Sustainable Wood Flooring Rising Interior Trend

We’ve long taken inspiration from nature when designing our interiors, and it seems that this is a trend that’s set to grow and grow as we look for more ways to balance out our increasingly technology-heavy lives.

My Inspired Design recently shared some of the top biophilic design trends picked out by Ambius, an interior landscaping company, noting that all the decor choices listed in the category have “staying powersâ€.

Biophilic design means using humans’ innate connection to nature and natural processes to help design our homes and workspaces to improve our overall wellbeing and make them healthier places to live and work in.

At the top of the list is sustainably sourced and reclaimed timber. The news provider noted that “wood is a central part of the biophilic revolutionâ€.

Speaking to the website, head of innovation for Ambius Kenneth Freeman said: “Wood is certainly the material of choice for everything from furniture to flooring as well as more architectural elements, such as wall and floor coverings and even exposed structural elements.â€

Flooring is a particularly obvious place to introduce wood, with Mr Freeman noting that if you’re planning to include this you should think about where your wood comes from and what’s locally available.

As well as bringing natural elements into architecture, biophilic design is also about minimising the impact on the environment.

If you’re not sure which type of hardwood flooring would work best in your home, you may want to take a look at the advice offered in House Beautiful recently. The news provider noted that from an aesthetic perspective, there are two things that will factor into your decision – the grain and the stain of the wood.

The grain is determined primarily by the species of wood, while the stain is what’s added to finish the flooring and give it its final colour.

Patrick Bewley, vice president of marketing at US-based flooring brand Duchateau, commented: “Our advice is to start by selecting the colour range that’s most attractive to you – the one that speaks to you and the space.â€

Once you’ve done this, you’ll have narrowed down your options somewhat. Then you can start looking at the grain and surface treatments of the woods that fit into your colour range and pick from there.

You should also factor in how hard wearing a particular type of wood will be. What might be appropriate in the bedroom may not be ideal in a hallway or kitchen that has a lot more foot traffic, for example.

It’s important to understand what you’ll need to do to keep on top of the maintenance and cleaning of your flooring so that you can decide whether you’re willing to put the effort in to keep your wood flooring looking perfect.

Laying wood flooring correctly isn’t all that easy, and will require specialist flooring tools. That means it’s usually better to call in the professionals to make sure you get the polished and pristine look you want from your new floor.

As a flooring fitter, you may see a rising number of homeowners and businesses calling on your services to lay wooden flooring given how popular it’s becoming as a design choice.