Laminate flooring in today’s market seems to be full of just one decor and that’s oak. It accounts for the vast majority of sales. But some of the larger laminate flooring shops and manufacturers are now trying to steer away from this repetitive trend in a bid to attract new customers.
Embossed and Registered Textures
We have all seen some of the obvious advances on the laminated floor market such as V-Grooves and click systems, but some of the not so stand out changes are making some big changes in a very subtle way. For example, Registered embossed textures have been making laminate flooring look much more like real wood by using a pressure plate that has an embossed texture that it in sync with the patterned paper on the floor. When pressurized against the board it creates an embossment that mimics the grain of the wood portrayed on the plank. the end result is a superbly authentic looking finish.
Rustic Effect and Colour Variation
Colour variation in laminate flooring has always been quite unrealistic, however nowadays it has really moved on. Rather than just having 2-4 slightly different papers for one product, manufacturers are taking note of the fact that real wood flooring has no two boards the same, and involves hundreds of tones. Its not surprising to see that products are being made with as many as 40 different papers all showing different tones and some even having blond and rustic planks. it all helps to make it look more like solid timber.
Its not Just Wood Flooring
Some of my personal favorite new decors include the slate tile effects, leather and cork effect laminate floors. In fact the ranges or textiles are becoming so big I wonder where they will in fact stop. Again they are using registered and embossed textures along with colour variations all which could and should be found in natural stone or cork, or I suppose which ever natural floor coving textile they are attempting to mimic. The exciting thing is that they are getting very good at it indeed. Is carpet next? I cant see it, but then again I never thought that with my 12 years experience that I would have ever been fooled by a laminate floor that I honestly thought was a real wood floor. All done by some great registered embossment, a v-groove and a lot of natural looking colour variations. That was a year ago, and today I see many boards just like it emerging on to the shop displays.
