Making an entrance
Rita Bancroft • March 22, 2019
The hallway is a visitor’s first impression of a home so, in addition to boasting a durable and practical surface, this hard-working space should also greet guests with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Often small spaces, good hallway layouts feature adequate storage to neatly pack away a host of coats, bags and other essential items.
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“A hard-wearing flooring is an important aspect of a successful hallway design, able to shrug off the dirt, wear and tear that is inevitable with the comings and goings of a busy home,” explains Stella Coyle, national retail sales manager at Karndean Designflooring.
“A Karndean floor is the ideal choice, offering an authentic look and a surface that is durable, pet friendly and easy to clean. Our floors are compatible with underfloor heating and so can free up valuable wall space and eliminate the visual clutter of radiators.
“Hallways are an introduction to the rest of the house and will set the scene for the interior’s style, from classic period style, to modern minimalism or bold and colourful.
“Ideal for country interiors, a stone effect floor can offer a rustic, rural feel but with all the practicalities of a luxury vinyl floor. Our range of realistic designs offers many stone effects, including limestone, travertine and slate, which can be paired with a complementary border for an elegant finish.
“Alternatively, a geometric tiled design is a great way to make a real statement and achieve that ‘wow’ factor that cannot fail to impress guests. From monochrome block designs to complex patterns in a complementary mix of colours, our brand-new Heritage Collection offers the perfect choice to create a hallway that shouts individuality while it oozes elegance.”
First impressions count, and the choice of stripe designs from Adam Carpets are sure to engage consumers and make home decorating more enjoyable. Each of the three new stripe ranges; Pinstripe, Deckchair and Panache incorporate six exciting colourways designed to coordinate with Adam Carpets plain ranges.
Visually striking, stripes can help create an illusion of making a space appear larger than it is, elongating or widening a room. Whether it’s the smart tailored lines of Pinstripe, the brighter and bolder Deckchair design or the sophisticated broken stripe in Panache, each make a strong statement in their own right. Created with multiple complementary hues ensures Adam Carpets vast palette of plain twist colours complement the new stripes beautifully. A selection of suggested coordinating plains can be found on Adam Carpets website or Pinterest boards, providing invaluable inspiration to consumers to create a wonderful flowing theme throughout their home.
Runners make a great entrance, grace stairs and give interiors instant impact through punchy pattern, texture and colour.
Alternative Flooring’s award-winning Quirky patterned wool runners are 69cm wide and include Fair Isle and Tess geometrics, Fling tartan and Skinny faux animal print. Mid-century modern style is found in Authentic Lucienne a range of art and design inspired runners that celebrates British craftsmanship. The two bold designs originally created by Lucienne Day are called Square and Diamonds, and Octagon. All Alternative stripes can be made into made-to-measure runners for stairs with a myriad of border combinations to choose from or indulge in the fitted option. Follow the natural textured look with chunky Sisal Super Boucle or Sisal Herringbone runners, all available as 66cm standard width or go for contrast with a colourful border on a bespoke made-to-measure sisal runner for stairs.
As it’s the first thing you see when walking through the door, Axminster Carpets feel that the hallway-landing-stairs trio is definitely deserving of decorating attention. So, they kindly shared their three top tips on how a premium blend wool carpet will instantly transform any space with a warm, welcoming feel.
• Opting for a soft, neutral colourway works to brighten and lift the darkest of areas whilst lending the illusion of space.• Mellow tones such as a chalky grey or dusky pink further accentuate the desired feeling of cosiness.
• If size/natural light is not an issue, look to statement pattern or inky jewel tones to add interest to your entrance – stairs are the perfect place to play with more inspired, daring designs.
High-performing and aesthetically stunning, Axminster Carpets, have been offering the very best in the industry since 1755. Particularly important for high-traffic spaces such as the hallway-landing-stairs, where flooring needs to be hard-wearing and practical to accommodate heavy footfall. Crafted from the very best raw materials, a wool carpet offers outstanding durability and bounce-back whilst also helping to sound-proof the busiest area of the home. With strong eco-credentials, health & safety benefits and naturally flame-retardant, a wool carpet is a smart, luxurious design investment which will set the tone for the rest of the home.
David Cormack, marketing director, Cormar Carpet Company says, “The entrance to your home creates that all-important first impression. We all want the personality of our homes to come through, the minute a guest enters the front door.
“Halls, stairs and landings are high traffic areas and need hard wearing practical carpets so that they’re able to last a lot longer. Given that stairs are one of the most used areas in the home, carpets are a popular choice as they provide comfort while insulating against noise. They also provide more grip and reduce the likelihood of slips and falls – plus putting down some new carpet can completely lift and transform the whole look of the area, providing a fresh and inviting welcome to the home.
At Harvey Maria, beautiful flooring is at the heart of great interior design. When the company was founded in Battersea, in 1994, its aim was to create something new and inspirational. Drawing inspiration from nature, fashion, textiles and interiors, it created something new; a range of floors “less ordinary”.
As the floor is often the focal point, striking patterned ranges include Dovetail, by award-winning textile artist Neisha Crosland. Other patterned ranges include vintage-style designs by Cath Kidston, and ‘Lattice’ by mixed media artist, Dee Hardwicke – a range inspired by the rhythmic delicacy of scattered petals, in a palette of organic shades. Available in 10 different hues, you can now choose from the warm, muted colours of Mist and Seedpod for a subtle effect, or for a more dramatic look the Storm Grey and Tarn colourways work perfectly for making a statement. Not only creating an eye-catching flooring feature in living and entertaining spaces, the luxury vinyl tile is hardwearing, easy to maintain and warm underfoot, making it the ideal surface for high footfall areas.
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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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