Are you struggling to design an odd-shaped room? Perhaps all you need is a simple flooring technique to change the entire character and flow of the space. The following tips will help your rethink your flooring design for 6 of the most challenging rooms.
1. Confusing traffic patterns. Are your guests stymied at the layout of your space? Do they have difficulty finding their way from the front door to the living room? Just leave a trail of bread crumbs by installing stepping-stone inserts in your flooring. In formal areas, this technique works well with tile. In less formal areas, such as a finished basement, carpet inserts can be used to create a stepping-stone trail.
2. Invisible niches. Often an alcove or a niche can disappear next to the large main room. To pull the two rooms together, use a contrasting flooring border around the perimeter of both rooms. But keep the scale of the rooms in mind - for smaller floor spaces it is best to use a narrow border.
3. L-shaped kitchens. An l-shaped kitchen creates a design dilemma similar to the disappearing alcove or niche. Again, it helps to use a contrasting flooring border tie both spaces together. If you have a work island, be sure to use the same border around the island to accent it as a design feature and to bring order to the room.
4. Narrow rooms. It is possible to visually stretch a narrow room by installing horizontal stripes on the floor. The longer the room, the more colors you can use for your stripes and the more dramatic you can be in your color choices. But if the room is shorter, it is best to stick with narrow stripes and a color palette of two light colors.
5. Rectangular rooms. A large rectangular room can be visually overwhelming. You can temper this appearance by breaking the room up into two or more areas, each defined by their own floor covering inserts. These inserts function like an area rug surrounded by deep borders. You can stay with two inserts of the same size to divide the room into two areas, or for very large rooms, install a large insert in the center two-thirds of the room and flank it with smaller inserts.
6. Square rooms. The word "square" has come to mean staid and stodgy, and it is no different in room design. A square room can often lack dynamic energy. You can counteract this effect by drawing an X from corner to corner to create four triangles on the floor. You can then install one floor color in two of the opposing triangles, and a second floor color in the remaining two triangles. This can be a fun effect in a play room or child's bedroom, but it can also be used in more sophisticated settings by keeping the colors muted and with less contrast.
By using your imagination and creativity in your floor covering design, you can change an awkward space into an awesome space with very little extra investment of time or money.
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