Greige, or the combination of grey and beige, is the new neutral for those seeking a change from boring beige, overdone grey or clinical white. It’s the ideal colour option for any modern home looking to create a bright, clean space and with so many easy ways to style and decorate with it, it’s no wonder it’s becoming a firm favourite in the interior design world. Of course, we have responded to the demand from our customers for this trend and have introduced a number of different flooring options to allow you to embrace the greige flooring trend with confidence. Find out more about using these wooden flooring options in your home. Greige flooring options Picking a quality floor in the ideal shade of greige means you’ll have a beautiful floor which you can enjoy for years thanks to its incredible design and durability. This floor colour is also incredibly versatile, making it ideal for use all over the house. Some of our favourite greige floors include this Signarture Grandeur Oak Parquet Herringbone Laminate, which would look extremely luxurious in your living room. This Canterbury Leon Oak floor has multiple shades of grey and beige contained within each board, which adds a beautiful warmth to any room. It’s also very hard wearing, making it an excellent choice for your hallway. If you prefer a completely contemporary look and feel when it comes to your floors, this Balterio Dolce Vita Harmony 165 Laminate Flooring is designed with solid board colours in varying shades, providing an eye-caching flooring alternative, and a great choice for your bedroom. Pick the paint to match Choosing paint to match your greige flooring is normally a choice between neutral shades with either black or brown undertones to complement either the grey tones in the wood or the beige – this allows you to experiment with the warm and cool tones. The beauty of this flooring is that you can go light or dark with your paint colour choices to create a large, bright space or a cosy room with a more dramatic feel. Make sure you get a couple of paint samples and test them against your flooring to see if you need more beige tones or grey to create the desired effect – and if you need samples of flooring too, you can request up to 3 free samples from us on our website. Choosing furniture Furniture choices are not limited when you embrace the greige flooring trend, however as it’s a modern flooring trend, a more contemporary style of furniture would be best. Whether you favour lean lines or opulent designs, you can get furniture to match with the grey and beige tones of your floor quite easily, no matter if it’s a bed, dining room table or sofa. Soft furnishings to complement your greige floor Depending on the level of greys and beiges in your chosen greige floor, you can choose to pull out the warm or cool tones with your choice of gold or silver accents. Darker colours of accessories and furnishings like curtains or rugs can also create nice contrast if your light floor is paired with lighter coloured walls. Rose gold is also a great way to add a bit of extra elegance to a room – use it in cushions or lighting fixtures for floor to ceiling co-ordination.

A solid wooden floor can be the centrepiece of a traditional home. Solid wood gives the home a certain warmth, character and charm; however, some wooden floors have been unfortunately neglected. One of the main benefits of a solid wood floor however, is that if it does get damaged by scrapes, scratches or dents, it can be restored to bring it back to looking as good as new – which isn’t possible with laminate wooden flooring. We have some tips for those of you who are ready to give their old floor new life. Like polishing a beloved pair of leather boots, expect to get your hands (and in this case, knees) dirty as you restore the former glory of your solid wood floor. Fine-tuning your space Clear your working area by removing all furniture and flooring obstructions – make sure to get help lifting all furniture rather than dragging it across the floor. From skirting to skirting nothing should get in your way, so take advantage of this rare chance to clear beneath skirting boards. Take care and avoid dragging anything, wait for help otherwise you risk scraping your beautiful wooden floor or damaging it even further. Around the walls and even fireplaces, you may have television cables and other tiny obstructions. It is vital you remove these and check for any nails or deep scratches in the wood. Sanding your solid wood floor Ideally, at this point, you will hire a floor polisher, if not get your knee pads at the ready. Hand polishing the floor will reveal the floor’s former glory by removing deep set scratches and dents. It will obviously take off any paint or varnish applied to your floor also, so this job is a large commitment with multiple stages before it is finished. For the best results, tackle a small section first then follow up with the hoover. Working section by section minimises how much of the scattered wood returns to the cracks in the floor. Do not use a broom, you will push the dust into the cracks, and the result will be an accidental mosaic effect. Flooring finish Once your floor has been sanded down it is prepped for finishing. When selecting a finish, you can choose between a variety of options, such as brushed, oiled or lacquered, each giving different results. Determine if your floor is a hand scraped or brushed finish before choosing a flooring finish. Regardless of which finish you choose, note the different times the varnish takes to dry. Give your floor at least 24 hours to dry before walking on it or replacing your furniture, and for at least the first week only walk on the floor in socks, as boots and shoes may affect how the varnish dries. Deep Clean Once your floor is restored to its beautiful original state, keep it that way with regular care and maintenance. Regularly deep clean the floor removing ground in stains or dirt. Any marks from oils, soaps and polishes should be tackled with purpose made floor cleaner. If you use homemade cleaners or harsh chemicals, you risk damaging the floor and its finish – undoing all your previous hard work. Floor cleaners are designed to dissolve what lies on the wood, not harm the wood itself. Tips for restoring a solid wood floor Dry & Hoover Remove excess water with a soft cloth, drying by hand as opposed to a mop which gives you a chance to check your cleaning up close. Take time to spot clean, after all, if it’s not clean it will be further exposed post buffing. To ensure your floor retains its shine, put felt covers on the bases of tables and chairs. Such a small expense could preserve the state of your solid wood floor and reduce the amount of times in your floor’s lifetime that you need to refinish it.

Hi. So I had a professional wooden floor fitter come over to quote for laying the job and he said the blocks were useable. He said they are only unusable if it is water damage and can be seen throughout the block. I did a lot of research on how to remove the bitumen. The fitter said not to use a heat gun as it can get messy. He showed me how the bitumen is brittle so can just be scraped off but there is no way around the elbow grease I’m afraid! I mainly used a plane for the bottom, shave hook for the sides and a chisel. You don’t have to worry too much about the bottom as long as the majority of the bitumen is off but the plane just took it all off anyway so I would recommend that. It’s the sides that have to be really clean so the blocks fit together when laid. It definitely took time but the results have been great, and the majority of the blocks were covered on the bottom and side with thick bitumen. Both the fitters I have had around said they are perfectly useable. See pictures for results and similar tools in case you are a diy novice like me! Hope that helps and good luck!

I'm also in the 'inset' camp. It should be big enough that you can get in, close the door, and 'arrive' (take off wet coat, shoes, etc) all while on the mat. It will be much easier to replace the mat if it gets tired than the area of wooden floor by the door.