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When it comes to hotel spaces choosing a floor is a major decision not just because of durability but because of the character it will lend to your rooms and public spaces. Floors can add just as much beauty and grandeur to your establishment as any other interior design element. Your floor will act as a backdrop to everything else in the room and set the tone.
You must select carefully for the right colour, style, pattern and material for your floors to ensure that you make the right statement to suit the atmosphere you are aiming to achieve. Don’t be shy about your decisions. Be bold with your ideas because you want to make a lasting impression on your guests. This does not necessarily mean that you need to choose garish colours or crazy patterns, what it means is that your choices should be impactful, unique, perhaps a little daring but most of all they must make sense and add to your story.
If you were aiming for a more natural look to your hotel for instance, you might consider wood floors which have oodles of character and a timeless appeal. They will complement other biophilic elements in the room such as plants, water, rock and sunlight. Wood, engineered wood or wood effect LVT will all visually warm up a space in a very natural way… and remember there are dozens of ways to lay wood floors to create patterns that will give added interest. Herringbone and chevron designs being the most popular at the moment. Consider blending several wood types to create a very unique floor or by adding border in a contrasting wood, perhaps with a brass detail inlay. There are other natural materials that you can use too. Jute, seagrass and hemp carpeting are bang on-trend and will add loads of texture and muted colour to a space. Natural stone or LVT that mimics natural stone, might be another option. Bamboo flooring is very versatile and comes in many beautiful colour-ways. There are a number of carpets being produced right now that also would be very suitable for hospitality venues who are looking looking to bring nature inside. One range that springs to mind is the Craigend Collection designed by Timorous Beasties. These designs are hand drawn and painted with pen and inks on paper then translated into a woven wool carpeting that mimics the effects of the natural world such as water, rock formations, silk moires, insects and trailing plants. The hotel world has gravitated to these grand designs because they work very well in large spaces.
When it comes to fitted carpets the world is your oyster. Any colour can be digitally matched and reproduced in a twist or tufted pile and in fact any design of your liking can be replicated in carpeting… and because of the large quantities of carpet usually needed for a hotel it will cost only a little extra to set up the looms to produce a bespoke carpet that will be unique to your hotel. The same goes for carpet tiles and vinyl floors that can now be with crafted using innovative ultrasonic cutting technologies. Using this method intricate shapes can be cut and assembled in complicated designs so you can put that wonderful William Morris illustration or a local map on your floor!
Introducing a patterned floor can add a great deal of life and interest to a basic room. With simple geometric patterns being the most popular in public places right now. Whether the floor contains subtle patterns or an extremely noticeable design, it will help give character and at the same time help hide the inevitable wear such areas will take.
Make the pattern work for you. If you have a traditional theme then a tartan carpet might be just the thing, or Victorian LVT tiles in the entrance way. To make things more exotic, choose an animal print, either leopard or zebra stripes. Add wood carvings, clay pots and plants to suggest the tropics or a pink chaise and a chandelier for a tad of opulence. Whatever you do have fun with it and make your guests smile.
Remember you can use colour and pattern to your advantage, lighter coloured flooring will brighten a north facing room, and dark floors will make a large room feel more intimate. Stripes can also be used to your advantage, place them width ways to make a tremendously long corridor feel shorter or lay them length ways to make a small room feel bigger. Big, bold, broad stripes in black or pink will be fabulously Chanel chic, while tiny pinstripes may add a little more business-like panache. Stripes will always look stunning on stairs!
Rugs and runners are the hoteliers best friends, they add colour, vibrance and cosiness to a space. Rugs can be used in the lobby to welcome guests and define areas. In the rooms they will give off that sought-after home-like vibe. Runners help to lead the public where you want them to go and they help kill the monotony of long corridors. Area rugs will absorb noise and mitigate the acoustic challenges produced by hard flooring surfaces. They provide a soft texture underfoot, which is huge when it comes to guest appeal.
Hard floors lend themselves to giant area rugs with seventies shag piles and shaved and bleached orientals at the top of the list right now. Rugs can be easily cleaned and changed giving freshness to a space.
Floor tiles are very on trend and they can be either natural, ceramic or the more forgiving LVT, which can mimic both. Go for a marble look if you want a touch of classical Italy, terracotta for a rustic Mediterranean feel or painted tile effect for a little Mexicanna. Natural stone will also blend well with a biophilic room.
Of course you don’t have to stick to one flooring material type in any one flooring space and by contrasting the flooring you use you will not only add interest but it will also enable you to control how your spaces are used by your guests.
Energized? Confused? Both? Don’t be, your flooring decisions don’t have to be that complicated. Our Commercial Flooring specialists will guide you through the process with ease… and all you will have to do is have fun with the more creative decisions.
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- 17th March 2022