Expert advice

design dream

With Cassandra Fenaughty

Cassandra Fenaughty is a landscape architect with more than 20 years’ experience. She is the founder and owner of an innovative renovation design consultancy, creating photo-real renovation concepts for clients looking to visualise their dream renovation before it begins. For more visit cassandrafenaughty.com.

FLOORING OPTIONS

Our home is 15 years young and has white tiles throughout, along with a lovely deep camel colour carpet. As its time for an update I’d like to ask your opinion on white tiles meets vinyl floorboards.

We have many tiles throughout our fourbedroom home. In the kids’ area there are three bedrooms and an activity room.

We are thinking of pulling up the existing carpet and tiles and replacing with a light colour wooden floorboard vinyl.

We would like your thoughts on tiles meets vinyl floorboards.

Do you think they go together or would it clash? The activity room has a perimeter of white tiles and a large carpet square in the middle of the room.

You would still see a hallway of white tiles and as you enter the doorway to each bedroom, and the activity room, the flooring would change.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks Kym CASSANDRA SAYS: Thanks for your query. Flooring questions are always common in my renovation consultations and designs. I’s always hard for clients to know where to start and stop new finishes and how to tie in new and existing floor coverings. Luckily for you it sounds like your existing white tiles are in good enough condition to retain, and are a neutral colour that will match with other finishes.

Given that it is only the three bedrooms and an activity area that need reflooring, a diff erent finish in these areas will look fine, as

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long as these areas are all the same.

Many people opt to remove carpet from their homes to make cleaning easier. A timber-style finish will look warm and work well with a white tile. It might even be soft er and warmer underfoot than tiles in the bedrooms, depending on what timber style you choose.

Carpet is always the warmest underfoot in the colder months, but a nice rug on the floor by the beds, or in the playroom over a harder floor, will provide soft ness and warmth where it is really needed.

If you choose a timber colour that complements your furnishings the whole interior palette will tie in nicely. You may want to consider removing the tiled border in the activity room as it will retain the style of the age of the home and possibly make it look a little dated.

When choosing your timber-style flooring product it’s good to be aware of possible health issues that may arise from some options.

Many flooring products contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds). These are chemicals that have high vapour pressure at room temperature. The molecules from the products can evaporate into the air which we breathe (we oft en refer to them as fumes). The new car smell or scent of a freshly painted room is the smell of off -gassing of the VOCs in the paint, adhesives, vinyl or plastic.

Health issues linked to VOCs can range from eye, nose and throat irritation to headaches and nausea, and in extreme cases damage to organs and the central nervous system. Low or no VOC options are available in the market. Here are a few facts: • While natural timber is the best option, the finish on the timber needs to be carefully considered. • Laminate floors typically have more VOCs than other floorings due to the adhesives/glues in the manufacturing process. • Engineered wood or hybrids use a similar process to laminates. They can also off -gas for months. • Vinyl can off -gas chemical compounds for years. • Timber-look tiles are worth considering. While they might be hard and cold for a bedroom,

they would be one of the healthiest options. • Synthetic carpets can be a source for VOCs but natural wool or fibres without treatments for flame retardants, mothproofing, and stain repellents are a healthy option.

There is a great website that provides environmental and health pros and cons of all sorts of building materials. Feel free to check it all out and when you are shopping around for your flooring product make sure you ask the supplier about their low- or no-VOC flooring options. Visit ecospecifier.com.au

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Do you have a burning renovation or landscaping question? Let us know! You can email your questions for Cassandra to enquiries@ cassandrafenaughty. com.

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