Two of the top contenders for our favorite flooring are undoubtedly hardwood and LVP, or luxury vinyl plank. If you are looking for the look – the one that endures, that delivers exceptional beauty, that lends versatility to your home – start here with these top trends.
1. MATERIAL: CHOOSING HARDWOOD VS. LVP ENGINEERED HARDWOOD
Engineered Hardwood
A question Susan Medina, Territory Manager for Shaw Flooring, fields regularly is whether or not engineered wood is real hardwood. “Absolutely, 110%! I cannot stress it enough. It is real hardwood from top to bottom; it’s just constructed differently. At the end of the day, though, engineered is going to perform better, especially in the Indiana climate. It’s more stable, and you’re going to get less seasonal gapping and contracting.”
Most of the hardwood sold for flooring now is engineered, which is also more suitable if you want wider, longer, planks. Solid hardwood is not as common because there are better options that can address issues to which solid hardwood is vulnerable (gapping, warping, cracking, contracting, weather damage, etc.). Engineered is one of them.
LUXURY VINYL PLANK
As ACo Design & Sales team member Todd Moretto notes, the humid summers and dry winters – not to mention kids and pets – can be rough on hardwood. Waterproof vinyl plank can stand up to the seasons. And he adds, “It looks like real wood, it’s hard to tell the difference.”
With high definition printing techniques employed by top manufacturers like Shaw, it can be difficult to tell if a floor is hardwood or LVP, even for the pros. ACo’s Travis Stewart says, “Even I have a hard time sometimes! In multimillion dollar homes, I walk in and have to ascertain whether it’s real wood or luxury vinyl plank.”
2. COLOR
Good-bye, gray! Medina says, “Years ago, everything was gray. The paint was gray. The floor was gray. The furniture was gray. We are seeing brown make a comeback.”
A true brown (that is, one that does not feature red, orange, or yellow undertones) is universal and timeless. It provides a nice, neutral base for your design. As David Robertson of ACo Design & Sales says, homeowners are “thinking about when [if] they sell. They want something that’s not only going to be good for them but also for future buyers.”
3. PLANK LENGTH AND WIDTH
Wide plank is a hot trend that is showing no signs of cooling. Wider hardwood or LVP planks complement open floor plans, making them feel airy and light. They can also make a small room appear larger. Thanks to fewer seams, there are not as many visual breaks or interruptions to stop the eye. Longer planks are also popular for many of the same reasons.
There is also some mixing and matching going on. Medina says, “We’re seeing a little bit of random width and a little bit of random length to add some jazz to the floor.”
4. BEVELS
A bevel is simply an angled cut to the surface of a material. When it comes to LVP, there are a few different options to consider. Shaw Floors, for example, offers:
- Four-sided accent bevel will give you a lot of plank definition from board to board.
- Four-sided micro bevel offers less definition and a more subtle look.
- Natural bevel delivers more of a rolled or eased edge that is the most realistic.
LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE
All those choices can be intimidating but remember: it’s up to you. ACo Design & Sales’s Mia Farrell puts it best: “With bevels, with materials, with colors… It’s all personal preference. It’s all lifestyle and what’s going to make the most sense for you in your home. That’s what we’re here to help you figure out.”
Connect with ACo at liveaco.com for a complimentary in home design consultation and find the best floor trends to suit your home.
