What are the best carpet colours?

Carpets not only feel great and add insulation to the home, but also enhance the look of any room. Journalist Tim Butters, writing for House Digest, has picked his favourite carpet colours based on colour psychology.

His first colour choice is blue, which he describes as "the most soothing of colours". Blue is ideal for rooms used for relaxation as it is tranquil and can help focus the mind, making it perfect for a home office.

Dark blue carpets provide good contrast when combined with neutral colours, while light blues help maximize light in rooms that don't get much natural light.

Yellow is the warming colour of the sun, symbolizing energy and friendliness. However, bright sunflower yellow should be used with caution as it can feel overpowering. For a bold statement, mix yellow carpets with black furniture and walls, but for a more pleasing feel, use a pale or mustard carpet which adds lightness.

Green, associated with nature and tranquillity, adds life and a natural feeling to a room. It is a good colour for bedrooms. An alternative way to add a natural atmosphere is to use neutral earthy brown shades.

While not everyone likes grey, it can add a classic and timeless feel that is easy on the eye. Grey goes well with cream walls.

Visit a carpet retailer in North Wales to see their wide selection of carpet colours. If you are undecided on what colour to choose, go for a patterned carpet that mixes your favourite colours.

Better designed workspaces attract workers

Many workers prefer hybrid working, spending some time working from home and some in the office. However, some prefer to work from home rather than the company office. To make the office more appealing, companies are experimenting with ways to create workspaces that staff enjoy.

NBBJ, a design and architecture company, and the Eileen Fisher clothing company are among those experimenting with creating a workspace that staff will love. NBBJ designed a workspace in New York which is designed to be a mix between an office and a social club. Floors are covered in green carpets to evoke a sense of forest meadows and screens are mounted on high ceilings where art projects are displayed.

Budgie, a video game company, is also redesigning its working environment. Holly Barbacovi, the company’s head of human resources, said,

"We're never going to force people back into the office, but we feel a sense of responsibility to build an office space that is delightful."

According to Prithwiraj Choudhury, a Harvard Business School professor, some start-up companies allow employees to work remotely from anywhere and see the main purpose of the office as a place for staff to socialize and get to know one another.

Good interior design in offices starts with the floor. One way to add aesthetic appeal, as well as comfort, is through deep pile carpets. Chester and North Wales businesses know that well designed workspaces can attract new employees and encourage the retention of existing ones.

Four popular types of flooring for living rooms

The living room is one of the most important spaces in a home. As the name implies, it is where most of everyday life within the home will take place, so you need to be happy with every aspect of it.

When it comes to selecting flooring for a living room, there will be multiple requirements to consider. First of all, it needs to be hard wearing enough to be able to cope with a lot of footfall, sometimes including that of pets with claws. Second, it must be easy to maintain and clean, as it will inevitably get dirty more quickly than the floor in other rooms.

A living room floor should also be comfortable to walk on without shoes and add to the warmth of the room. Finally, you need to like what it looks like alongside your other living room furnishings.

Read on to find out what the most popular floor materials for living rooms are.

Carpet

Carpet is always a very popular selection for putting on the floor of a living room. For one thing, it provides people with a wide range of colours and patterns, so there is a good chance of being able to find a carpet that blends well with the walls and ceilings of your living room. That is not the only big benefit that opting for carpeting will give you though.

It also has a cushioning effect that makes it one of the softest flooring materials to walk on when you are not wearing shoes. Furthermore, it can act as an insulator, helping to keep warmth in the room. That is a real advantage if you live in an area in the north of the country, such as Chester, where the autumns and winters can be very cold. Choosing carpets can cut energy costs, as well as making walking in your living room pleasant.

However, they can also be vulnerable to damage from pet or heavy boots. Picking a carpet made of up to 80% wool will give you a more hard-wearing surface than a purely synthetic one.

Laminate

Laminate will be a great choice if you dream of something like a solid wood living room floor, but your budget won’t quite run to it. Laminate flooring can be manufactured to accurately replicate the look of wood, tiling or stone at a much lower cost. It is a floor material that has been improved a great deal over the past few years and is now much more popular in living rooms.

Putting down a laminate floor is also quite a simple procedure compared with some other surfaces and it can be wiped clean of stains or spillages very quickly. If you choose this surface for your living room, make sure to talk to experienced flooring professionals first though, so that you get laminate that is thick and hard wearing enough to cope with all of the traffic.

Luxury vinyl tile

This is a variant of vinyl flooring that is thicker and more durable than standard vinyl. Similarly to laminate, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is a type of floor that can be made to resemble other, more expensive ones such as wood. Indeed, due to the way that it is manufactured, it can actually recreate the look of wooden planks more closely than virtually any other type of floor.

Alternatively, the vinyl tiles can be printed with patterns that suit the decor of your living room walls. Whether you want ornate designs or a simulated rustic look, it is possible with LVT floors. LVT is also a surface that is very low maintenance, as it can be wiped clean simply, and is resistance to water damage and scratching. All of this combined makes it a low cost, durable choice for living rooms that can be made to suit your specifications.

Porcelain or ceramic tile

Ceramic and porcelain tiles tend to be associated more with bathroom or kitchen floors, but they will be an effective choice for a living room too. Again, they are floors that can be wiped clean should they get mud or any other stains on them and they are both types of floor surface that should be able to withstand heavy levels of footfall.

If there is one reason why people do not fit ceramic or porcelain tiles in their living rooms as often as vinyl tiles, it is because they can be quite hard underfoot. However, it is easy to counteract the effect of that by putting some rugs down on the living room floor to soften the feel. These will also help in zoning the living room space.

Any of these four floor surfaces will make for a fine choice in a living room. It is simply a matter of deciding what your priorities are and speaking to a reputable professional for detailed guidance.

What is the best underlay for laminate flooring?

Laminate flooring in Chester and North Wales is popular due to its looks, durability and cost-effectiveness. However, using a suitable underlay is important to ensure that the floor lasts a long time. Without an underlay, laminate flooring can put pressure on the joints between planks and allow moisture from the subfloor to reach the planks. This can decrease the life of the floor.

Some laminate flooring comes with a built-in underlay, but for those without, it's important to choose a good-quality underlay. Interior design journalist Rachel Ogden advises that the type of underlay to install depends on several factors, including the type of room, budget and footfall.

For a guest room or attic with little footfall and no dampness, a basic, inexpensive foam underlay may be sufficient. If noise is an issue, choose a sound-dampening underlay that can prevent sounds from being heard in rooms below and reduce reflected sounds.

For busy living rooms, choose a good-quality wood-fibre underlay with insulating qualities that will help cut down heating bills. This type of underlay is effective at both adding insulation and deadening sounds. An underlay should have a rating for its sound and heat insulating efficiency.

For areas subject to dampness such as kitchens, use a damp protection underlay. A cushion underlay can smooth out small bumps and lumps, making the floor more level.

Some laminate manufacturers recommend specific underlays for their products. It's also worth getting expert advice from a laminate floor retailer and installer.

How to deal with sagging floors

If a floor looks uneven or bounces when trodden on, it is probably caused by sagging floors. If you suffer this issue, it’s not a good idea to ignore it as it will become worse over time.

There are several causes of sagging floors. Water damage is a major cause. Leaks, storms and floods can mean that water soaks into the floor and damages it. Termites and other pests can cause wood floors to deteriorate. After eliminating the pests, the floor will need repairing. A sagging or sunken concrete floor can be caused by building subsidence, tree roots or leaking drains.

Repairing a sagging floor is a skilled job best left to a professional expert on floor repairs. If the cause of sagging is ongoing, such as persistent leaks or subsidence, this must be rectified before repairing the floor.

Repairing a sagging floor can be expensive, but the cost may be covered by household insurance.

Before installing new carpets or laminate flooring in homes in Chester and North Wales, it's worth asking the floor installer to inspect the state of the subfloor. This is especially important in older homes.

After the subfloor has been repaired, it may be necessary to install new floor coverings. It may be possible to salvage the existing floor coverings such as tiles, carpets, vinyl or laminate and reinstall them if they are not damaged. It could be a good opportunity to update the room with new floor coverings. Visit a local flooring retailer to see their wide range of flooring options.