Design: Flooring

Flooring is very important in the bathroom. As the bathroom is a wet room, flooring that can deal with such damp conditions is of paramount importance. Here the possibilities in flooring will be explained.

Wood

A wooden floor will give immediate warmth to your bathroom. Whether the floor is painted or not, the fact that wood is a natural material will bring an immediate relaxed feel to your bathroom. You can choose for floorboards or laminate and gloss, stain or paint them to suit your colour scheme. Make sure that your floor has been coated with a few good coats of clear gloss to keep it all watertight.

Vinyl

Vinyl has always been a popular floor option for bathrooms as it is inexpensive and it comes in a lot of colours and textures. Vinyl flooring can really give character to your bathroom. Just think of the bold black and white diamonds that have been popular ever since the fifties. A lot of people think vinyl will be cold under feet, but nowadays luxurious soft and thick ranges are available that bounce and feel warm.

The great advantage of vinyl is that it is water resistant all over and hardwearing. Make sure it is being laid en glued properly, otherwise the corners will curl up and you will end up with water seeping underneath your vinyl floor.

Another great product is vinyl tiles. You can just stick them to a sound floor surface and you're done! They are available in all sorts of shapes and patterns, some even with prints of cobbles and grass on them. Have a look in your local flooring shop for ideas.

Tiles

Tiles are another popular flooring material. Tiles are hardwearing and hygienic, but there is the danger of over tiling your bathroom, especially if the space is not too big. Make sure the tiles you lay on your floor make a statement of their own by choosing a different tile colour for the floor than you have on the walls and by laying them in an interesting pattern. And make sure you use floor tiles that have a reasonably rough surface, so that, when they are wet, they don't become dangerously slippery.

Carpet

Carpet is warm underfoot and comfortable to walk on early in the morning when you wake up. However, as a bathroom is a wet room, carpet has the risk of getting wet and damp and dirty. Suddenly your carpet doesn't look so cosy anymore. If you do decide to choose for carpet in your bathroom, make sure that you either lay a border of vinyl around the bath, toilet and basin which can receive the most of the splattering or invest in a few good bathmats to protect your carpet from wet feet and soap and toothpaste. 

Other possibilities

For the more adventurous under us the sky is the limit for bathroom flooring. You can use slate, marble, rubber and even stainless steel. Nothing will stand in your way to make a combination of different materials and styles. Always make sure that you keep an eye at the overall feel of the room. One of the few advantages of a smaller bathroom is that you can splash out on expensive flooring, as you only have to cover a little area. So go for the slate if you like it, if that really finishes off your dream bathroom! However, whether you go for tiles or any other 'cold' underfoot material, invest in good under floor heating. If that is a little bit out of your league, go for some sumptuous rugs and mats to complete the look.