---

To find out what might be the latest thing for floors in the coming year, FX asked six flooring experts to identify trends for 2015.

---

Alex Davidson

Kährs (UK) business development manager Alex Davidson expects parquet and subtle colours to be big in 2015

'Right now, we're at the peak of what's been a movement towards very rustic, hand-distressed floors. Designers are now just starting to adopt the cleaner grades and more subtle colour that will be picked up on by consumers in 2015.

'The new sought-after floors have subtle undertones of colour, such as natural oak with whitewash and greyish undertones. The impression is one of natural purity, as reflected in Kährs new Capital Collection: the floors are defined by their even grain and some have an almost luminous appearance. Due to environmental pressure, floors will also become thinner, so a quality construction's paramount.

'Traditional parquet in contemporary environments is also proving very popular and will be a big design trend for 2015. In response, traditional herringbone and chevron designs are now being offered in modern board formats with stained finishes.

This trend is set to be so huge that we're launching a new collection of more than 40 parquet floors in these formats next year, in addition to existing chevron designs from our European Renaissance Collection.'

Margo Selby
Woven textile designer Margo Selby's eponymous company produces high-quality fabrics, rugs and accessories to blend with contemporary and classic interiors. She sees carpet making a resurgence.

'Carpet immediately adds warmth to an interior, and with the new patterned options available you can create a feature of your floor to combine comfort with style. We all like to relax in our homes and designer carpets add a new level of texture and sumptuousness to a space without adding clutter. The future of flooring is luxurious, and patterned carpet is enabling us to move stylishly away from wood and bare floors.

'At Margo Selby our design philosophy is focused on the careful interpretation of our hand-woven designs; it has been really interesting to work with carpet manufacturer Alternative Flooring, whose expertise in carpet making has helped us to translate our constructions into broadloom carpets.'

Mike Richardson
Kersaint Cobb general manager, Mike Richardson, says the colour-design possibilities are endless when it comes to residential flooring.

'Scandinavian chic is still influencing interior schemes, so incorporate a minimalist look with a pared-back palette of pale wood or smooth natural tones. Light wood planks and wool textures are versatile enough to complement any design scheme, creating a sophisticated finish through a neutral backdrop that celebrates the natural aesthetics of the material.

'Statement flooring in bedrooms and living rooms is being seen more and more, as the trend for teaming luxurious materials with vibrant hues such as purple, orange and green increases in popularity. A deep, rich-coloured carpet is the perfect way to inject a touch of character and immediately modernise an interior's scheme. Make the look work by keeping the rest of your room relatively neutral and applying clever splashes of tonal accent colour.'

Karen Warner
Karen Warner, marketing director for UK and Ireland at Interface, expects designers to benefit from the flexibility offered by new tile formats.

'Our Skinny Planks range show designers that even the smallest of changes in flooring design can have the largest effect on the look and feel of any interior. As a company we're always looking for different and imaginative ways to improve the design and structure of our modular flooring. It was this objective that inspired us to create a new wave in flooring design: the Skinny Plank.

'These 25cm x 100cm tiles can be used on their own or with square tiles to give architects the flexibility to generate creative designs. The revolutionary rectangle shape also makes it easier to fit the tiles to any layout, giving interior designers greater freedom to create new and inspiring designs.

'Our Skinny Planks are available in a selection of colours, designs and textures within a number of our ranges, including Human Nature and Walk the Plank.'

Diana Cellela
The regional director of the Society of British and International Design highlighted a product from SBID member Forrest & Jones, used to create bespoke flooring in bars and show spaces

'One of the most exciting and versatile new flooring products I have come across in the past few months is Floor, by Forrest & Jones.

It allows bespoke images and designs to be put on to flooring. FeatureFloor is a high density, clear and flexible PVC substrate with the relevant image, design or artwork reverse printed to the underside, enabling it to show through bright and clear. The thick top layer protects the image from any kind of surface wear so the image clarity is always maintained, keeping the flooring looking great for years.

The uses for FeatureFloor are wide and varied as it ticks all the specification boxes for both commercial and residential use. It's fire retardant and it's also 100 per cent recyclable.'

Julie Dempster
Julie Dempster, marketing manager at Forbo Flooring Systems, identified a trend towards modular tiling that mixes sizes and colourways to give designers greater choice

'The ability to create unique flooring solutions using different products, colourways and textures is an area that is growing in popularity and will only become bigger throughout 2015 - especially since strong evidence from office research has linked well-designed workspaces with better employee productivity.

'With modularity products now available in new tile shapes such as XL planks, triangles and diamonds, designers are able to mix and match these formats, along with multiple sizes, colours and styles to construct visually appealing designs. Combining these new modularity shapes can produce a variety of intricate, inspiring and entertaining arrangements, all with a contemporary twist.'