PARQUET FOR LIFE

March, 20 2014 • 16:30

Posted inDesign Therapy

Some people say that "you should set up your first house for strangers, the second one for friends and the third one for yourself " (or something like that!). Each time you learn indeed from your mistakes and so it was for me as well.  

 

More than ten years ago I restructured my first little home and only few time later I realized some mistakes I made. The first one: the choice of flooring. It was beautiful, no doubt about that, but it wasn't the best choice at all. I did not consider the effects of a family on it: mom, dad and our hurricane dog Nanetta. The floor turned quickly grey and after black.  No cleanser or product revealed effective. 

When the family grew thanks to the arrival of a second adorable dog, we move to a new place where we opted for a wooden floor everywhere, including the bathroom. Just appearance or real comfort? Both, if you pick that natural, rough, bruised enough wood that doesn't turn yourself into a control freak.

I choose this N.O.R.D. parquet belonging to the Athmos collection. It is an oak bioparquet treated with natural oils, highly tactile, with large boards laid through a "floating" system.

 

The surface has been smoothed and refined by hand, then treated so that the oak got marvellous different grey gradients. 

  

Obviously the choice of parquet strongly depends on your needs and on the market trends.

 

There are further variants such as personal taste about colour and finish and, last but not least, the economic factor. I don't want to go into too technical explanations, I actually prefer to give you some inspirations. If the effect you want to achieve is that of a floor able to warm up the spaces without being classic, with the twist of vintage handmade things (combined with linear furniture that are so nordic and hip nowadays), you just have to:

 

  • Choose a parquet with a strong character, hand-planed. You will recreate the vibe of old 800s floors. So do not be afraid of the "shabby" look, it is exactly the most wanted modern effect.
  • If spaces are large enough, choose the maxi planks and put them in every room to give a feeling of continuity.
  • Pick neutral tones, it goes without saying that I find amazing the smoked colours palette treated with white oil.

 

Aren't you afraid of daring? Well, think outside the box: no boards, no linear installation and the most freak use of colour!

 

 

 

 

All Credits by Design Therapy

 

☞ ITA version HERE