Go Green or Go Home

Flooring has always been an important aspect of interior design, and with good reason, too. It sets the backdrop for every design scheme, which makes it the first thing you need to consider when remodeling your home. Just like with any other interior design element, the types of flooring that are most sought after vary depending on the current trends. This year, eco-friendly solutions are all the rage, which doesn’t mean there is a need for making compromises when it comes to aesthetics. On the contrary, the green floors of today are the perfect marriage of eco-friendliness and outstanding appearance. Here are some of the trends to keep an eye on.

Bamboo

The popularity of bamboo as a flooring material is growing at a remarkable pace. This shouldn’t surprise us, since it shares some of the most desirable characteristics of hardwood, including durability and ease of maintenance. Bamboo is available in a wide range of hues and grains that can fit into every décor and setting. Besides the number of possibilities for customization, bamboo is also renowned for its eco-friendliness, since the bamboo tree grows to maturity in three to five years, which is far less than the time needed for other trees to grow.

Cork

Previously considered to be nothing more than the material for reminder boards and wine bottle sealing, cork has gained reputation as a great material for eco-friendly interior design. Although it is a relatively new trend when it comes to flooring, cork has proven to be a great choice because of the customizability and durability (up to 30 years). It also has anti-microbial properties, which means it minimizes the presence of allergens inside the home. Since there is no need to cut down trees to harvest the bark that is used to produce cork, it is the ideal renewable material.

Wool carpet

Brace yourselves: carpets are back in vogue. In fact, eco-friendly carpet installation in Sydney and other interior design meccas is more widespread than ever. This is because carpets are soft to walk on, they make the interior look more welcoming and they come in a wide range of hues and patterns. However, not every carpet material fits into the eco-friendly requirements. Some of them even contain toxins and volatile organic compounds. If you want to be on trend and eco-conscious, wool is the material to use. It is a natural resource, free of toxins and very durable. Other green carpet materials are jute, sisal and cotton.

Concrete

Well, here is an unlikely material to crawl its way into our homes. It was once used as sub-flooring and covered with other more traditional materials. However, when polished and colored to your taste, concrete can be an excellent main flooring material, which is also eco-friendly. The possibilities of customizing the appearance of concrete floors range from inlaying other materials such as glass to producing a tiled effect with various colors.

Linoleum

Linoleum has somewhat of a bad rep of being the flooring of choice in the houses of our grandmothers. Back then, it looked moody because of the poor design which included dark and unappealing colors and it had a weird smell originating from petrochemicals used in its production. Still, this is mostly vinyl we are talking about. True linoleum is created from natural ingredients like cork dust, linseed oil and wood flour, therefore, it is eco-friendly. It is also water-resistant which makes it a great choice for the kitchen. Now that it is regaining its popularity, it is available in a wide array of colors and designs.

Glass tiles

Kitchens and bathrooms take up a large part of your home, which is why you should pay special attention when choosing flooring materials for them. Unlike your regular tiles, glass tiles are made of recycled wine and beer bottles. They come in many different design and colors, and they are very long-lasting and durable.

Finally, it is important to say that hardwood flooring is as popular as ever, but if you choose to install this traditional option, you should consider reclaimed or salvaged wood.

About The Author

Article written for WhosGreenOnline.com by, Amelia Atkins: author at Smooth Decorator and a fresh architecture student. The love for architecture and design runs in her family and she knew what she wanted to do from a very young age. You can often find her with a notepad in hand, just looking at the clouds, dreaming about the next skyscraper.