls, paint the ceiling and then rip out flooring and replace it. Most painters prefer to cover floors and paint walls last to avoid any scrapes and scratches. If you have timber flooring, the sanding and polishing should also be done before painting and then covered during painting.
Floors determine functionality
You can’t have carpets in a classy bathroom. You need to choose the right surface for the rooms purpose. How many times have you walked into a room with a gorgeous white carpet and thought, I’d love one of those in my front room? Never. It’s not the 60s, and there won’t be carpets in the bathroom or coal-burning fires in the main bedroom. You can have the exact floor covering and colour that you want in each part of your house, but you must have thought it through, choose for functionality, and you won’t go wrong.
Your floors can affect your health
Dust and dirt gather in cracks and gaps between carpets and skirting boards, especially if they’ve not been laid right and there are uneven surfaces or creases in the carpeting. Several scientific studies have shown that the air we breathe inside our homes, indoor air quality (IAQ) can have a lasting impact on our respiratory health. Indoor ventilation is key, as is the nature of your flooring, how often it is cleaned, and the type of cleaning products that you use. Having a hard, professionally laid floor that is free from dust and easily cleaned without solvents is the only way to go.
So, if you’re planning some DIY, then choose floors, the benefits are tremendous, and by the way, they’re trending this summer.
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