Ditch Traditional Flooring & Hop On One Stunning Design Trend To Elevate Your Home

The flooring in our homes may be as foundational to our design aesthetics as they are to the function of the house itself. We need the surfaces beneath our feet to be durable, aesthetically pleasing, and capable of outliving capricious design trends. Truths that make the current flooring trend — texture — all the more appealing because several of the more popular textural flooring materials also check all the other boxes. 

When it's time to update our floors, it's not uncommon to default to traditional options like vinyl or laminates. They're often accessibly priced, come in a wide variety of designs, and are purported to last up to two decades. However, with personality, texture, and natural materials coming to the forefront of upcoming design trends, some other major contenders in the flooring market might actually do a better job of meeting the aesthetic and practical needs. Hand-scraped wood floors will likely last longer than other wood-look or even traditional hardwood flooring options and may also require less maintenance over time. Porcelain tile, too, can last twice as long as vinyl or laminate options and offers all kinds of other benefits. The same is true of tumbled stone and slate. So if you're looking for the best flooring options for your home, this time you might just want to skip the traditional options and go for something more on-trend.

Hand-scraped wood floors have been around for a very long time. Before we had equipment that made wood planks flat and smooth, the process had to be done by hand, creating boards for wood flooring that were as distinct as they were beautiful. The manufacturing process has changed some, but the result is just as stunning and still imparts that incredible texture that is so popular in modern decor.

Not only do hand-scraped floors bring that unique and idiosyncratic detail to the aesthetic of your home, but they are also environmentally friendly and very low maintenance. Where traditional wood floors need to be sanded down and refinished every few years, the nicks, scratches, gouges, and grooves of hand-scraped hardwood are just part of the charm. And while traditional wood floors need to be sealed, the hand-scraped hardwood version comes with a durable finish that can last up to 20 years. The flooring itself, however, will last much longer — without a lot of maintenance fuss. The material can be among the more costly wood flooring options, but when you consider the fact that you may never have to sand or refinish (much less replace) your floors again, it might just be worth it. Of course, if you're looking for durability expectations that push up to the century mark, stone or porcelain may be a better fit.

When you think of textured flooring options, porcelain tile may not be the first material that comes to mind. However, rough, textured porcelain tile exists — and may be perfect for your project. It can last for a century (or longer) when properly cared for, and it retains heat better than smooth tiles to make walking around barefoot a little more pleasant. Plus, the increased texture provides enhanced traction when wet, making rough porcelain tile one of the best flooring options for kitchens, bathrooms, and even entryways — all while giving you that luxe, on-trend textured effect.

Tumbled stone tiles are another popular option for many of the same reasons. Often created by literally tumbling broken tiles with another aggregate material, the unique chipping pattern means that each piece is full of character — and still offers you the benefit of improved traction. Their porousness can make them more vulnerable to staining, however, and they should be sealed to preserve their beauty.

That's true of slate as well, another of the naturally textured and highly durable flooring materials that just happens to be very en vogue. Controlling the color of your slate floors can be slightly more difficult than with other types of tile, and you'll want to properly clean and care for slate flooring to preserve it. However, since the material is naturally fire, mold, and stain resistant, the extra effort may be worth investing the time. Ultimately, ultra-durable, nature-made floors just happen to be both eternally cool and very hot right now — so they might just be the perfect addition to elevate your home.