The importance of choosing flooring in the correct lighting conditions – By Dave Nemeth

It is a common occurrence for people to buy clothing and on returning home or putting the apparel on for the first time that they realise the garments look completely different to what they actually saw in the store. This is due to the colour of the fabrics looking different in different types of light. With this in mind when people are out looking for flooring solutions, their decisions are often based on these three main factors: Durability, Affordability and obviously colour. Due to the large surface area that flooring occupies in an interior space, the colour of the medium plays an integral role in the overall aesthetic of the interior.

Just like clothing, however, the colour that you actually see in the showroom could look dramatically different when you actually lay the flooring or carpeting in the interior space due to different kinds of lighting. Most interior spaces are lit during the day by a combination of natural light along with artificial lighting, so depending on which way your home or office for that matter faces will play a role in the look of the flooring during different times of the day.

The overall colour of an interior can have a dramatic effect on our mood and feelings. The Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology recently published a report on a study they conducted, but this was particularly interesting: Colours not only affect human activities but also affecting description of a place status, psychologically, light colours show things and surroundings greater. In contrary, dark colours show things and surroundings smaller, colours change architecture and may cause expansion, widening, expansion, prolongation, and causes a false recognition of ceiling. Colour effects are so effective on mankind that dark things look heavier, while bright colours show things lighter, for example, the psychological effect of colour is clear in the following example:
Workers of a company complained about carrying metal boxes since they look heavier and difficult, while weight 5 kg only, experts suggested that change the box colour green, then no complaint was heard from them while there was no change in their weight.

Further investigation led to the following finding that incandescent and soft white fluorescent bulbs intensify warm colours but tend to fade cooler colours, while halogen and full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs most closely mimic the bright light of natural sunlight. Bright colours look best in bright white, fluorescent or halogen bulbs. Darker colours and rich textures tend to look best under accent lights and duller bulbs. If you are thinking of using a dark hardwood or laminate floor, for example, you may consider amber coloured accent lights or light-pink bulbs for a warmer look.

So with all of this in mind, what is the best way to ensure you are going to be putting down the correct colour flooring for your interior space? It is always advisable to go to a showroom that has a vast display of products and ranges, this way you will be able to compare colours and textures of similar products. Take as many colour samples of existing furnishings and paint colours as you possibly can, this way you will immediately be able to see how the colours interact with each other as well as whether the overall look and feel is what you are trying to achieve. This can all be done in the showroom with the assistance of a flooring professional. If possible, when you have selected the colours, you believe will be the perfect fit for your space, ask to take them outside so that you can see what they look like in natural light.

The next step would be to ask for actual samples of the products that you have selected so that you can see how they react with the actual light in your own interior. This may seem like quite a procedure, but it is important to realise that it is a costly exercise laying carpets, tiles, laminates or engineered floors in a space. The last thing you want is to realise that your investment simply doesn’t work or create the interior atmosphere that you had actually intended.