Over the past few years, the fast pace of technological changes has immeasurably improved our lives. It was unsettling for some time. It is no surprise, then, that people were looking to make their homes islands of comfort—a place to unplug.
We are now seeing a shift, however. Creating a serene environment no longer means unplugging from all technologies. Rather, it means using them wisely to make life easier and free some time for the important things. It’s about creating a mindful living environment.
Connected homes and communities have an impact on time spent with family, friends, neighbours and broader communities. As we have seen with everything from TV and internet to smartphones, we are now more than happy to adopt new technologies when they bring real benefits, such as saving time and money, or building meaningful new connections with those we care about and depend on in our everyday lives.
With our new openness to the world, we are remapping our sense of community, creating hubs of art, music and gastronomy. New services like home and car sharing and e-learning have allowed us to create a culture of everyday nomadism and wanderlust obsession. We are now seeking to collect experiences instead of things, using technology to help us ease the process while remaining in the background.
Creating welcoming spaces, sanctuaries of harmony to increase the moments of joy in our lives, is now the priority. The home is opening itself from the inside out to family, the community and the world, creating an environment full of unexpected fun, where we all feel welcome and relaxed. It allows us to live in the moment, encouraging us to act selflessly, happily and generously.
Hardwood Flooring Latest Trends
Open living spaces are definitely becoming the norm for connecting and sharing. With these growing lifestyle trends, some types of flooring are growing in popularity.
Texture
Textured hardwood flooring is definitely ideal for a more active household. It is a lot more forgiving than its smooth counterparts when it comes to the hazards of everyday life with family, friends, pets and home-sharing newcomers.
Discover all our hardwood floor textures.
Low Sheen
Gaining popularity in recent years, a low sheen hardwood floor is best at enhancing the natural look of wood while hiding marks, scuffs and scratches. Low sheen hardwood floors are usually excellent for high-traffic areas and homes with kids and pets and make a perfect combination with texture.
Learn all about hardwood floor sheen.
Sophisticated Complex Colours
With the openness to the world comes a quest for richer, deeper and more complex, as well as personalized and unique colours. Traditional colours are fading away, leaving room to more complex multi-tonal and rich colours that brings an interesting deepness to your décor.
Long and Large
What better way to create unity in open-concept homes than long and large floor planks? Larger and longer hardwood floorboards add visual interest to a room and perfectly bring together the open concept. They make any room in the house look larger, and because fewer boards are needed to cover a given area, there are fewer visible joints, yielding a spectacular, even look.
New Hardwood Floorings
All our new hardwood floorings being introduced on the market this year combine all the beauty of these four trends to bring you smart options that adapt to current needs and lifestyles.
New Estate Series
The new Estate Series adds a bold and elegant statement to your décor. With its combination of Wire Brushed and Hand Scraped worn texture, its array of soft and rich complex colours ranging from greige, warm-taupe, bistre to dark rich browns. And its 6¼”-wide planks, this new White Oak Series brings the essence and warmth of old English chic into your home. Discover Moorland, Stonehenge, Yorkshire, Celtik, Natural, Cambridge, New Castle, Wyndham & Frontenac.
It is also worth mentioning that the Estate Series is infused with our Pure Genius®air-purifying smart technology, a first-of-its-kind innovation in hardwood flooring that makes homes healthier. This technology brings your hardwood floors and well-being to a new level, by improving indoor air quality by up to 85% and decomposing up to 99.6% of bacteria, viruses and mold.
New Colors in the Authentik Series
Esperanza, Curioso and Tormenta certainly bring the high-demand grey pallet to our Authentik Series. Historic and timeless with a contemporary twist, this series offers a low-gloss surface and Wire Brushed texture, bringing the beauty of the Red Oak to life.
The Authentik Series is also infused with our Pure Genius®air-purifying smart technology to allow your family to breathe easier.
New Colors in the Urban Loft Series
The interesting four new colours of the Urban Loft Series will charm you. From light beachy to dark dirty blonde, taupe and a sophisticated and complex dark brown, combined with a Wire Brushed texture and an ultra-matte sheen, these new 7½”-wide White Oak hardwood floors will definitely add character to your home. Discover Alcove, Faktory, Park Avenue and Tribeca.
New dimensions
To bring the open spaces together and offer the best wood authenticity, all our hardwood floor made out of our domestic species – Hard Maple, Red Oak and Yellow Birch; as well as our exotic species – Brazilian Cherry, African Sapele, Santos Mahogany from our International Series; now features new board lengths of up to 6 feet, in our NextStep-engineered construction with a 5 3/16-width.
To bring an interesting twist to your décor, our hardwood floors made out of our domestic species – Hard Maple, Red Oak and Yellow Birch from our Ambiance Collection are now offered in wider and longer Herringbone of 5 3/16-width per 23 ¼-length.
