Color and Texture: Homeowners Go Bold With Their Flooring Selections

New options offer more variety for those looking to spice up their home

As solid hardwood, bamboo, cork, engineered and floating flooring trends continue to grow in homes, so do the selections available to those wanting to install new floors. And while traditional colors continue to be successful, some not-so-traditional styles and colors are starting to brighten up floors in homes across America.

Bringing color to your flooring is a great way to change the focus of your room to the floors. Customers are starting to change their way of thinking when it comes to flooring tones, said Tom Sullivan, founder and chairman of Lumber Liquidators, the largest independent retailer of flooring. It is the perfect option for bringing vibrant colors and life into a room that would otherwise be neutral.

There are many exciting floors out on the market today, including the following:

Aqua Ash from The Ty Pennington Collection. This aqua-colored hardwood floor makes a statement in any room and features a Bellawood finish. Purple Heart from Bellawood. As the name suggests, this floor provides an unusual deep purple color. It should be noted that this color occurs naturally and that this is an unstained product. Bloodwood, also from Bellawood, exhibits a wide range of colors from pale orange to deep blood red. In fact, it will undergo a mild color change from orangey reds to deep, dark red as it ages. This is also a natural, unstained product.

Many retailers offer samples of flooring, which allow customers to test flooring in their rooms before purchasing. A lot of people see bright flooring on our Web site and are unsure about how it would look in a room. Once they see it in a room and try out a sample, they fall in love with it instantly, said Sullivan.

In fact, according to the Color Marketing Group, this year will bring neutral settings punctuated by warmed-up accent colors from a rich mix of countries and cultures. Bold flooring is the perfect accent for a neutral room.For customers who tend to enjoy and stick with traditional colors for their flooring, there are also a number of options when it comes to going bold with flooring textures.

Solid Old World Oak and Solid Golden Teak, both from Virginia Mill Works Co., offer exquisite texture as a result of hand-crafted workmanship. Both flooring options are handscraped and prefinished.

Miro Cork, offered by Lisbon Cork, combines the beauty of a natural material with the comfort of a cushioned surface. This cork flooring is extremely durable.

Vertical Natural Bamboo, from Morning Star. This silky smooth bamboo flooring is produced from old growth bamboo reeds that are at least 4 years old, thereby increasing hardness.

Flooring is the perfect way for homeowners to reveal their personality and character. Going bold with floors, either with color or texture will make a home stand out as truly unique.