Flooring with a vintage touch

The coatings, of both floor and walls, play an essential role when it comes to making our personal stamp on the decoration of a house. There is a wide variety on the market, both in terms of models and materials as well as finishes and colours. Thus, it is becoming easier and easier to “hit the nail on the head”, so that in every room we can match our own style.

Despite this diversity, in recent years there has been a return to the origins, to those traditional and more organic materials, whose textures give homes a more essential aesthetic, with designs that last over the years. In this sense, the return to ceramic floor tiles and natural stone brings us back to that tradition which is now steeped in modernity, with improved properties that provide greater durability. The triad of: aesthetics, practicality and sustainability is now more than a reality.

It is necessary to dedicate some specific lines to one of our most typical materials, Mediterranean par excellence, such as clay. Its aesthetics, homogeneity and extraordinary versatility to combine with all kinds of styles have helped it to gain a place, in its own right.

In addition to its aesthetic values, it is also easy to clean and has magnificent insulating properties, which provides greater comfort both in terms of preserving heat in winter and maintaining a cooler temperature in summer. As it is a porous material, as we will see below with hydraulic floors, it is advisable to apply layers of sealants that help us to better clean and maintain the surface.

One of the unmistakable signs that this nostalgic look has indeed taken over the reins of decoration is the return of the hydraulic floors, which were so popular in the 1970s.

This new vintage look brings back a material made of pigmented cement that can be used both indoors and outdoors, with a wide range of designs, colors and shapes to choose from. Although it is true that there are already vinyl solutions, which imitate hydraulic tiles, it is necessary to insist that their charm is not the same.

With a usual 20×20 format, this type of flooring can further increase its retro look with the worn appearance treatment that some models bring with them, being ideal for rustic or industrial decorations. With a personality of their own and the ability to break with the rigidity of other materials, hydraulic floors have a great capacity to fit in with any style.

Rooms in which special care must be taken due to their temperature and humidity conditions, such as kitchens and bathrooms, now have excellent technical solutions for covering their floors and walls, without losing an iota of resistance and simplicity in terms of cleaning. In this sense, porcelain stoneware offers an endless catalogue of formats, both in terms of size and thickness, as well as textures and finishes that imitate stone, wood or marble.

A material as versatile as stoneware looks to the past, dominated by earthy colours, simulating terracotta with those soft sandy tones that transmit a feeling of relaxation or a neutral range of material colours that combine perfectly with the rest of the decorative elements.