The demand for an innovative, flexible and fashionable bespoke carpet tile has grown significantly in recent years. How and why did bespoke carpet tiles become one of the biggest flooring trends of the year?
In recent times, demand for bespoke products has increased among consumers in all aspects of their lives. From home interiors to offices, almost every market in the UK has observed a shift towards personalisation and bespoke offerings – with the flooring industry being no exception.
Whether it’s in domestic or commercial applications, individuality is key to interior design specification.
Companies therefore need to ensure that they offer this versatility in their product offering to allow installers and designers to choose from various textures, colours and sizes, allowing the customer to add a unique and individual style to their setting.
What are the benefits of using carpet tiles?
When it comes to flooring, there are no limits to the design configuration of carpet tiles as each individual tile can be different, meaning even the most adventurous customer can achieve their end design goal. Moreover, tiles can be cut into different shapes and sizes to create a bespoke design, meaning the design configurations are now endless. This has allowed TradeChoice Carpet and Flooring to bring new combinations, colour mixes and visions to life and to the market.
Customers are taking a much more considered approach to choosing floorcoverings these days, but carpet tiles continually emerge as offering a flexible, future-proofed option to suit all budgets and styles. By understanding recent trends in carpet tiles, developments in the technology that creates the tile and the changing of customer requirements, installers and specifiers will help increase the popularity of carpet tiles further, resulting in impressive projects and content customers.
With these factors in mind, TradeChoice Carpet and Flooring has spent time developing its CFS product ranges to meet the demands of this bespoke trend so that consumers can rely on the company for a great deal more and to make your job easier.
CFS is a quality own-brand alternative which is designed to cover all project types – commercial, education, care homes, residential and leisure, for both new-build and renovation. With design flexibility and functionality, fitting simplicity and easy cleaning solutions at the forefront of the mind, CFS carpet tiles have become increasingly popular among those who want to use flooring to express their brand, style and personality. With new CFS carpet tile ranges launched in the last year, including CFS Evolution, CFS Kinetic Collection and CFS Stratus, the own-brand alternative has a solution for the customers’ requirements and budget.
As well as innovative flooring choices, carpet tiles allow a customer to use zonal demarcation to install a variety of shades or textures throughout a property or building, using them to highlight different key areas.
This makes each room or area feel unique and demonstrates its individual purpose. It also allows the flooring to match the interior design of a particular space, rather than being a blanket-fit across a whole building. Gone are the days where plain grey carpet tiles were installed, leading to a sombre, uninviting tone. Today, establishments can create a welcoming and uplifting environment for all.
Zonal flooring also allows specifiers and installers to create walkways within a building. These can guide end-users around a property or create a path, subconsciously encouraging building users to take a particular route – something particularly useful in the retail and education sector. An accent colour can even be incorporated into the flooring design to emphasise the establishment’s own unique identity.
Additionally, if a tile is damaged by a drink being spilt or paint being dropped, it can be replaced individually, rather than requiring the whole floor area to be re-laid at unnecessary cost and endeavour.
Depending on the carpet tile format, it can offer endless versatile design options. The products can be laid in ashlar, monolithic, quarter turn, herringbone and random configurations, dependent on the design specification required creating a bespoke aesthetic in a property. Carpet tiles also present a raft of additional benefits to specifiers and installers. Highly durable, hard-wearing and stain resistant, carpet tiles are typically maintainable with a regular vacuum. This makes them ideal for high footfall areas, dependent on the specification of the carpet tile. If one area of the floorcovering becomes damaged or stained beyond the point of repair, they’re also easy to install and are easily replaceable should even just one or two tiles need replacing.
An additional consideration when considering the installation of bespoke carpet tiles is the product sustainability. Independent third party ‘BRE Global’ approvals body offers certification against sustainable products, including carpet tiles, to ensure that products meet the required standards essential for the products’ use and placement. CFS has a ‘BREEAM’ rating on select carpet tile ranges in its portfolio.
As well as the choice of floorcovering, the consideration of how the colour choice of the floorcovering can have an impact on a person’s well-being is a worthwhile consideration. A neutral colour tone which is based around nature, for example, can conjure up relaxed feelings. In contrast, bright colourways can invoke a creative environment and a friendly atmosphere. Therefore, it may be worthwhile considering installing bespoke carpet tiles with bright colourways in an art school classroom to inspire students whilst installing neutral flooring in hallways.
Using carpet tiles to create bespoke flooring can be applied across a range of sectors. The case study below showcases TradeChoice Carpet and Flooring products being used in an office environment.
Case Study
International digital marketing agency, Croud, underwent a refurbishment where the interior designer specified a design scheme that would showcase the company’s forward thinking and innovative values. The team at Croud wanted an office space that was modern, light and fresh, concentrating on employee wellbeing while ensuring the flooring complemented the overall office aesthetic and made a bold statement.
The company also wanted to apply a biophilic design – bringing an element of the outdoors into the workplace. Having previously used Planned Office Interiors for the successful completion of the Croud ground floor office space, the agency re-engaged with their designers to explore renovating its first floor to maximise the building’s operating capacity and create an interior design scheme in-house. Planned Office Interiors designed the space to meet the brief, ensuring the flooring complemented the overall office aesthetic, while making a bold statement.
Croud also wanted to use the flooring to create a “boardwalk” feel when staff entered the office and worked with TradeChoice Carpet and Flooring to execute this, installing CFS CityWalk plank. This product range offers a tile and plank format which has been designed to allow installers to be creative with layouts and formats, creating a unique appearance in urban and commercial spaces.
Neil Rowley, office furniture & project manager at Planned Office Interiors, said of the project: ‘This project gave our team the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. The renovation, in its entirety, took a week to complete. Staff were relocated during this period to ensure a fast turnaround, arriving back at their office to an open, fresh and stylish interior design with a focus on employee wellbeing.’
There is a bright future for bespoke carpet tiles. Spending time recognising the needs of a client, what their interior design aspirations are and the budgets that they are working to, will help to ensure that the most suitable carpet tiles are specified for the installation – saving yourself time, resource, and money in the long term. At the moment, for many clients, this means creating a tailored, and often bespoke, solution with products that are flexible, contemporary and adaptable.
TradeChoice Carpet & Flooring
01527 511860
marketing@tradechoice.com
www.tradechoice.com
