Top Ten Aesthetic Mistakes Made in Selecting Flooring

I've been looking at many, many houses as a potential new home owner. I assume I am going to have to paint, change old carpet, and repair toilets when I move into a new home. However, if you're about to buy new flooring, please consider aesthetics as well as the price. Unless you pay attention to good design rules of thumb, you may not realize how big a mistake you're making until after the flooring has been installed. Paying attention to these aesthetic problems may save your eyes and your wallet.

#1 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Too Many Colors

My husband and I saw a house which ended up being called the bordello. Each room had a separate color. This isn't a bad practice per se, but when you select jewel colors i.e. the emerald room, the ruby room, the topaz room, jokes will be made. Or maybe we've just seen far too many old westerns.

#2 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Clashing Colors

In another house we viewed, it was clear that each new owner of the home had decided to leave their stamp on the home. Consecutive improvement is a good thing in general. However, if the first home owner loves red tile, don't buy a clashing color like white swirly turquoise and install it. Even though the two colors aren't side by side with each other, it makes it really difficulty to find a color that will blend the two rooms. A proper contrasting set of colors in a complicated design may save the situation, but where will you find the furniture to match?

#3 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Too Big and Busy

I saw a house with the most beautiful golden marble flooring-very expensive and very well installed. Then the video zoomed out. I was astounded. The same color marble was on all the counters, as back splashes, cabinet doors and in the next room and next, too. The effect was dizzying. I held my breath, when would my eyes get a rest? Oops, never. Too much of a busy pattern and color may overwhelm you.

#5 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - A Vast Sea of the Bland

Contractor beige is favored by real estate agents because it offends no one. It also bores everyone, especially when it is placed in every single room of the house in the same flooring type i.e. all cream carpet or all white tile. Because tiles come in many colors, adding a second contrasting bland color won't offend anyone, either. Even if you add just one odd color per corner, the blandness will disappear.

#6 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Mix and Match Shapes

We saw many houses that chose two contrasting colors like black and white tile squares in the kitchen that looked cool and jazzy. Then you moved into the living room and they had white zig-zag herringbone tile pattern. Then in the family room they had a running board pattern of white tile. In the bathrooms it was black marble. Consistency across the home in terms of style is best.

#7 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - One Oddball Wood

I saw one impeccably beautiful home in which the design was carefully thought out. The peach exterior matched the peach interior. Accents of rust were placed artfully. The flooring was a mix of cream colored carpeting and rusty mahogany wood. The only odd note was the white ash kitchen cabinets. One odd detail when everything matches exceptionally well will stand out like a sore thumb.

#8 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Fighting Grains

If you have inexperienced carpet installers, they often don't realize that carpet has a grain. Expert flooring installers will match the grain at the seams of any room. Nothing looks worse than having the sheen suddenly change at the boundary of your flooring.

#9 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Durable Trendy

Much to my horror, my second home had sixties psychedelic colored floor linoleum that was in perfect shape. The owner had bought industrial, forty year guaranteed life linoleum and installed it. How could I possibly justify ripping out perfectly good flooring? The truth was the yellow tile with black, red and orange might have been the coolest thing since peace, love and bell bottoms but in the eighties it had been replaced with more contractor beige tastes. Make sure you don't pay for a top dollar flooring if the style features colors that reflect trends.

#10 Aesthetic Mistake Made When Selecting Flooring Tile or Carpets - Improper Installation
Although I mentioned one example where improper installation made the flooring a mess, there are many other problems that can look bad and be safety hazards as well. Be sure that the flooring you select has proper floor underlayment. Check vinyl installations to see that they properly adhere to cement flooring, moisture problems can make it curl at the seams and become a place to trip and fall.