Monday 23 January 2012

Are Tiles Suitable for a Bedroom Floor?

A friend of mine works as an interior designer for the rich and famous and I happened to mention that I needed to replace my bedroom carpet as it was a bit old and threadbare. He then told me that more and more people are opting for porcelain floor tiles in the bedroom. At first I thought this was pretty funny. I told my friend in no uncertain terms that I didn't want to sleep in a bathroom!

He then went on to convince me to look into it though as he had a solution for every objection I raised.

My main concern was the look of it. My previous comment about the bathroom still stuck with me, but he then went on to tell me about all the gorgeous new porcelain floor tiles you can get that look like marble or resemble natural stone. I have to say it's a good few years since I went shopping for tiles and I could only really picture the glossy small square bathroom wall tiles you used to get. My friend fired up his laptop and showed me some of the tiles you can get these days and I have to say they looked amazing and really there were tiles to suit any room at all, even a bedroom!

My next concern was safety. I'm not the most alert first thing in the morning and having to negotiate slippery floor tiles underfoot didn't seem like such a good idea. My friend assured me that you could get plenty of non-slip porcelain floor tiles. He reminded me of all the hotel bathrooms I'd used on my frequent business trips and he was right of course, they all had non-slip tiles on the floor.

Then my concern was that it would be cold. Floor tiles are great in summer, that's why they work so well in warm countries. I'm happy with terracotta floor tiles underfoot when I'm on holiday in Spain, but not in the UK. I want a warm cosy bedroom, not a cold one! Of course there was a simple solution to this objection too. Under floor heating. Apparently it works especially well under porcelain floor tiles as they warm up quickly then retain the heat well. He also suggested that if I wanted a cosier feel I could simply add some rugs.

There were some other good reasons to tile the bedroom floor that I hadn't thought of too. floor tiles are much more hygienic than carpet. They simply don't harbour dust and germs like a carpet does. Tiles are also much easier to keep clean and they are a lot more hard wearing than carpet so it would mean a much longer time before I'd have to replace the flooring again, so it would also probably work out pretty economical. So anyway after all these facts he convinced me to give it a try. I could always lay a carpet on top if I hated it, and I have to say I actually love my tiled bedroom floor. The underfloor heating is amazing; it's so warm and cosy on the coldest of winter days. I'm really glad I chose this option now.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Shopping for Flooring - Wholesale or Retail?

Of course when you're shopping for flooring for a job or contract you want to be sure that you're getting the best deal. For years the thought was to just go to your local hardware store and pay what you pay. Then when big box chain stores and wholesalers came around, the thought was that buying wholesale was where you would get the best deal.

Since the advent of the Internet the playing field has been somewhat leveled. Yes, you may get a deal on flooring wholesale which may be slightly cheaper than your market rate retail price, but what are you giving up in quality? Where can you go to find the best mixture of value and quality?

It was not long before websites began popping up promising contractors and designers the best mixture of wholesale value with boutique retail quality. Many online sites provide the perfect mixture of luxury retail names and rock bottom wholesale prices. You just need to seek out the best name websites which are going to offer you the best name flooring at the lowest prices before you commit to one website or another.

Another thing to consider before you go opening up your purse strings for a flooring retailer is you need to be sure that wherever you decide to buy from, the outlet will have all the colors and styles that you need. One of the things about going to a wholesaler which really earns demerits is that you can spend all your time finding the best prices, settle on the one with the lowest price, and discover that they don't have the style of products you need.

For carpet you know you need to consider types of finish, color, and whether you can get this carpet cut to the size you need. If not watch out; there's nothing worse than taking 8x10 squares and having to have that fit your space.

Hardwood floors run much the same risk as the carpets. If you need cherry birch laminate finish and you can't get exactly the shade and the finish that your customer wants you could lose the job. You should always be mindful of what your customer wants and make sure you deliver this product at the lowest cost. Make sure your retailer or flooring wholesalers. has what you need before you quote a price. There's nothing homeowners hate more than last minute price adjustments.

Flooring wholesale and flooring retail have really sort of melded thanks to the introduction of the World Wide Web. If you're looking to make a statement on your customers floors with a flooring retailer or wholesaler for quality and price you should be sure that your customers are willing to spend what they need to for one and able to sacrifice what they can afford for the other.