Whether one is looking for something comfortable, durable or daringly different, the right flooring can ‘make’ a room. These days there are myriad of interesting flooring options available; ranging earthen floors, to edgier options like leather or even glass. The sky or rather, the floor is the limit.
Earthen mud flooring
This kind of floor is normally made out of raw earth and un-worked ground materials; typically clay, sand and finely cut straw that’s been mixed together. The technique is literally hundreds of years old and certainly one of the most environmentally friendly options.
Benefits include low costs as the materials tend to be fairly inexpensive, the floors have an attractive appearance and slightly spongy feel (almost like leather but much cheaper) and the finished product is durable, if maintained properly.
The installation of this kind of flooring tends to be labour intensive which is a drawback. Another potential problem is finding a contractor with sufficient experience in laying earthen floors.
Resofloor
Resopal makes ultra sleek flooring from compressed fiber board that has a glossy finish, which is resistant to general wear and scratching.
The floors are created with several layers of paper infused with resin which is then compressed under high heat and pressure to form the finished product. A glass clear melamine resin is applied to complete the product.
What’s great about Resofloor is that it looks very modern and edgy. It’s also possible to incorporate various colours and designs in the manufacturing, creating a unique floor.
Leather floor
Few floors can beat leather in terms of luxury; it feels fantastic, ages well, but regrettably tends to be expensive. Leather can be eco-friendly though as recycled material from the clothing industry is often used to create the floors.
While these leather floors will work beautifully in a bedroom or study they don’t handle humidity well and so wouldn’t work in bathrooms. They are also better suited to rooms that aren’t too sunny or hot.
Living floors
Whilst this is probably not everyone’s cup of tea a living floor is a creative alternative for the eco-conscious. Terramac© is a knitted and spun fabric which functions as a habitat for the roots of moss to grow in. The end result is a mossy, living carpet.
The fabric is made from plant-derived polylactic acid fiber that can be decomposed within 10 years by the microorganisms in compost and soil. As the planter biodegrades only CO2 and water remains which is captured by the plants.
These moss carpets are beautiful and certainly unique but will require a fair amount of maintenance (watering, feeding etc) and won’t handle heavy objects well.
