The technique of white washing flooring has been around for a long time, but it has only become a popular style and design trend in recent years. It’s perfect for the ultra modern look which is perfect in the trendy apartments of young couples and city professionals.
Equally, the right white washed floor can also provide a touch of rustic class to a room. Paired with blues and greens, it’s perfect for a seaside, nautical feeling vibe in your home without having to get sand in your unmentionables.
White washing works by applying a diluted paint solution (or alternatively a mix of calcium hydroxide and chalk) directly onto a solid wood or engineered floor. This will brighten the overall appearance of the wood and highlight the grain creating a rustic and weathered look.
White washing, also know as lime washing was originally done to brighten up and revamp old tired floors when the funds were not available to replace them. Nowadays, the popularity and demand for this style of flooring is on the rise and you can now buy your wood flooring pre-finished in this style such as our own Gold Series Solid Oak Brushed and White UV Lacquered and the Redwood X-wide Plank Oak Smoked Brushed and White Oiled.
There are also laminate decors available – Premier Elite Limed Oak and Luxury Chrome Engelberg Oak – this offers the same style of flooring at a cheaper, more affordable price.
Installing a white washed floor will refresh your entire room. In keeping with the style of the floor, ensure your decor is light and airy for maximum effect. Creams, off-whites and pastel colours are all excellent choices for complementing a white washed flooring.
If you want all the appeal of a white washed floor but without having to stretch the budget to cover engineered or solid wood flooring, laminate flooring is the answer to your prayers. While it doesn’t have the authenticity of a white washed finish created from scratch, there are a range of high quality floors that emulate the white washed effect but with all the benefits of laminate thrown into the mix. In fact, they’re some of our best sellers. Here’s just a few of our top picks.
Our Winchester Blizzard White Oak is a rich white floor, with realistic grain and grooves, perfect in a stylish living room or bedroom. It’s thick, durable, and water resistant too.
Or for a floor with a slightly more natural white washed look, check out our Expression Grand White Laminate Taite Floor. This floor has a gorgeous authentic look of reclaimed wood. It looks like sun bleached driftwood or the deck of an old ship, and it’s a perfect fit with classic decors.
One last laminate, and this might just be our personal favorite. This White Smoked Oak Laminate is a Hydro Guard floor, meaning that it’s highly water resistant, so it’s perfect for use in the kitchen and the bathroom. It’s appearance emulates an oak board that has been smoked to give it a rich and unique colour, then white washed. This gives you an extremely distinctive looking board that will catch the eye in any home. It’s also a firm best seller too.
With such a wide range of white washed flooring available, it can be hard to decide on just one. Have a look at our huge range of floors over on our website. Or if you’re still in doubt, give us a call on 0844 8118 292 or request a call back, and one of our expert flooring advisors can help you find the floor of your dreams.