Flooring Trends 2023: An Embellishment Of Details, Materials, And Finishes Sets The Tone For An Unforgettable Experience

When it comes to interior flooring trends 2023, you’re really spoiled for choice: tiles, parquet, stone, flexible coverings, waxed concrete, cement tiles, the possibilities are endless…

Several criteria allow you to compare the characteristics of each floor covering, to help you choose the one that will be best suited to a particular room in your home.

Aesthetics, ease of maintenance, robustness, water resistance, price… we help you decide!

Polished concrete on the flooring trends 2023: good or bad idea?

Polished concrete is the big trend in modern interiors. Easy to maintain, design and customizable, this coating is very popular.

Considerable for a construction project as well as in the context of renovation work, waxed concrete adapts to everything and can even dress the floors of wet rooms such as the bathroom or the kitchen.

What are the pros and cons of this material? On the work side, what precautions and what drying time should be expected? What interview? What cost? Our specialists bring you the answers in the article.

Like parquet, waxed concrete has, in a few years, become one of the flagship interior products. This multifunctional coating can coat walls, worktops and of course floors.

Known mainly for its gray hue reminiscent of cement, it offers a wide variety of colors and finishes to best match your decoration. What are the advantages and disadvantages of waxed concrete for the floor?

Polished concrete on the floor: what are the advantages?

Its urban and very modern design is very popular. But apart from its style and the little industrial touch it can bring to our interiors, waxed concrete has other advantages.

Waxed concrete is a durable and resistant coating

When choosing a material for our floor, it is normal to expect it to last over time.

This is the case of waxed concrete. This coating demonstrates excellent resistance to wear: shocks, friction and other punctures hardly affect it and if it is a little sensitive to scratches, these help to give it its patina.

In addition, its water-repellent qualities will make it the ideal ally for damp rooms such as the bathroom and the kitchen – provided, however, that you choose waxed concrete incorporating a water-repellent resin and treat it with a pore-sealing product.

Waxed concrete is easy to maintain

Do you hate doing housework every day and prefer to bet on a floor covering that will not require too much effort in terms of maintenance? With waxed concrete, you bet right!

Indeed, this flooring trends 2023 only requires a simple periodic cleaning with soapy water or with the help of a neutral cleaning product. In addition, the absence of joints in this floor makes the task even easier.

Waxed concrete adapts to all your projects

Matt, satin or shiny, waxed concrete allows you to create a modern, refined, urban atmosphere. But if it is often popular in modern flooring trends 2023, waxed concrete can also go very well with classic decorations.

Indeed, thanks to its wide range of colors as well as its multiple customization possibilities, it will not denote whatever the style of your home.

For a successful decorative effect, several tones are available.Or even pink, blue, green waxed concrete for more luminosity, pigmented concrete… You are spoiled for choice: some brands even have a color chart of 70 shades!

Waxed concrete is comfortable

Finally, just like parquet, we also appreciate waxed concrete for its softness underfoot. This material also benefits from excellent inertia (it retains and diffuses heat for a long time), which makes it a coating that is perfectly compatible with an underfloor heating system.

The disadvantages of waxed concrete for floors:
Do waxed concretes seem to you to be the ideal coatings for your floors? Before you decide, however, take these few disadvantages into consideration.

The waxed concrete weighs its weight

For an application on the ground, no micrometric waxed concrete: this one, applied in thin layer, is intended for decoration. We will choose a poured waxed concrete (or a quartz concrete, with increased resistance), deposited and smoothed in a continuous layer of 5 to 15 mm for a lasting result.

Which can – in rare cases – raise the question of the resistance of the floor to the additional weight that this represents. A point to check when considering a waxed concrete floor on the first floor of an old house…

Waxed concrete tends to crack

If it is durable and resistant, waxed concrete must however benefit from an installation carried out in the rules of the art at the risk, otherwise, of cracking more or less quickly.

In the context of a renovation, the ground on which it is placed must also be well prepared and in good condition in order to avoid the occurrence of this type of inconvenience.

Waxed concrete is relatively expensive

If you want to enjoy a quality waxed concrete floor that lasts over time, you will obviously have to pay the price. A result that meets your requirements requires not only a quality raw material but also the intervention of a professional because the installation, as we have seen, is quite delicate.

For optimal rendering and increased resistance, it was born necessary to treat the surface of your coating. For this, several layers of wax and resin are applied and increase the amount of the estimate.

On the budget side, count between 80 and 150 € per m², treatment included, knowing that some concrete effects can reach 300 $ per m².

If you do the laying of your waxed concrete yourself, the cost will be greatly reduce, between 50 and 60 $/m², but a word of advice: don’t try to save on quantity or quality, you could have unpleasant surprises. .

Flooring trends 2023: Which interior floor to choose?

We love its warm and authentic side, the wood under our feet can take the form of solid parquet or engineered parquet. Review of the two options.

The solid parquet: the noble and durable wood floors 2023

It is made of solid wood that has been sawn. Sanded, varnished or painted, solid parquet can have several lives.

The advantages of this flooring trends 2023: Solid parquet brings an undeniable character to your room, it always has its little effect. Grain, texture, oxidation… solid parquet acquires a patina over time.

It does not depreciate and lasts a long time if it is well maintained (waxing, sanding, vitrification). It also performs 2 roles: that of a thermal regulator via its ability to store heat and that of a hygrometric regulator (it absorbs or releases humidity from the air).

Cons: It is a poor acoustic insulator: not to mention the squeaks, it can quickly become a sounding board. This is the reason why it is necessary to ensure that it is laid perfectly, on a soundproofing underlay.

Expensive material due to its nobility, it can deform if it is not machined and installed according to the rules of the art. Also beware of fire if you have a fireplace near the first wooden slats.

Rooms: Wood floors 2023 can be an ideal choice in the living room, dining room and bedrooms.

Engineered parquet

Only the top part of engineered parquet (or “multi-layer parquet”) is made of solid wood. Called “wear layer”, consisting of a noble wood. It is less expensive than solid parquet and will therefore be a good alternative to solid parquet for small budgets who still want a wooden floor.

Pros: Easy to maintain and with a good lifespan, it offers an excellent cachet/price ratio.

Cons: Engineered parquet does not have the resistance of solid parquet: its lifespan is shorter, because it does not renovate well (it cannot be sanded).

Rooms: In the bedrooms, and where applicable, the living room and the dining room.

Soft floors know how to adapt: flooring trends 2023

Easy to install, extra thin (which is a real advantage in the event of renovation because it often makes it possible to avoid the removal of the old floor covering), flexible floors are available in 5 main materials.

PVC and vinyl floors

Made of a plastic material, PVC and vinyl floors are increasingly lovely  because of their chameleon side: they imitate the texture of all existing floors! Different formats are available: tiles, planks (glued installation) or roll (installation without glue).

Advantages: Simple to install, they adapt to all rooms and offer good sound and heat insulation. They are often stain-resistant, scratch-resistant, shockproof and non-slip.

100% waterproof, they are not afraid of humidity, heat or light and are easy to maintain. The big plus: they are available in multiple colors and patterns.

Cons: These floors can warp on contact with direct heat and will not resist ashes or embers. Watch out for cigarettes and chimney splashes. They have an average lifespan.

The eco side of flooring trends 2023: welcome the seagrass

A 100% natural and ecological alternative (due to its composition of plant fibers), seagrass can boast of real success. The different types of weaving bring a decorative extra to your interior.

Pros: Ecological, seagrass is rather resistant and inexpensive. It guarantees good acoustic insulation and insulates against the cold.

Cons: Its tendency to facilitate the proliferation of bacteria! In addition, it stains easily and is not easy to preserve or maintain, in particular because it tends to retain moisture.

Rooms: Avoid in the kitchen – a place that gets dirty quickly by definition – and in the bathroom, unless you are very vigilant about ventilation.

The cork

The cork floor is made from a natural material (extracted from the bark of cork oaks). It can be used as an undercoat for another coating for its acoustic properties or as a decorative coating, with an oiled or varnished finish.

Advantages: Ecological, easy to maintain, it has good sound and heat insulation. Rot-proof material, it is resistant to humidity (pre-treatment in damp rooms), antibacterial and antistatic. You should also know that you will have the choice between several colors and aspects!

Cons: Exposed to the sun, cork can change color. It is porous and absorbs odors.

Popular flooring 2023: The carpet has it’s comeback

Slightly put aside, the carpet is making a comeback and is becoming trendy again! It comes in different formats (rolls, tiles) and materials (synthetic wool, acrylic).

Advantages: Easy to install, the carpet is a very good sound and heat insulator. Another advantage? Its non-slip properties.

Cons: Difficult maintenance, average resistance to wear and poor staining, it is also a real nest for dust mites!

Rooms: Try to avoid  in rooms where there is traffic. This will prevent stains from underfoot or food.

Popular flooring options 2023: Linoleum

Linoleum is a 100% natural flexible covering made from linseed oil, wood or cork powder, jute and natural resins. Pigments are to ready to  create colors and patterns.
Linoleum comes in several forms: in tiles (glued installation), in rolls (glued installation) or clip-on (assembly system).

Pros: With a good lifespan, linoleum is very easy to clean and provides good sound and thermal insulation. In addition to being ecological, it has antibacterial and antistatic properties, for a very hygienic floor! Easy to install, it is one of the least expensive coatings on the market.

Cons: High heat can inflict irreversible marks on it. It is also more fragile than tiles or parquet and you can easily  replace sooner. Unless protected by a water-repellent treatment, it fears humidity, which deteriorates its natural components.

Note: it is not resistant to cleaning products with a pH lower than 6.

Rooms: Avoid in damp rooms.