Wood flooring is one of the closest materials you can get from Nature. The rustic feel, musky smell, and the unique grain of each piece of plank brings about a nostalgic feel to the living space. Wood flooring styles naturally exudes a touch of timeless elegance and it is no wonder that it remains the choice of many home owners. It is almost always found in buildings of characters, such as palaces and manors that date back to historical times. For example, the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia that has arguably the most beautiful wood floors.

Contrary to common beliefs, wood can be a great eco-friendly choice for all living and company working spaces too. By using wood sourced from sustainable forests (FSC / PEFC certified) and using only adhesives that emit little or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), wood flooring can be an eco-friendly choice.

For your next design project or home renovation idea, come take a look at some of the beautiful wood flooring style projects that The Floor Gallery has been a part of…

Project #1: HDB Flooring

The owners of this unit chose American Walnut to dress up the floor of their living room. The warm-tone wood flooring style complements the unit well as it provides contrast to the white walls of the premises. The natural varying tones of the wood’s light shade breaks the uniformity of the flooring, brings out the character of the family home, and gives a warm cosy feel to the home. In addition to its aesthetics, this solid wood flooring’s eco-friendly and non-toxic features made it a great flooring choice for the whole family, including the little corner of their furry companion.

Project #2: Condominium Flooring

This apartment in Cote D’zaur Condominium in Marine Parade is covered by FloorTop wood flooring. Also known as engineered wood flooring, it is made by compressing multiple layers of 100% real textured hardwood. With its unique construction, this wood flooring style is more durable, dimensionally stable and less susceptible to warping. In this home, FloorTop engineered wood, along with its natural wood grains, blends perfectly with the Scandinavian-like white walls of the apartment.

Installation of FloorTop engineered wood flooring is also faster and easier. Unlike traditional wood flooring, the original floor does not have to be hacked. FloorTop wood flooring can be overlaid onto the existing floor. There is also no need to sand and varnish on site as the floors are pre-finished at the factory. This cuts down the installation time from weeks to just a day or two!

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Interested to find out more about FloorTop wood flooring for your property? Feel free to contact our decking specialists HERE!
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Project #3: Editlounge Pte Ltd’s Outdoor Decking

Generally all wood can be used for outdoors. The wood used will have to be kept dry and regularly maintained to prevent wood rot. However, there are some wood species that have a higher resistance to decay than others and these are the wood species that are commonly used for outdoor decking. One of the wood species would be Chengal. It is study, durable and naturally resistant to termites. In addition, Chengal has a relatively low shrinkage ratio, (only inferior to Teak) which makes it excellent for applications where it undergoes periodic changes in moisture.

Editlounge Pte Ltd, a post-production and media management company, installed chengal wood decking at the balcony of its Cendex Centre office. Instead of laying a deck over the entire balcony, the chengal wood decking was interspersed with some grey pebbles and tiles. This breaks the monotony of the decked space and gives it a calming “Zen” feel. This project shows that one can definitely create stylish wonders in an outdoor space. All it takes is a little creativity!

Types of Wood Flooring

At The Floor Gallery, we have a wide range of wood flooring styles to suit your needs. For traditional solid wood flooring design, consider Canadian Cherry, a red-colored hardwood hailing from Canada and the United States. Alternatively, take a look at European Birch, a lovely brown hardwood popular among Singaporean homeowners. If you love something a little darker, Tasmania Oak is a grey-colored wood that blends well with contemporary, white interiors. We have more than 20 types of hardwood to choose from, check them out here.

Canadian Cherry	European Birch	Tasmania Oak

If, however, you fancy FloorTop engineered wood style, check out the lovely designs under Spirit M. Select ETM001 for that cool, black minimalist look or ETM003 for a warm cottage feel.

ETM001	ETM003

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At The Floor Gallery, be spoilt for choice as there is a wide variety of flooring solutions. From indoor flooring to outdoor decking, from wood lookalike to real wood floors, and many more! Whether you’re in need of some fresh home ideas or just want to view our flooring range, feel free to contact our friendly consultants HERE today.
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Comfortable to the Feet

Wood flooring is a natural insulator of heat compare to other types of flooring. That means in chilly weather, you will feel warmth on the feet and during hot weather, you will feel coolness beneath. This feature therefore adds extra comfort to your feet while keep one away from illness such as cold and sinus.

Adds Value to Your Home

Do you know that wood flooring adds value to your home? Compare to other types of flooring, one reason why wood flooring adds value to your home is because of its luxurious status. However, it is important for homeowners to know what type of wood flooring to install that can actually increase the property value of your home. The highest value should be solid wood flooring, followed by layered wood flooring and then parquet. Do note that laminate flooring is not considered as wood flooring, therefore it will not help in the increase of the property value if you have the intention to sell the home to upgrade to a bigger home.

Unique Look

Each wood flooring plank has its own unique feature, design and look. You cannot find one wood flooring to be the same as the others. Therefore, it gives your home the unique design and feel. With real wood flooring, your home will stand out among the others.

Nostalgic Value

Another important feature of wood is in its nostalgic value. Every little marks left by your little ones on the wood flooring, create a memory for you, the home owners, many years down the road. This is one reason why some home owners love to have a keepsake of his or her old wooden flooring to be installed in the new home.

Long Lasting

Ever been to more than a century house where the wood flooring is still in its original state? Still strong and sturdy even though it has been more than a hundred years old. Well, this is because wood flooring can be very long lasting if the owner knows how to maintain it periodically (preferably twice a year) via re-varnishing, re-coating and re-painting.

So, there you have, the 5 unique feature of wood flooring. Hope you will appreciate the value of real wood flooring for your home!

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“What are some of the safety properties of the flooring should we be looking at, if we have elderly at home then?” you may ask. Read on for the answer!

1. Slip Resistant

Water spillage or water pouring from the rain into the house, is something inevitable. This is especially true for the kitchen, service yard and toilet area. According to Health Promotion Board, a lot of injuries happened to elderly due to fall each year. Therefore, it is extremely important to have a flooring that is highly slip resistant. Also, look for a flooring that is impact resistant, so that in event that may not fully prevent falls, it may also help to cushion falls, lessening impact.

2. Easy to maintain

Very often, the younger ones are either out at work or in school. The cleaning is, sometimes, done and maintained by the elderly. Having an easy to maintain flooring will help them have an easier job. They need not need to scrub the floor hard, but just using their comfortable way of having a broom and a mop, they will feel the floor clean. Having an easy to maintain flooring may also help them to gain their confidence as they know these are simple chores they can help out at home, if they want to do, of course.

3. Comfortable

When we are buying shoes, we look for shoes that we are comfortable to walk in. The same goes for flooring. We need to be comfortable with the flooring that we are walking on as we are spending a lot of the time walking at home when we are home. What more about the elderly who could be at home more often than you do? Some flooring, such as concrete tiles, may not be good for health if we were to stand on them for long. People with morning sinus will not like to step on ceramic tiles or marbles in the morning too. Hence, look for a flooring that will not be cold during cold weather or hot in the hot afternoon.

4. Air Quality

Fresh clean air helps to improve our life quality. As much as we like to have clean air, we also need to understand that dust is everywhere. We can clean them, but some flooring, such as carpets, tend to trap dust easier than others. Dust and dust mites will cause problems to elderly, especially those with respiratory problems. Hence, it is vital to look for a flooring that is tested and proven for better indoor air quality standard.

Flooring may seem to be the easiest to go for in a house, but when safety for the elderly becomes a concern, you will realise there are many considerations you need to have. There is no perfect flooring for a safe house. Do consider what your priority are. Research well before committing and don’t forget to involve the elderly when choosing flooring as their comfort should also be taken into consideration!

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#1 Comfortable for the Feet

Ever had the experience of morning sinus when stepped on cold flooring? Something that is not so pleasant when you need to get up early for work, right? Well, it is important to get bedroom flooring with high insulation and heat resistance properties. This will ensure your feet is comfortable and the flooring is not so cold especially in the morning. Good recommendation of flooring with these properties is wood flooring, laminate flooring, eco resilient flooring and vinyl flooring.

#2 Eco Healthy

Do you know that most building materials have a certain rate of formaldehyde emission? It is also important to check if the amount of VOC (volatile organic compounds) emission on a flooring, if any. Another thing to take note is the component of materials used to manufacture the flooring, are they safe for enclosed living spaces. One recommendation is to look for eco resilient flooring (ERF) or other types of flooring with certified eco accreditation such as the Singapore Green Label. Savvy customers will tend to look beyond that by asking the flooring contractor for the test reports.

#3 Good dimensional stability and durability

Another important factor for a bedroom flooring is to see if the flooring has good dimensional stability such that should there be any expansion or contraction due to temperature changes, it will not result in massive gaping the long term. One example is parquet flooring where you will see gaping appear months after installation. Hence, look for flooring with high dimensional stability and durability.

#4 Moisture Protection

Love to sleep in air-conditioned bedrooms daily? While you feel the comfy temperature, it is important to take note that flooring that does not have high water resistance will tend to be damaged due to poor moisture protection. Hence, it is important to check with the flooring contractor if the flooring has high water resistance, or better still, waterproof features.

#5 Design & Colour

Well, this may not be an important factor, however, the aesthetic look of the bedroom can change entirely due to the change in design or colour of the bedroom flooring. Anyway, a bedroom is a place where you stay long hours at, why not take your time to choose a good design such that you will feel good looking at it in a long term basis. Currently in the market, there are a lot of laminate flooring, vinyl flooring and clickable resilient flooring products which have quite a ton of colours and design for the homeowners to choose from.

There you have the five tips to look into a bedroom flooring. Please take your time and choose the best flooring for your home!

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Tiles are a kind of hard flooring and are available in a big range of man-made and natural materials. Mosaics, marble, slate, and ceramic titles are just some of the options available and each come with their own features. The main benefit of tiles is that they are very hard wearing and if perfectly maintained will last an extremely long time. As they are waterproof, they are perfectly suited to areas such as utility rooms and bathrooms, and being simple to clean are also best for kitchens. Anyway, tiles can be chill underfoot and can be slippery when wet, hence they are not suitable where children or elderly people are present. If they have an intricate pattern they can be hard to fit as well as being costly and semi-permanent. They are also noisy and need other softer surfaces to decrease the amount of echo in a room.

Wooden floors are also classed as strong or hard flooring but being softer than titles and they are also hot underfoot. With the big range of natural tones accessible, they can support a homely feeling. Even though they can be noisy, if sprung it can support to decrease noise and add bounce to the floor. The problem of wooden floors is that they are generally manufactured from softwoods and therefore can dent easily, especially by the heels of shoes.

Carpets are categorized as soft flooring and by their extremely nature make a feel of comfort and warmth. They can sense underfoot and luxurious and are best for hiding dirt and stains. Largely patterned carpets anyway, can make a room seem litter and will date simply. Plain carpets on the other can make a room seem bigger by making a sense of space. As well as being hot, carpets also support to decrease noise whilst giving insulation by guarding against heatt loss through the floor.

There are many other kinds of flooring for home interior design such as natural flooring including seagrass and jute as well as concrete flooring. The important part is to understand what the flooring chosen will be used for and choosing the right finish for that objective. Once you have planned on that, you should select the top standard that you can afford. Do keep in mind that a good floor will last you a long time, and is definitely worth investing in.

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Aesthetics and Appearance

In terms of aesthetics, the difference between conventional and laminate floors is glaringly clear. Read wood is featured by wonderful texture variation of the wood grain, which is why no 2 planks of hardwood flooring, whether engineered or solid, appear actually alike. In laminate flooring, pre-shaped patterns that imitate the appearance of wood texture are imprinted onto the floor area. For this factor, identical designs are repeated on average every five boards.

Although in appearance some top standard laminate floors may look like true wood, repetition is unavoidable, as individuality of an authentic wood is not possible to replicate.

Moisture

Wood is a breathing, organic material that feedbacks to fluctuations in temperature and humidity. For this factor, engineered and solid conventional floors should be fixed in interiors where moisture levels are checked and kept at 45-50 percent for strong and 45-60 percent for engineered floors. Even though engineered conventional hardwood floors have higher stability and dimensional, most wood floors producers do not advise installing them in kitchens or bathrooms, where humidity and temperature can change significantly. In humid and hot climate, such as Singapore, Conventional laminate flooring that is engineered or multilayer is favorable over solid hardwood floors.

Laminate floors have top resistance to moisture and are often used for bathrooms, kitchens and basements. Nevertheless, it is vital to perfectly read the producer warranty and advises in order to reject costly mistakes.

Durability

Durability of any flooring surface mainly depends on amount of foot traffic, as well as adherence to producer advises in regards to maintenance and care of the floor.

Outer layer of most laminate floors is produced by bounding aluminum oxide and melamine resins at high pressure and top heat. The resulting floor surface is generally harder that of natural wood.

Durability of an authentic conventional floor varies depending on producer, finish and maintenance practices. Engineered or solid hardwood floors can be renewed, refinished and repaired quite easily, often without the need to change planks or even the full floor, as is the case with destroyed laminate flooring.

Ease of Repair

Quality laminate flooring does not repair simply. In floating laminate flooring – one that is fixed by snapping individual parts combine and laying them without glue – destroyed planks can be replaced and removed. If laminate flooring was fixed using glue-down technique, floor repairs become very hard. Laminate cannot be refinished or sanded.

Whether engineered or conventional, hardwood flooring is significantly simple to repair than laminate. If surface destroy is extensive, the full floor can be refinished and sanded. If problem is localized, then it can be repaired by deleting and changing individual planks, or even by manually, staining, sanding and refinishing the place in question, depending on style of finish.

Both hardwood and laminate flooring clearly have their advantages and disadvantages, and it is up to the home owners to decide what they really want for their home, before making a decision on their home floor.

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Wood has been the main option for homeowners for many years. It is strong and durable, natural and looks awesome. Engineered wood flooring offers a number of benefits in addition to being strong, durable and beautiful. Engineered Wood also known as layered wood, is made of 100% real timber, adding a feel of luxury to your home interior space. It is also environmentally friendly as it is made from sustainable wood resources.

It is also extremely easy to install in homes. Most wood flooring used the tongue and groove system and the pieces fit together easily. This can reduce delays and speed up the installation process. Engineered wood flooring can be installed directly on the concrete. This can also save a lot of time and money. Unlike natural wood flooring, engineered wood flooring is stable and reduces the risk of deformation, twisting, bending and creaking in the future.

Besides that, engineered wooden floors also come in a variety of colors and wood finishes, making it easier to find the one that suits your home perfectly. You can choose from a wide range from light to dark colors, and this is an advantage for home owners as they are given many options to choose from.
Engineered wood flooring is a good flooring to use especially in hot weathers. It is strong and can withstand high heat. Heat resistance property of this flooring is very important in hot climate like Singapore.

Hence, the high dimensional stability and comfort that this flooring provides, makes it an excellent choice of flooring for home owners who also want their home to look luxurious and in style.

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Light Coloured Flooring

Light coloured flooring is the more popular and more often used flooring in homes. This is because light coloured flooring makes the interior space of the home look and feel bigger and brighter. Light coloured flooring also goes well with almost any coloured walls. Of course, if u have white walls, light coloured flooring will definitely make the home look really spacious!

Dark Coloured Flooring

Dark coloured flooring are increasingly gaining popularity, especially amongst the younger home owners. Dark flooring gives the interior space a mystic and elegant feel. Home owners who loves to have a contrasting interior space, they will prefer to install dark coloured floors to go with white walls. Contrasting colours in the home design gives the home a modern and more stylish look.

Depending on the theme of your home interior design, whether you would prefer to have a flooring that complements or contrasts with the walls, light and dark flooring can then be decided.  Furniture in the home also play an important role. Some home owners love to have their floor in the same colour as their furniture, whereas some prefer to have them in opposite contrasting colours.

Both light and dark coloured flooring have their own distinctive and unique advantages, and of course appeal to different people. Choose a flooring that you love, and of course, choose one which can last you a long time. Be it light or dark flooring, a good flooring that is easy to maintain is also important. Eco Resilient flooring by The Floor Gallery comes in 18 designs, and has many properties that appeal to home owners. Besides being kids and pets friendly, the 18 available designs also has various light and dark coloured options for home owners to choose from. Do check out our eco-resilient flooring designs when you intend to do up your floor!

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Here are a few pet friendly flooring options you can choose from:

Pet Friendly Flooring #1: Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl flooring is largely pet friendly due to its durability and high water-resistant qualities. In fact, it is one of the most recommended pet friendly flooring options for cats and dogs. Newer collections of vinyl flooring now come with extra thickness and that is an added advantage. Vinyl flooring option is water-resistant and withstands wear and tear. Another reason why this type of flooring is recommended for pet owners is because even if your pet urinates or vomits on the floor, it can be easily cleaned without leaving any stains. Also, padded vinyl flooring conceals the irritating sound of your pet’s nails as they move around.

Interested in pet-friendly vinyl flooring? Feel free to get in touch with our flooring team HERE.

Pet Friendly Flooring #2: Linoleum Flooring

Another pet-friendly flooring option, linoleum flooring is of higher quality but slightly costlier. It is very eco-friendly as it is a natural product. Soft, scratch-resistant and easy to clean, it also has antibacterial properties – definitely helpful for pet owners who place hygiene as a priority.

Pet Friendly Flooring #3: Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is also a top-rated pet friendly option, as it is durable, highly water-resistant, scratch-resistant and easy to clean. The Floor Gallery’s Laminate Flooring is a cost-efficient option in Singapore.

Pet Friendly Flooring #4: Eco-Resilient Flooring

As the name suggests, this type of flooring is eco-friendly and is resilient to many environmental factors. Eco Resilient Flooring is highly waterproof, has high impact and slip resistance, and its installation can be customised to your preferences. These features make it an extremely safe option for your pets and your home.

It is important to consider all factors before choosing a flooring for your home and pets. Some types of flooring may be rather costly, However, if the higher price tag gives you a flooring that lasts a longer, it is definitely worth it to invest in a strong pet-friendly flooring at home.

Want to find a flooring that suits your budget and home’s interior? Discuss your best options with us HERE.

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There are various why wood flooring should be considered over any other type of flooring

• Wood flooring is cost-effective over the long run: One may think that wood is costly, but over a longer period of time, you will start to appreciate the investment you made in wood flooring as a good one. This type of flooring adds value and class to our homes even at a resale time since its value appreciates as the house increases in value.

• Durability and ease of maintenance: Wood flooring lasts longer as it is not affected by environmental factors such as rain (or moisture) and sunshine. It is also relatively easy to maintain since it involves simple vacuuming and sweeping. With this simple method of maintaining the wood flooring, you are guaranteed to have a longer lasting flooring that is protected from moisture and wear and tear that result to scratches. This type of flooring can be easily refinished as long as the maintenance procedures are followed.

• Environmentally friendly and healthier: Wood flooring is environmentally friendly since it is not treated with chemicals. As such, we are not concerned about any health concerns when using wood flooring. Wood flooring is good for people that are allergic to dust, dander or anything else that can get stuck in a carpet or rug, since it doesn’t trap any of these things as they can easily be cleaned up.

Other reasons to consider include:

• Availability in different styles: wood flooring comes in various styles, colors, so one never really runs out of style.

• Wood as a renewable resource sustained by forest reserves: The production of wood will never stop any time soon.

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