Marketing insights

The inspiration of nature

There's nothing quite like the beauty of nature. And now, we can bring a little bit of that natural beauty into our home with nature-inspired flooring. In this feature we explore the latest LVT and carpet collections and no matter what your style, there's a flooring option inspired by nature that's perfect for your home.

For an authentic wood or stone floor without the price tag or maintenance to match, Amtico LVT is the perfect solution. Affordable, authentically designed and easy to clean, it’s perfect for all rooms of the home including kitchens and bathrooms. It’s also warm and comfortable underfoot and can be teamed with underfloor heating to prevent cold spots.

With so many realistic wood and stone styles to choose from, it’s easy to create a natural effect with the texture and in-register embossed finish of LVT that looks and feels like the real thing. Whether it’s the organic timber knots and grains of Barrel and Amber Oak or the textural appeal of stones, Amtico’s Form Collection is ideal for classic and contemporary interiors alike.

This expertly crafted collection includes 36 different wood and stone effects, each with organically influenced surface textures and a choice of realistic natural tones. Feel the difference with three realistic grain textures and have peace of mind that the super-tough wear layer gives

“We offer retailers the possibility to build a brand corner dedicated to our natural effect floors, choosing collections from across our product categories that suit the demographic of their customers best. With a unified look – whether mixing laminate and high-pressure floors, vinyl and laminate or all three – BerryAlloc brand corners are a great way to bring a wide range of natural effect floors with unique reasons to buy.” long-lasting protection for a floor that looks and feels fabulous for years to come. Amtico Form woods and stones come in various shapes and sizes to bring added charm and character to any space. From Parquet and Basket Weave wood to Hex and Pavestone stone, the options are endless.

“We offer retailers the possibility to build a brand corner dedicated to our natural effect floors, choosing collections from across our product categories..."

Rare Breeds by Brockway brings understated, elegant colours whilst keeping an ethical and environmentally friendly vision to the fore. Made from pure, undyed wool, blended to create warm, on trend, neutral shades that will enhance any room in your home. Hard-wearing and luxurious, Rare Breeds features Brockway’s revolutionary Envirobac system, an eco-friendly carpet backing that makes their carpet easier to transport and fit.

Scott Arundell, sales director, BerryAlloc, says the manufacturer has natural effect flooring to suit a wide range of customers.

“Whether your customers are looking for a luxury vinyl, practical laminate or hardwearing high-pressure floors; our collections bring an impressive range of natural looks. From pale natural woods like Lime Oak and minimalist stones, through to tropical tones in Java Brown and the almost black of Bluestone Dark; we’ve a natural effect floor to match all interiors.

“Giving consumers choice, our floors also offer many reasons to buy. Whether that’s the 100% water-resistance of our Ocean+ laminate or the patterns and simple installation of our DreamClick equipped Pure luxury vinyl tiles or planks; the BerryAlloc range can make a natural flooring look affordable, practical and easy to live with.

Grown in Cumbria, spun in Yorkshire and crafted in Kidderminster, Lakeland Herdwick carpets by Brockway are authentically British. This stunning, high–performance carpet collection shows the same soft, warm resilience as the yarn from which it’s made.

Lakeland Herdwick is an exceptional and beautiful range, in the very best of British tradition, is made from yarn comprising the wool of Herdwick sheep, native to the Cumbrian Fells in the Lake District. Brockway’s Lakeland Herdwick is soft underfoot whilst demonstrating the hardwearing and robust properties of the natural eco-sustainable. The natural tones and textures of Herdwick wool loop pile made into striped, patterned or elegantly plain carpet, are quite simply, fashion for your floor

Crucial Trading design, manufacture and distribute the finest and most innovative flooring and rugs. Leading the way in creative design since it was founded in London in 1986, the brand remains true to its original core values – to continuously explore new weaves, textures and patterns using 100% natural materials.

The most recent addition to their collection, wool Rococo combines bold, contemporary style with the illustrious exuberance of the Rococo era. A careful balance of the ornamental and simplistic results in a timeless design that honours art and architecture of the past.

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Inspired by the lightness, elegance and curving natural forms that define Rococo style, the thick loop pile exudes opulence and offers warmth and comfort. A chalky palette of pearl greys, salon golds, and sculpted whites were chosen to highlight the wool composition and bring decadence to the modern interior.

Whether in a grand interior juxtaposed against historic parquet flooring or layered on cool tiles or concrete in a modern home, the floorcovering’s grounding hues and rich loop pile creates a sense of theatre and grandeur. Rococo is suitable for rugs and broadloom.

Karndean Designflooring is expanding its popular Van Gogh range with a stunning dual format collection of contemporary designs. Inspired by the beauty of the natural world and materials sourced from different countries, Karndean’s refreshed Van Gogh collection offers highly realistic wood and stone designs.

Stella Coyle, national retail sales manager at Karndean Designflooring said: “This is Karndean’s widest collection to date with a total of 70 unique wood and stone designs. We are launching stone designs to the range for the first time as well as wood designs in on-trend herringbone and chevron options. The collection oozes character and elegance with options to suit individual tastes, from traditional English country style to modern minimalist. Home decorators will appreciate the extensive variety of colourways and tile sizes as well as a convenient choice of formats to suit different installation needs.”

The nine new wood designs, range from characterful Highland Oaks and rustic Farmhouse Oaks to warm American Cedars, as well as fifteen new stone designs featuring the striking veining and natural variation of marble, slate and terracotta.

She adds, “Our Farmhouse Oaks were inspired by original source material from Holland: decades old painted floorboards that over time had seen the paint wear away, leaving a worn patina with remnants of colour across the boards. With a growing trend in the market for painted woods, our designers recognised that these boards offered a shabby chic feel that morphs to suit different interiors.” continued on page 36

Introducing stone designs into the range for the first time, Karndean has created a collection of iconic marble, slate, and terracotta designs in cool tones, from the fresh white colouring and distinctive veining of Palazzo Marble to the clean charcoal hues of Milanese Slate.

“Slate continues to be a popular look in flooring and with our new Italian Slates, our designers wanted to introduce a subtle variation to this known classic. The directional markings within the tiles are vertical rather than horizontal and tiny flecks of tonal colour add depth and interest to the design. A smooth emboss allows the colour and design to attract all the focus” adds Stella Coyle.

The new range offers the ultimate selection of beautiful designs with most available in both a rigid core and gluedown format to cope with common subfloor conditions.