2020 Flooring Design Trends: What’s Hot?

Commercial design and build teams have no shortage of flooring products to choose from. And new options are coming online continually. No one knows more about the latest trends and looks than Intertech’s product consultant Aimee Dowd. Here are some of their picks for what to look for this year in commercial flooring.

LVT and Tile

Designers are recognizing the benefits of LVT and LVP, and specifying it more often. Look for LVT visuals to emerge in several different looks, departing from the typical wood look. “ It’s more common now to find a textile visual, watercolor visual, terrazzo look, and beautiful ranges of gradient color,” says Monica.

It seems 2020 will be the year of interesting shapes and textures in both hard and soft flooring.

“Larger formats and interesting shapes – facets, triangles, polygons – will be prominent flooring themes this year, and we’ll see the use of more polished concrete and resinous floor finishes,” adds Tess.

Look for tile in abstract, linen, concrete and metallic visuals, with less emphasis on wood looks and natural stone. “We are seeing designers incorporate a diverse selection of finishes (matte versus polished) within the same style, given them more design capabilities and enabling more complex installations,” said Tess.

Carpet

In the carpet world, expect other mills to follow Patcraft’s lead with exposed primary backing plank carpet. “Patcraft did very well with their initial product and have launched more collections, and now other mills have followed suit with their take on it,” says Monica. “Shaw has begun launching new collections with a lighter backing called Strataworx , as well as Ecoworx. It carries a scaled back warranty because its suggested use is in a shorter lease term, quick TI turnaround project. I think Mohawk is also moving in this direction.”

Expect to see carpets incorporate pile height diversity and tip shear finish within patterns to give the carpet texture, depth and richness, add Tess. “We will continue to see walk-off carpet tiles with more design elements and complex installation designs this year, as well as the use of more rugs used over polished concrete floor finishes.” In fact, Shaw Contract has begun marketing its rug program again for broad use beyond the traditional hospitality market.

Color Trends for 2020

“The Pantone color of the year, Classic Blue, was popular last year, and will continue this year,“ notes Monica. “We also are seeing more warm champagne colors as well as color selection based on corporate colors.”

Neutrals, neutral field colors with accents and nature-inspired colors from earthy tones to water tones will round out the most popular color picks this year, adds Tess.

Trending Designs and New Products

In addition to mosaics, patterns and liner look, other trends we will continue to see in the commercial flooring market include:

Wellness-based and human-centric design that leaves room for growth and meets the needs of cultural and generational needs in the workplace
The “resi-mmercial” look of residentially inspired commercial floor finishes. These create a more comfortable workspace while supporting the WELL building standards.
The combined farmhouse/industrial design look. It gives end-users the design versatility of a polished concrete floor, which can be a blank canvas allowing for area rugs or applied wayfinding.
It’s a new day for K-12 specs. The finishes have evolved from basic VCT and broadloom (in limited scope) to enhanced VCT and LVTs, like Armstrong’s Diamond 10 for hard surfaces and education-minded collections like Live and Learn and Matuto Plus (Mohawk) just to name a few.
“Transitionless” crossovers between soft surface and hard surface. 5mm thick vinyl tile and plank products are being designed to meet up with carpet tile directly, eliminating the need for rubber transitions.
Metal transitions (Schluter Vinpro or similar) used for carpet tile and resilient. Rubber finish accessories also now are being manufacturer with a metallic look.
Carpet tile with coordinating hard surface products.
Overall, we can expect to greater emphasis on “Made in the USA” products, that are higher performing and more design friendly.