BATHROOM FLOORING

Floored in the bathroom

For that cozy, creative and unique look to your dream bathroom, Anjali Tiwari offers a few tips


Bathroom flooring should be chosen keeping safety in mind. There are lots of options for bathroom flooring in the market. But it will be wiser to set the budget before going to the market. The most popular options are bathroom carpets, bathroom carpet tiles, ceramic floor tiles, bamboo flooring, laminate flooring, vinyl linoleum flooring, hardwood flooring.
There is no doubt that bathroom carpet adds warmth and softness to the floor. In winters, you cannot imagine going barefoot but if you have a carpet in the bathroom, then you can take that step - barefoot! But, a bathroom carpet is not easy to maintain as a wet carpet makes the flooring dirty and also creates an unpleasant odor. So, it is better to use throwaway rugs instead of carpets for comfort. But if you are really keen on bathroom carpet flooring then use vinyl border around the bath, toilet and basin and put a few bath mats on it to soak in water and moisture from your feet. The most popular carpet in the bathroom is one with foam backing.
In comparison, carpet tiles are easy to install and if there is any defect in any one tile, you just have to replace the tile, while for a bathroom carpet flooring you have to tear down the whole carpet in case of any defect. Vinyl linoleum flooring is durable and easy to clean and maintain. Marble flooring and good quality tiles are also durable, easy to clean and require no maintenance.
It is said that laminate bathroom flooring may or may not be used for wet floors, but you can use high quality laminate bathroom flooring with high gloss finish. This type of flooring requires maintenance. Stone finish in bathroom laminate flooring is durable and looks beautiful. Hardwood flooring is durable but needs extra care. Normally, in hardwood flooring, oak and pinewood is used. Bathroom with hardwood flooring looks sophisticated and elegant. There is one more quite economic option of bathroom flooring - the ceramic bathroom floor tiling, which requires little care while installing. Ceramic bathroom tiles are durable, come in lots of colours and easy to clean. These types of tiles do not get too slippery when it gets wet. But it is advisable that one chooses slip-resistant surface in ceramic tiles for bathroom safety.
Another great option for bathroom flooring is bamboo flooring that does not require much maintenance. If you do not wish to spend more money in bathroom flooring but simultaneously want to create a dream bathroom , you can opt for unglazed tile, but they need much maintenance and need to be cleaned frequently. Bathroom floor tiles come in square, rectangular , hexagonal and octagonal shapes, while accent tiles are generally diamond shaped and come in smaller sizes. For giving larger look to a bathroom , use same colour tiles on floor and walls. Tiles that are too large look ridiculous in small bathrooms, and preferably.
Use of two different colours of tiles is a great option. On the floor choose the tiles in one colour while choose another colour on the walls and thus give a dramatic look to your bathroom.