Image: Design Soda

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We are all different, but to my mind, floors in the home are best when either wood or tiled. I like the look of solid floors, and when layered with rugs I think they allow for more personality than carpets (unless you are really bold and happyily lavish your carpets with bright patterns which to be honest would do my head in!). Every single room of our house has one of these materials for flooring, bar one which is our son’s bedroom and, once I figure out the reason behind the rooms coolness, I will be pulling up the carpet in here too. I like the feel of the solidity of hard floors, the elegance of providing a clean line for the eye, the fact that dust shows up and prompts cleaning needs that carpet can hide.

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Image: Design Soda

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One of the golden rules of interior design that I hold most true is the use of natural timeless materials in a design. From the feel and use, right through to the look, authenticity of material is one of the things that you should try hardest to get right. They can feel like the more boring part of design, and if you don’t have a massive budget it can be tempting to scrimp on these basics in favour of sexier design items,  but as the foundations of a room, they alter both the experience of use and overall aesthetic value. Nothing beats the feel and look of natural materials, items taken from the landscape that echo the natural world just can’t be matched by synthetic replicas.

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Image: Design Soda

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In our home I avoid synthetics as much as possible, and laminate anything sets my teeth on edge. So when natural wood flooring specialists Woodpecker Flooring got in touch to ask me if I’d like to style one of their product lines I was delighted to accept. Woodpecker are a company of craftsmen from Wales, with retailers all across the UK, that have been in business for over twenty years and who produce elegant, crafted wood flooring which takes a strong design aesthetic from the forests that provide their material. There are a lot of taupe-y natural shades in their range of white wood flooring which make one think of the coast or the natural landscape. The Sandy Oak line which I have styled in the shots for this piece are a part of Woodpecker’s engineered flooring range and they showcase the point that you can’t fake the feel or beauty of natural materials with fake. This is the first time I’ve felt or worked with engineered flooring, and I absolutely love it. So much so that it made me question my much loved black floors which I laboured over and painted last Spring (a pretty massive endorsement from me, as anyone who knows how much I love the black boards will attest!).

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Images: Design Soda

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I love the calm beauty of these softly washed pale oak boards, they have a feeling of serenity and link to nature which is very alluring, of foundations being done right and of timeless style. Those of you that read the blog regularly will know that we have laboured on many floors in both our current and previous home, sanding, painting, staining, dying and even laying flooring. I have often restored the Victorian floorboards underneath carpets as I like the heritage of them and the rustic feel. I’m heavily influenced by the Scandi’s for look with flooring and I’d be lying if I didn’t also say that I’ve been yearning for the clean light white wood finish of Scandinavian floors on Pinterest for quite some time. I actually can’t let them go now that they’ve got into my design psyche and I have a destination in mind for them – the last room in the house with carpet, Teds room. Teds room mirrors the scandi vibe of our bedroom but with slightly more personality. As we have had white washed floors in the past (a pretty laborious task), this white wood flooring option from Woodpecker may be the perfect fuss-free solution, and the decision that pulls the room together into something more polished and natural whilst making a play of its Scandinavian elements. 

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Image: Woodpecker Flooring

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As we have only ever inherited natural boards under carpet or really cheap laminate, engineered wood flooring is something I have only seen in magazines. I had wondered if you ever got that real wood feel from them before, the texture and depth of subtlety, but I am so won over by the Design I received. Woodpecker Flooring’s naturally inspired flooring, which is ethically sourced, shows the beauty of craftsmanship in using real wood. Unlike Victorian slats this flooring doesn’t have any awkward gaps or space for cold air to circulate. I really am quite persuaded that they are the ideal solution for Teds room so watch this space. There are lots of options available from the range, and even a beautiful herringbone design, but I think the Light Sandy Oak is my favourite, which is yours?

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Image: Design Soda

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Images: Woodpecker Flooring

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This post is a collaboration with Woodpecker Flooring.

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