Sevenoaks, Kent

The couple knew they wanted wood floors so type and style was the next choice. Initial thoughts were to go with fairly traditional oak wood floor planks throughout the home. We did wonder though if when we lifted up the carpet we might find old parquet wood flooring we could look to restore. This certainly wasn’t the case as instead we found the original sub floors were brick work floors in a basket weave pattern – obviously dating back to the former stable block use. This ruled out solid wood floors for us as we knew they didn’t allow much grace for unusual sub floors or movement so they would not be a wise investment. Deciding on engineered wood floors the couple paid a visit to local flooring shop Oaks Flooring in Sevenoaks. Impressed with the large samples they viewed in the V4 display stand they took away the V4 brochure to do a bit more research.

“We still had a draw to a parquet style of floor, especially for the large family living space. We spent some time on the V4 website considering options and it was seeing some of the Deco Parquet wood floors in the real life case studies on the site that convinced us these would be right for our main family space. Seeing these case studies was so helpful in giving us a real vision of how the floors would look once installed.”

The couple wanted the living room to feel light and contemporary so decided on the Deco Parquet Nordic Beach finish. Nordic Beach offers a light finish with a smooth modern surface.  The oak top layer has been lightly brushed to form a relief of the natural grain and create a smooth surface. Then a coat of wood lye is hand applied to further bleach the oak surface before coloured oils are applied to create the deep lustred boards where subtle oak tones appear washed over with white infused accents and wood grains. Deco Parquet’s engineered tongue and groove installation profile allows for a much easier and versatile installation than traditional solid wood parquet. Once ordered Oaks Flooring returned to complete the installation in less than three days. A latex screed was applied over the brick sub floors to provide a level and secure surface ahead of installing the oak blocks in a herringbone pattern.

“We love how the finished floors play to the unusual L shape of the room which includes feature columns and a fireplace. The space feels light and modern, but also cosy and we think the herringbone pattern really adds to that. For the rest of the house we opted for a more rustic oak plank from the V4 collection, Alpine Oak Rustic Brushed and Lacquered. Still quite light in tone and with a similarly smooth surface, we felt this plank style worked better in some of other spaces which already have plenty of character and features. The two work really well together though.”

“We plan on doing more decorating to the living room now the floors are completed with a vision for this room to be more of a contemporary space than the rest of the house, and the floors provide the perfect back drop for that.

“We are delighted with them. They really brighten up the room and deliver the modern parquet style we had in mind. They have been great to live with and feel really warm underfoot, despite our unusual sub floors. They have also been easy to keep clean and are withstanding the footfall of three young children under 10 extremely well. We’re looking forward to putting the finish touches to the living room, painting the walls and adding new lighting and furniture which will complete our lovely family living area.