Real wood floors are still the ultimate floor covering. Nothing can match the beauty and natural authenticity and warmth of fine wood. As with anything else, wood flooring is subject to trends and changing fashions. Here are some trends that are happening right now.
“Olde World” is the hottest trend in wood floors this year. Highly polished, new looking floors are being usurped by floors that look like they have been walked on by countless generations of feet. Reclaimed wood has been very popular since the early 1990’s and continues to be so. It’s very environmentally friendly because new forests don’t have to be cut down to make flooring. On the other hand, the supply of old beams, floors, and logs salvaged from rivers and lakes is limited so reclaimed wood flooring is expensive and can be difficult to find.
Distressed wood flooring is a cheaper alternative to reclaimed wood. It’s made by machine distressing new wood to make it look like reclaimed wood.
Hand scraped wood falls between reclaimed wood and distressed flooring on the price spectrum. Wear marks and the scrapes typically seen on handcrafted wood planks are reproduced by hand. Heavily distressed wood was popular in the past but these days a more gently distressed appearance is in vogue.
Also popular this year are wide plank floors. The width of real wood planks was traditionally limited to less than five inches because the wider the plank, the more it’s affected by temperature and humidity. Planks up to seven inches wide are now available.
Also very popular this year is site finished flooring. Wood flooring that’s installed and finished on site has smoother edges than pre-finished, micro-bevelled planks. Plus, customers can have their floors finished in any colour that they want.
If you have a room that’s crying out for the beauty of laminate or wood flooring, visit TimberTown today for Alberta’s best selection of wood flooring and expert advice.
