There are many different ways you can do a floor. You can cover it up in a homogeneous layer of carpet, vinyl, tile, hardwood or laminate. Or you can design the floor in much the same way you would a garden layout or kitchen backsplash.
1. The Border: Whether you use tile or hardwood putting a border around the room makes a striking vision when you walk into the room. For example, you could use a standard light-oak hardwood floor but have a 4″ border of darker wood around it. This could be the edging or you could place 6″ of white oak between the border and the wall to give a picture frame effect. This works well with tile, as well. For the border you can use many different colors, styles and sizes for the right effect. Carpeting also makes a striking border and changes up the texture
2. The Design: Many rooms have a central design piece to define it. This could be a pattern or a real design motif like a rose. For hardwood this would take a skilled artists to make the mosaic of the picture but you can also buy then pre-made.
This is the same with tile. There are many wonderful designs that include a mosaic glued to a web background. All you have to do is glue the pattern in place and grout.
3. Mix-and-Match: Sometimes a great design can use both tile and hardwood. This can be done in a diagonal, bordering design, a hardwood floor with tile squares inserted or any other pattern. There can even be carpet squares.
Whatever the design make sure the thicknesses of the materials are the same. This may take some building up of the subfloor in some areas.
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