The color of the floor determines how the interior as a whole will look. Of course, if the covering is chosen incorrectly, it can be re-laid, but then you will have to waste time and money again. Therefore, it is better to choose wisely: so that you don’t have to regret it later. Moreover, a good laminate is durable and can survive subsequent repairs without problems. You will re-stick the wallpaper several times and change the furniture, but the floor will remain the same. It’s great if the interior maintains its integrity.
What characteristics should you pay attention to when purchasing?
When a buyer chooses a laminate, he looks at the price, appearance, and sometimes the wear resistance class. The latter characteristic ceased to be important when production technologies were modernized and the market was replenished with Chinese brands. For example, coverage of class 34 from China may be inferior to class 31 from Germany. It is better to focus on the guarantee: if the manufacturer is confident in the quality, he will indicate a long warranty period.
All technical specifications are indicated on the packaging. Let's look at what markings are important if you plan to lay laminate flooring in a residential area:
- panel thickness: 8-9 mm is enough. If this indicator is higher, most likely the manufacturer used a material of low density. Such a lamella can bend under the influence of static loads;
- abrasion: for a corridor or dining room, the normal indicator is AC3 (W3). For a bedroom or nursery it may be smaller;
- moisture resistance: a must for the kitchen;
- density: from 850 kg/m3.
Sometimes icons are placed on the packaging, which also provide information about the product. This is convenient: the characteristics are clear, and it is easier to understand whether the coating is suitable.
- the image of shoes with heels is a sign that the laminate is scratch-resistant and furniture can be moved on it.
- if you see lightning, the coating is antistatic and does not attract dust.
- a picture with sun rays means that the decorative layer will not lose its brightness due to ultraviolet radiation.
Interesting ideas in the interior of rooms
Currently, designers allow a wide variety of color combinations. The main thing is that the design of the room fully corresponds to its purpose.
Kitchen
Warmer and natural colors are most often chosen for the kitchen space; this color scheme allows you to set a certain mood for the room and give it character.
The photo shows the interior of the kitchen and the combination of bright yellow door panels with a brown floor.
Hallway
With the help of a competent combination of shades, you can not only create a pleasant design and create a relaxed atmosphere, but also adjust the spatial depth and size of the hallway. For example, for a small corridor, it is not advisable to use too dark color combinations, as they have a rather negative effect on the area of the room.
Bedroom
A well-chosen range allows you to determine the interior mood and give the bedroom the right style, so its choice should be approached with special care. Most often, for this room they choose not too bright, neutral, soft and cozy combinations that evoke a feeling of comfort.
The photo shows a monochrome combination of flooring and door structure in the interior of a modern bedroom.
Ladder
If you take into account certain rules, proportionality and color relationships, you can create a truly unique independent design.
Living room
In the modern interior of the hall, natural and natural colors with bright accents are often used. This combination will not only look very stylish and elegant, but also be considered as comfortable and relaxing as possible.
Laminate color range
The color scheme of the laminate determines whether the interior will be harmonious. Designers advise not to combine more than three primary colors. If the walls are neutral, the floor can be rich, and textiles and furniture will help set accents. And vice versa: if the wallpaper has a large ornament, you need a muted floor covering.
General rule: for a room decorated in cold colors, the same “cold” laminate will be suitable. And vice versa - warm shades require warm colors to support them. The figure shows how to work with color temperature.
Tips to help maintain harmony in color:
- pine, birch, oak and beech are considered neutral solutions. They are suitable for any room, but such an interior will not make any special impressions. To make it more interesting, place accents;
- the red tint, characteristic of alder, apple, cherry and pear, is combined with yellow and green tones. It’s great if the furniture is made of natural wood, and there is a floral pattern on the walls or textiles;
- if you adhere to a laconic style, use light wood species - maple, bleached oak. They are also suitable for creating contrasts. The main thing is to remember the three-color rule;
- The most difficult laminate for a designer is a dark shade (wenge). It weighs down the lower part of the room and is absolutely not suitable for small rooms. To make the interior lighter, add bright colors that will attract attention;
- It’s also difficult to work with gray. It is perfect for high-tech interiors, but in support it requires furniture in a neutral shade, metal parts or a complex game of black and white contrast;
- to divide the room into zones, combine different laminate colors. Use only related types of wood (for example, bleached oak with regular) and uniform tones (cold with cold).
Dark shades
As for floors in dark tones, they are perhaps a platform for creating a stylish and winning interior filled with contrasts:
- Such floors can be ideally combined with light shades: peach, light beige, baked milk or ivory.
Attention: The important point here is that the color used should not be pure white, because it will create the feeling of a “hospital ward”, and you yourself will not notice how you will begin to get tired, the mental irritation and nervousness of everyone in this room will increase.
- But it is also better not to use completely black , so that the room does not seem gloomy and does not create the effect of reducing the space and there is not enough air in it. After all, a dark color still burdens perception and does not always set a person up for a cozy and comfortable pastime in it, not counting, of course, premises like nightclubs.
- But any bright colors can very well enliven your room ; you can use them not only as materials, but also as an interior item. This could be a brightly colored lampshade for a lamp or a shade for a chandelier or unusual wallpaper; rugs on a dark floor will also look very advantageous.
How to choose wallpaper for laminate?
We tell you how to choose the right wallpaper if the floor has already been laid. Which one to choose depends on the color of the flooring.
Red shade of laminate. Milanese walnut and cherry give a noble reddish glow. which is appreciated by lovers of the classics. It is not difficult to combine such a floor with walls: for a bedroom or living room, choose thick non-woven wallpaper in light colors with red flowers. If you need to decorate a nursery, pale blue or swamp green options are suitable.
Brown. This is the most common type of flooring that can be combined with almost any wall. Cream, yellow, green, all modifications of pastel colors - decide for yourself. Paintings on the walls will help add personality - even if brown tones predominate in them too.
An interesting solution is to combine dark brown and purple. A bold combination is suitable only for spacious rooms with a lot of light. Consider additional lighting in the evening: add LED lamps that will create a feeling of coziness.
Grey. Another common option, which is chosen because of its unpretentiousness - dust on such a coating is almost invisible. Combine it with wallpaper of the same shade of any brightness - from saturated to almost white. To add accents, choose yellow accessories. Be careful with red: this energetic color needs to be diluted with beige elements.
Light. This flooring visually expands the room, and it is easiest to combine it with wallpaper. Avoid only saturated purple shades: they will negate all attempts to expand the space. Pastel floors with bright walls look good, but then the furniture should be neutral.
Dark. It's difficult to beat Wenge. We do not recommend experimenting with color: without the help of a professional designer, they will most likely fail. Choose classic light wallpaper and try to give as much light as possible. This will help achieve harmony.
What rooms is it ideal for?
Here are the cases in which it is appropriate:
- Plain, light wood tones, ideal companion to country, Provence, hi-tech, modern, fusion styles. This material can be used to decorate a room in a loft style.
- With a ceramic tile effect, it is best to use it in the kitchen or hallway.
- If the color of linoleum is dark gray, then the room should be large and well lit. Otherwise, it risks visually becoming smaller than it actually is.
- Light flooring options without a clearly defined pattern are also appropriate in children's rooms.
The following combinations should not be abused:
- Large patterns in small rooms, children's rooms or those interiors where other types of decor abound.
- If gray is used, then similar shades should be avoided in the rest of the room, especially dark color solutions.
How to choose laminate for doors?
Here the situation is the opposite: the doors are already installed, and the laminate has yet to be chosen. Follow one of the suggested scenarios to create an organic environment.
Contrast. Combine shades that are radically different from each other. A dark door and light floor is a bold decision that will visually enlarge the room. Maintain color temperature: cool to cold, warm to warm.
Combination. Laminate, which is one or two shades lighter than the door, is a classic option. It has attracted designers for many years. To achieve complete harmony, try matching the door hardware to the color of the floor. It's difficult, but you'll love the result.
Coincidence. The easiest way to combine a door and laminate is to make them match. Gamma, tone, texture should be the same. Find out what type of wood the door is made of (or what type it imitates). Choose a laminate from the same wood, and make sure that the recommendations for maintaining the overall color temperature are followed.
Combination options
Combining laminate of three colors
You can combine not only boards with decorative inserts. In most cases, the composition is made up of boards of the same size, light and dark shades of the same color scheme, or several contrasting colors.
You can decide on a combination if necessary:
- Visual expansion or reduction of room space.
- Allocation of zones.
- For the sake of originality, highlighting the room with the design of its floor.
- Increasing colors to harmonize the design.
Attention! Laminate with additional coating is more expensive than simple laminate, but it is more durable. With the right combination, you can choose a material of class 33-34 for the most trafficked places, and for the rest of the space it is less expensive and not so abrasion-resistant.
How to choose a baseboard for laminate?
The plinth is the connecting link between the door and the floor. If it is chosen correctly, the door leaf is integrated into the interior and it looks complete. There are several ways to choose this accessory:
- combine it with the color of the door. This is the best option if the doors are of a contrasting color and you need to introduce them into the interior. This is especially important when the floor is dark - this creates a feeling of airiness;
- combine with laminate. This solution will create the effect of a monolithic floor. To make the interior more interesting, use a baseboard that is a shade darker or lighter. This will add variety to the atmosphere.
A universal option is to install a white baseboard. Here it is important to take into account contrast and imagine the combination of colors in advance. If you see that there are more than three basic shades, do not experiment. Choose one of the two methods suggested above.
Monochromatic combination (shades of the same color)
Monochrome combination is based on combining different shades of the same color with different lightness and saturation. According to the designers, this solution gives the illusion of solidity, a smooth transition from one element to another, horizontal to vertical.
It is very difficult to choose the right colors due to the fact that the lighting intensity of horizontal and vertical surfaces differs. However, if this succeeds, you will receive a perfect example of an expensive, fully completed interior.
How to choose laminate flooring according to style?
If you are decorating an apartment in a certain style, you need to know how to choose the color of the laminate to match the interior. A wrong decision will spoil the overall impression. Let's look at the main styles.
Scandinavian. Laconic and modern. It is characterized by lightness and a large amount of light - natural or artificial. Bright textile elements help add coziness. Choose a light laminate that gives a feeling of freshness. All varieties of white are suitable - limestone, arctic, bleached, blonde and platinum.
Modern. Soft lines, cotton materials, natural textures. The gender must match. All colors that imitate natural wood are suitable. Cedar, beech, ivory and sequoia are what you need.
Loft. If at least one wall resembles brickwork, then the interior is decorated in this style. It assumes the presence of metal accessories, the absence of unnecessary details, and muted colors. Gray laminate and all its modifications are suitable - quartz, granite, silver, bleached oak, stone.
Classical. The basis is a combination of brown shades of different saturations with noble wood. Traditional English furniture, smooth lines, conservative outlines. Look for a matching laminate in a warm brown hue - chestnut, honey, rich oak, golden nutmeg.
High tech. The combination of glass, plastic and metal reminds us that we live in an age of high technology. This style demonstrates the status of the owner. It is found in respectable offices and home interiors, created by the designer. Let the laminate in the high-tech room be dark. Grayish shades and almost black are also suitable.
For a large kitchen: loft, cottages
If muted tones are used, then this combination will be appropriate only for large kitchens. If all the colors used are muted, they look noble, but in a small room it is not appropriate enough. This design is only appropriate for apartments with large rooms or fairly large private houses. The online kitchen design program can be found in this material.
When pastel, soft colors are used, the combination of a dark bottom and a light top for the kitchen will be quite appropriate, since there is a visual expansion of the walls. If the room is quite large, it is possible that if the interior is equipped only in relatively light or muted shades, it will be boring. In this case, you will have to make several bright colors, for example, bright small sofas.
Design techniques
Experts from the field of room decoration note that laminate flooring in light colors can be used as a link between different zones and rooms of the house. Despite the fact that white, beige and similar colors saturate the room with light, you should carefully consider the placement of lamps. You can choose either central or peripheral.
The contrast effect is very popular. It's a win-win.
Light laminate (ivory, champagne, mountain oak, bleached oak and other popular items) goes well with dark wood doors. Colors on both sides of the spectrum highlight each other's expressiveness. This technique is actively used in both modern and classical styles. It is worth noting that the floor covering of the above type can be successfully combined with other light elements of a similar color.
Light laminate – light doors
Every designer knows that the color palette used in design is very important. Each style is characterized by a certain set of colors. Walls and floors attract most of the attention. If the room has white, milky or beige doors, you can safely lay light laminate in this location. This duet will create an atmosphere of lightness and freshness in the room. Together with well-thought-out lighting, the room will visually increase.
Let's decide on the order of work
Should you glue wallpaper or lay laminate first? This question often arises during major renovations, when it is necessary to change not only the wall decoration, but also the floor covering. There are no strict recommendations on this matter, and you can very well start by doing the work that seems most difficult to you.
However, there are two points according to which you should first deal with the decoration of the walls:
- Firstly, when covering walls, you will have to use a stepladder or ladder, which, if handled carelessly, can leave scratches on the floor covering.
- Secondly, when wallpapering, you will probably cover the windows and doors to eliminate the possibility of drafts. As a result, the room will be warm and humid, which can negatively affect the quality of the finish.
Therefore, when asked whether to glue wallpaper or laminate first, we recommend starting with wallpapering the walls.
Peculiarities
Before discussing the aesthetic side of the issue, you need to say a few words about this version of the finishing material. Laminate gets its name from the Latin word “lamina,” meaning laminate. The basis of this material is fibreboard. To protect the pattern from external influences, the laminate is covered with a special film.
One finishing board consists of four layers, securely connected to each other. For this, various compositions and special equipment are used. Each layer performs its specific task.
All products available on the modern market are divided into classes, indicated by two-digit markings. The higher the mark, the greater the reliability and wear resistance of the product.
All groups are distinguished:
- Household laminate: classes 21-22-23.
- Commercial laminate: classes 31-32-33-34.
