“People need to calm down,” says Kathryn Gluibizzi, Senior Designer at Armstrong Flooring.
Modern living is notoriously stressful, and the past few years have amped up those feelings for many of us. As with practical design trends in any form, flooring trends are often a reflection of and a reaction to what is happening in the world.
So it may be no surprise that what’s now popular in multifamily flooring is nature-inspired, uncomplicated, and authentic.
Nature-inspired
“Everyone has been stuck inside,” says Gluibizzi. “Bringing the outside in is important. And, having things look natural and not man-made—and not look mass-manufactured—is important, too.”
Even before the pandemic, most Americans spent about 90 percent of every day indoors, according to the U.S. EPA. The nature-driven trends of biophilic design, sustainability, and Japandi were already a focus within interior design, but COVID-19 has helped those interests surge in demand and the results are seen in today’s top flooring picks.
“Nature is just so much more important, and people think of nature when they want to stay calm or be calm, or create a calm environment,” says Gluibizzi. “And then that’s very heavily influenced by color.”
A common theme among popular flooring products are the colors. Across flooring types, the popular picks are warmer, and sometimes with an inky blue tint. While warm grey is a popular pick, warm beiges, pale greens, and multicolor palettes that appear to have been washed out a bit by the sun are now on-trend.
Uncomplicated
A characteristic of multifamily flooring trends that never seems to fade is easy maintenance, and it is becoming even more important with multiple generations adapting homes as multifunctional spaces.
“There has been a push toward hard surfaces for clean-ability,” says Gluibizzi. “Especially for multifamily, there are many tenants over the life of the unit, so durability is important. And, one of the first questions we always get is: “How durable is it?’”
The ability to use many different kinds of cleaners and the floor’s resistance to impacts are among the many reasons why nature-inspired wood and stone are actually designer-created looks on luxury vinyl tile and other vinyl flooring. And it’s a bit healthier for residents when it’s installed, unlike carpet that needs a chemical finish to be stain resistant.
Wear and tear is another reason why the wood looks on man-made materials is popular. “The reason they are going to stay popular is because they hide a lot of imperfections, scuffing, and wear-and-tear,” says Gluibizzi. “The kind of visuals that have a little bit more going on can hide things. So I don’t think rustic will go away, but it will be cleaner with less characteristics within the wood look, and fewer variations within the wood design.”
Authenticity
Even though popular flooring may only mimic the look of a natural material, the demands are for looks that are more unique, authentic, and less generic. For example, matte finishes are popular, as anything that’s glossy is now equated with being inexpensive. And sheet vinyl as planks with grouted edges or a bevel simulation and a light wood grain embossing is popular now, too.
“We’re all at home and are wondering: ‘How do I put my own mark on this?’,” says Gluibizzi. “And we want to know that the building owner is fashion-forward and thinks about things in a more personalized way than it being a cookie-cutter mass-marketed apartment building.”
Instead of choosing bold colors or dramatic patterns to stand-out among the competition, magnified and controlled patterns that are simple are standing out. “People want things to look authentic, from the past. If you look at the marketplace, there are non-mass-market looks, like chevron marble and encaustic old Spanish or Mediterranean tiles.”
For authenticity, the wood look still reigns as a top choice, but with less variations and contrast. And one surprise is that the honey-colored pine from the 1990s is returning in popularity as a nostalgic nod to childhood for many Millennial multifamily dwellers. Gluibizzi explains the trend as authentic nostalgia and “surrounding yourself with things that may have been in your early childhood home with your parents, or even your grandparents.”
So while the trend for staying inside isn’t going away, the trend for feeling more natural, uncomplicated, and authentic while inside has become trend-setting in multifamily flooring. For more information about today’s top flooring trends, visit ArmstrongFlooring.com.
