Contemporary Classics
Rita Bancroft • July 19, 2020
Many consumers took the opportunity to redecorate during lockdown, and as flooring is the finishing touch, we take a look at carpet and hard flooring design styles which are firm favourites today.

Flare is made using 100% accredited UK wool, combined with premium nylon 6.6. The 2-ply yarn construction ensures softness underfoot with the assurance of added durability and performance. It is available in both a 4m and a unique 5m width to provide retailers with greater flexibility for larger rooms. The choice of widths means consumers can be confident there is less wastage and fewer joins. Like all Adam Carpets, the Flare range is made in their own modern factory in Kidderminster and coordinates beautifully with their popular Castlemead Twist range

Abingdon Flooring
luxurious StainFree Satin Touch collection (above) delivers the perfect blend of luxurious underfoot comfort with exceptional durability and stain performance.
A classic 1/8th cut-pile saxony, Satin Touch comes in tones such as Angora, Satine, Mohair, Velour and Velvet; colours driven by the close trend-monitoring undertaken at Abingdon Flooring’s Centre of Development and Excellence. With a future-ready palette and impressive feel, the new-look Satin Touch is well geared for capitalising on the popularity of bleach-cleanable carpet at a new, premium price position. Available in 2.5m, 4m and 5m widths, the carpet comes with Abingdon Flooring’s famous StainFree for Life promise and is suitable for Heavy Domestic use, underlining its high-quality construction.
Relaunched in 2019 with a new polypropylene yarn that offered an even softer and silkier feel, Satin Touch comprises 16 beautiful contemporary shades and represents a premium choice in the StainFree collection. Boasting an impressive 14mm pile height for a truly indulgent feel, the collection is equipped with Abingdon Flooring’s Soft Fleece Bac for easier installation and improved comfort; this is a collection ready for discerning homes.
Martin Peace, sales director, Abingdon Flooring said, “Satin Touch offers a premium underfoot feel and its quality will be felt for years to come, bringing homes a luxurious and lasting ‘investment’ carpet from the StainFree collection. We see no reason why someone looking for high-spec finishes for their home wouldn’t also want them to be easy to care for, so we’ve made sure that Satin Touch delivers on both fronts.”

The Associated Weavers Invictus
brand offers an invincible collection of carpets and luxury vinyl flooring, consisting of twelve carpet ranges and three luxury vinyl flooring collections.
The Magnificus carpet range (pictured above) is the all-time favourite within their carpet offer, thanks to its high weight, bulky handle and invincible comfort. The colour bank has been revamped for 2020 with 14 well-balanced colours. Their 20 year wear and stain warranties provide added assurance to consumers. The collection is made from 1/10 gauge twin ply yarn, ensuring additional performance and is 100% bleach cleanable. The multi-width choice of 3m, 4m and 5m carpets all incorporate fusionbac, providing ease of installation to retailers.
Headquartered in Halifax, Associated Weavers has been present in the UK since 1964. The company has been at the forefront of many broadloom carpet innovations through their product knowledge and passion for interior design. Their Invictus carpets stand for invincible comfort that will convince even the most demanding consumers.

Karndean Designflooring
have introduced a new wood hue to their popular Korlock rigid core collection (pictured above). The satin look of their new Canadian Nude Oak, teamed with its straight grain detail makes for a subtle, contemporary classic floor. The neutral tone perfectly complements a minimal interior but works equally well with a more extravagant décor, toning down bright colour or busy prints.
“Our modern Korlok collection features a range of timeless light colour palettes all inspired by natural materials, explains Stella Coyle, national sales manager of Karndean Designflooring.
She said: “A relaxing bedroom offers the perfect sanctuary from the pressures of the world. For anyone looking to create a space for their own personal retreat, there’s no better place to look for inspiration than classic contemporary designs. The sophisticated pared back feel, airy colour schemes and natural textures are the ideal combination for a bedroom escape that will help you find serenity and balance.”
Karndean’s Korlok collection features 11 wood designs all inspired by European and North American woods. It is recognised for boosting wellness with its excellent acoustic benefits reducing noise transfer to rooms below up to 21dB, without the need for separate underlay. It recently welcomed five new limestone stone designs featuring a mix of cool silvery greys to warm charcoals and muted honey tones.
For more information contact:
Abingdon Flooring
T: 01274 655 694 www.abingdonflooring.co.uk
Adam Carpets
T: 01562 822247 www.adamcarpets.com
Associated Weavers Invictus
T: 01422 431100 www.invictus.co.uk
Karndean Designflooring
T: 01386 820100 www.karndean.com
Abingdon Flooring
T: 01274 655 694 www.abingdonflooring.co.uk
Adam Carpets
T: 01562 822247 www.adamcarpets.com
Associated Weavers Invictus
T: 01422 431100 www.invictus.co.uk
Karndean Designflooring
T: 01386 820100 www.karndean.com
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Learn all aspects of flooring installation at the Uzin Utz Campus in Stafford. The state-of-the-art facility provides diverse training opportunities throughout the year. From subfloor preparation, LVT fitting, wet room installations, wood floor sanding and sealing, as well as resin flooring installation, each course is designed to inspire and equip you with essential skills. With prices starting at just £75 per person, you will not only gain valuable knowledge but also lunch and refreshments, a certificate of achievement, a Uzin Utz Campus T-shirt, and exciting giveaways.

FITA is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, providing specialist training for the floorcovering industry. Co-founded by the Contract Flooring Association and the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers, FITA has two specialist training centres at Loughborough and Kirkcaldy, fully equipped to deliver over 20 different flooring courses including carpet, LVT, sheet vinyl, wood, linoleum and subfloor preparation.

When it comes to ensuring that flooring meets standards of other design features, such as furnishings and fittings, following best practice in subfloor preparation and flooring installation is as important as the floorcovering selection itself. Tim Green, head of training at the UK’s leading manufacturer of subfloor preparation products and adhesives, F. Ball and Co, explains how training in these areas can help achieve a design edge and how to access the best free provisions available.

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BUSINESS NEWS
Imports of soft flooring including wall-to-wall carpet and rugs were up 8.8% to £74.75m in March, according to HMRC data compiled by The Furnishing Report. With this increase, imports of carpet grew faster during the period than alternatives like vinyl.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index decreased by four points to -23 in April. All measures were down in comparison to last month’s announcement. These are the current findings of the GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB) powered by NIM. The CCB has been published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM), the founder of GfK, since October 2023.
Likewise Group, the UK flooring distributor, has announced its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2024.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased by one point to -19 in March. Two measures were up, two were down and one was unchanged in comparison to last month’s announcement.
The prices of carpets and other floorcoverings fell 1.8% in March 2025, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics. This is the second consecutive month of falling prices, with carpets seeing a drop of 1.7% in February, down from 2.5% growth in the same period last year.
As of 1 April, Herman and Age Mulder will take over the management of Rinos as Managing Directors. They represent the fifth generation to join as shareholders of the family business, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Milco Visscher will start as commercial director on 1 May. The current managing director, Peter Kuipers, will oversee the transition and step down on 31 July.
Imports of flooring to the UK this February were up 7% when compared to the same period last year, reaching a total value of £127.9m, according to figures compiled by The Furnishing Report.
Likewise Group, one of the UK’s largest flooring distributors, has announced a “particularly positive” start to the year with gross sales revenue in Q1 2025 increasing by 10.7% against the corresponding period last year. Sales in the Likewise Branded businesses have increased by 14.6%.
The British Furniture Confederation (BFC), the public affairs umbrella body of furniture and beds, furnishings and flooring sector trade associations, has unveiled its new Plan for Growth. The document is said to support BFC’s advocacy across four key pillars: skills and education; trade and exports; standards and regulations; and the environment and circular economy. It has been developed over the past few months, the organisation says, evolving from a combination of position papers written by the associations’ executives and a comprehensive survey of their collective members.
Consumer card spending grew 1.0% year-on-year in February – lower than January’s 1.9% increase and less than the latest CPIH inflation rate of 3.9%, according to recent figures reported by Barclays. In anticipation of higher bills, consumers are said to be cutting back on essential outgoings, but still prioritising discretionary purchases, contributing to an uptick in optimism in the health of personal and household finances.
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