FLOORINGNEWS

Victoria's mosaic for the monarch

Royal Warrant holders Victoria Carpets of Kidderminster have marked the coronation of King Charles III by creating a giant portrait mosaic using 3cm x 3cm squares of carpet. At over four metres square and utilising over 3,000 individual pieces of carpet, the finished portrait took over 16 hours to produce, and faithfully recreates an official portrait released to celebrate the then Prince of Wales’ 60th birthday.

The mosaic is the brainchild of the Victoria Carpets’ marketing team, comprising head of marketing Debbie Turvey, digital communications assistant Rebecca Cash, and marketing executive Frances Brewer. Debbie took inspiration from a similar styled piece by Turkish artist Deniz Sagdic she had seen on Instagram, and asked her team if they thought it would be possible to achieve a similar effect using squares of carpet.

Commenting on the project, head of marketing

Debbie Turvey said; “We’re very proud of our royal connection here at Victoria, and when we started this project, we had no idea it would turn out so well. Full credit to Rebecca and Frances for making it happen and taking an initial concept and turning it into a giant carpet mosaic."

Rebecca and Frances worked out that by pixelating an image of King Charles III, they could convert the pixels to carpet colours, and then match them to actual carpet squares. Then over four weeks the project took shape, leaving the final piece to be assembled in their Kidderminster warehouse as that was the only place large enough to house it.

Victoria Carpets were awarded their Royal Warrant after supplying the red carpet for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2013. Amazingly, the team have been able to use some of this same carpet from their archive to help create the red of the King’s ceremonial uniform of the Welsh Guards in their portrait. See how it was done at: https://youtu.be/-GuwAcejYcU

LeoLine inspires new generation

Solihull showtime

The agenda setting show reveals the latest products and key themes for 2023 pages 42-56

Inspirational nature

Rita Bancroft examones the impact of natural themes across flooring design pages 34-36

Train to gain

Selling, servicing and installing – there's a lot to learn to boost your business pages 37-40

For over three decades, LeoLine has been providing a diverse collection of cushion vinyl floors to homes across the UK and Ireland. Designed and made entirely inhouse in Belgium, the LeoLine name has long stood for great looking floors that offer superb value and quality.

Now, as it launches a new look 2023 collection, LeoLine is also unveiling a fresh feel for its brand with a vision to make cushion vinyl the contemporary and savvy way to create the floor you want.

Michelle Magill, marketing manager, LeoLine explains, “Our market research showed us that LeoLine had the potential to appeal to a new generation of householders and tenants looking to add style to their home in a way that’s easy and affordable. We set about rethinking our brand and have created a whole new feel with an energetic new look and a promise to create ‘floors as unique as you are’.”

The playful brand inspires consumers to think differently about their choice of floor. Across updated displays, brochures and a new website, LeoLine explores how the flexibility, simple fitting, functionality and durability of vinyl floor can be the start of a new story for their home.

“We see a lot of potential in rolled vinyl flooring, particularly with generations that don’t own their own home and who want to add their style to a rental property, or for homeowners that are simply looking for an affordable way to add some unique style. The new brand locks into this psyche and with some fabulous new designs and rejuvenated collections, we’re really excited to seeing how it changes the market.”

The new look LeoLine will be rolling out to selected retailers this month.

T 0800 032 3970 www. leoline.co.uk

Visualising cork trends

Granorte has introduced an online room visualiser, making it easy for consumers to see just how TRENDCollection by Granorte cork floors and Delivering Nature cork wall and floors make homes more beautiful.

Now live on trendcollectionbygranorte.com, Granorte’s room visualiser tool lets customers try out the entire collection. Across a range of realistic rooms, they can try out over 80 floors available in the consumer focused TRENDCollection by Granorte, or more than 160 flooring options found in the designer Delivering Nature range. It’s also possible to select over 130 different wall looks.

By selecting colour, floor type or collection, users can quickly narrow down their options, trying out different laying directions and patterns in a room view. With the compare feature they can see different choices side-by-side or see how a change of laying direction affects the look of the room. The tool also lets them take snapshots of their favourite choices and find out more on each floor.

Paulo Rocha, Granorte, says; “Our room visualiser tool makes it easy for consumers to make an informed selection from the comfort of their own home. It also helps the retailer, adding another touch point in the marketing of our cork floors and walls, as it can be used in store on a tablet or screen. It’s a useful sales tool that we hope retailers will embrace.”

Once the final selections are made, room images can be printed or downloaded directly from the tool, as well as saved to a folder. The room visualiser can be experienced at https://granorte.materialo.com.

T01952 443 555 www.granorte.co.uk

Crowning glory on the high street

Carpet retailers rolled out the red (white and blue) carpet to mark the coronation of King Charles III with impressive window displays across the country.

The Wool Carpet Focus Group launched a competition with help from British Wool, SMG, The Stocklists and the major wool manufacturers to find the best window display for Coronation Day on May 6 and offered afternoon tea at a Royal palace among the prizes.

The initiative is supported by the Campaign for Wool of which Charles was patron when he was Prince of Wales.

The winners were Warm Sanctuary of Durham with second place going to Dible & Roy in Bradford on Avon.

Runners-up were Barsleys Department Store, Tonbridge; Bristol Flooring; Fashion Carpets, Tunbridge Wells; Sturtons & Tappers, Bournemouth and Superior Finish Flooring, St

Floors as unique as you are

The new LeoLine is ready for the colour, vibrancy and variety of every space. Drawing upon our flooring know-how, we’re making cushion vinyl the contemporary and savvy way to create the floor you want. After all, everybody deserves their perfect floor.

*Terms and conditions apply. For more details visit: https://www.tradechoice.com/red-carpet-club/red-carpet-club-terms-conditions/