Darren Palmer shares his top flooring trends for 2019

It’s tough trying to choose a vast area of our home from just a little sample.

But that’s often the expectation when it comes to choosing flooring – be it carpets or timber flooring.

Flooring really can change the tone of a room – not to mention make a space more liveable… or not!! So where do do focus and how to we avoid our choice going out of style as soon as it is laid?

I caught up with Darren Palmer – design guru and ambassador for Carpet Court – to pick his brain about what we should be focussing on in flooring for 2019.

So take a read to find out “what’s hot” and “what’s not”!

What looks can we expect to see made popular in flooring in 2019?

Mixed variation neutrals are big in flooring currently, which will continue into 2019 – carpets with high levels of variation, incorporating both dark and light neutrals is the key.

These carpets, such as Carpet Court’s Far North range look pleasing visually, give you contrast within them and provide many different colours with which to tie in the rest of your room’s scheme and material palette.

Oversized felted loops in classic tones are also expected to stay on trend in 2019 and look very contemporary and luxurious.

They either come in organised structures with grid lines or regular patterns in their construction; or can be more irregular in their weave creating interesting effects in pattern and movement in the floor.

Longer pile, shag-like carpets, such as Carpet Court’s Luxe Palette will likely see a return as the shaggy and fringed look is appearing in other areas of homewares and soft furnishings.

All variations of grey timber and timber-look flooring, such as laminate and vinyl plank are popular and will continue to be so.

With such a wide array of colours, we will not only see a continuation of the oak palette (including limed, aged and true oak tones), but we will also see a resurgence of the brown palette across all areas of interiors, including floors.

This will see the return of chocolate and walnut-toned timber and timber-look flooring.

Are there any exciting new technologies / products you can share with us?

Carpet Court has launched a new hybrid floating flooring, Stainmaster™ Pinnacle PetProtect™ that has ClawShield™ coating technology – meaning it is tough enough to resist scratching from an 80-kilogram Great Dane. The range is waterproof, so resists pet stains and odours from accidents. It is available in eight timber stains.

Are there any floorings we should steer clear of to create a timeless aesthetic?

It’s very hard to say how to keep away from things to make them timeless, as trends come and go, with some trends lasting years. Additionally, some of the most interesting flooring finishes, colours and textures are trend-based.

For a go-to classic and timeless floor, you can’t go past timber boards, whether engineered or natural.

Oaks have longevity. Australian timbers such as blackbutt and spotted gum seen in Carpet Court’s Stockmans Ridge range, are popular now but have also been popular in the past – it is likely they will have longevity and remain in fashion.

Cut pile or plush carpets are a safe bet for staying timeless, though they offer the least amount of interest and are prone to the watermarking effect, which is their down side.

Twist and loop are also a classic, hardwearing construction but the colour choices are what will dictate whether the flooring has longevity.

If your budget allows, you would be well advised to update your interiors every 10 years.

I would love to hear your personal favourites?

My personal flooring favourites are grey-toned timbers, well designed and manufactured vinyl planks, felted loop carpets, sandblasted or grain contrasted timbers and patterns such as herringbone and chevron in classic oak colours in a matt finish.

A big thank you to Darren for sharing his tips and insights regarding all things flooring with us – and to Carpet Court for sharing the images below!