Now is the time of year where many homeowners or those on the property ladder are thinking about how best to make their new or current home cosy and warm over the coming winter months. As a property developer, restorer, or interior designer, you will be considering the best interior design features for the home during the winter period. At Xylo Flooring, we have many different winter solutions for you including a range of flooring products suitable for underfloor heating purposes, colourful creations and more. Check our five ways you can make your clients living spaces ready for winter with Xylo Flooring today.
Try Underfloor Heating
From cosying up on the sofa with a winter throw to spending the day in pyjamas, the last thing anyone needs is the jarring sensation of a cold floor. Providing underfloor heating and insulation can make such a difference to the home, making entire living spaces feel warm and cosy for all.
Vinyl: Our vinyl flooring range including the Kiawah Smoked Oak and Pinehurst Light Sand are resilient to water penetration, discolouration and stains with very little maintenance required. All of our vinyl flooring products are durable and have inherent insulation properties. This means they can be paired with padded underlayment consisting of materials such as cork or foam to provide a warmer underfoot and padded environment.
Laminate: Our range of laminate products are equally as suitable when it comes to using underfloor heating solutions and are a neutral material source when it comes to transmitting heat. You can do this by providing a layer of dense foam padding under the laminate. Choose from our Urban Click and Urban Herringbone range.
Underfloor heating is an energy-efficient and cost effective solution for the heating needs and requirements of the home. Providing underfloor heating can also improve the air quality of the living space by reducing dust circulation.
Warm Up With Rugs
Take the edge off the cold winter chill with a new rug making any living space feel warm and cosy in the winter months. A good area rug can reduce the amount of heat needed and create a soft barrier between your feet and the cold floor, acting as insulation between the floor and your feet. For maximum warmth choose a rug that matches your choice of flooring and covers the entire floor space. Alternatively, you can consider matching or coordinating smaller rugs in sitting areas or layering rugs of different colours and textures.
Living rooms are the most social of spaces in the home where people entertain friends and family or spend time relaxing. Bringing a rug into the home will enhance the comfort and cosiness of any living space. Try mixing a variety of different textures in the room from wooden, or laminate flooring with large fluffy rugs, to light oak vinyl flooring with a combination of rugs made out of faux fur, sheepskin or soft plush rugs for extra comfort. As an interior designer or property developer, you will have the knowledge and expertise needed to make the home winter ready.
Rearrange Furniture
Another ideal heating solution for the home is to rearrange furniture to get the right balance between lighting, insulation and warmth. Move sofas, armchairs and other large pieces of furniture away from any heating ducts or radiators so heat can flow freely in a room. Have sofas facing windows for access to direct sunlight for extra warmth during the day and move them away from cold, drafty windows to keep the room warm at all times.
Make sure all furniture has been moved a suitable distance away from vents to make sure all spaces reach their maximum heat potential. An open, empty space will bring the temperature down, so make sure you move any accent chairs, or blanket boxes to the main living space to keep the heat in.
Make Your Own Colourful Creations
Texture is important when it comes to providing a warm, cosy living space. When designing your layout, consider what features will best suit the space you are designing form woven plate hangings, textured window shades, curtains, throws and cushions and rugs. Bright blue rugs can add colour for example to laminated, hardwood or vinyl flooring that is a warm shade of brown.
Blankets, pillows and throws all have the ability to soften and warm up dark, cold rooms to give a space a warm, cosy feel. Incorporating hardwood flooring is also an option with its rich tones and modern feel of a contemporary space. Using rich colours in an interior space can be accented with brighter colours but can also be paired well with natural materials like wood. Warm colours such as red, orange and yellow paired with cool colours like green, blue and purple fuse well together to provide cool, earthy tones. Experimenting with different tones and textures in the living space can help elevate a neutral-heavy room and create layers of colour to help keep warm this winter.
Provide Extra Lighting
Scatter table and floorstanding lamps around the room to provide extra lighting during the winter months, when the days are much shorter. Put dimmer switches in place so homeowners can control the light themselves. Providing extra lighting is a great way for adding a sense of warmth and is also a very practical solution in terms of reflecting off bright surfaces like walls, flooring and ceilings. Creating layers of light and options for reading with an ample supply of lamps, tea lights and candles can do wonders for the home. Let natural sunlight during the daytime to capture as much free heat and insulation as possible. Candles can also add a surprising amount of heat so long as they are not left unattended.
