Not only do we love to create inspiring spaces in the home but we also love to consider all interiors and our office is arguably one of the most important spaces there is! We spend a lot of time at work, so creating a comfortable and stylish space in which to be inspired is of most importance to us. When we moved the Hunting for George HQ into a new pad in Cheltenham we were faced with a renovators delight. This was nothing new for us as this was now our 2nd office/warehouse move, but our main decision this time around was what to do with the floor.
Choosing a floor for your office is a pretty big decision because it really does set the tone for your entire space. However there are a few practical things to consider when selecting your best flooring option. The first thing we needed to think about was how our floor would be used. We have three different areas within our HQ: warehouse, office and studio. The warehouse is obviously where there is significant traffic, not just foot traffic but machinery as well. So it was a no brainer to opt for a painted epoxy to cover the concrete floor. Epoxy paint is extremely hard wearing and is best used on concrete and steel. We actually chose this floor finish for our previous showroom and office as it created a fake polished concrete look and was affordable. However the downside to having epoxy flooring in your office is that it does not buffer any noise (resulting in a very loud workspace) and it’s an incredibly hard surface so it does lacks comfort. This time around we wanted an upgrade for our office floor. There were 4 things that were a big part of our decision making process: Noise, Durability, Style and Maintenance.
Noise
We have an open plan layout so noise has always been an issue for us. We wanted a floor that would help absorb some of that.
Durability
We wanted something that would be hard-wearing to last us many, many years. Whilst we only have foot traffic in the office, we are a growing team and we wanted to choose an option that would maintain its look.
Style
Call us shallow but we wanted something that looked amazing. The floor sets the tone for your entire interior and a good floor will make the rest of your styling a whole lot easier!
Maintenance
Whilst we like to keep things clean, office floors can get seriously filthy! All sorts of things can be dropped on the floor, trodded on or walked over. We wanted a hassle free floor that would be easy to clean and maintain and that would also disguise a few misdemeanours here and there.
Due to these 4 considerations we decided that our best option for an office floor would be either Timber boards or Carpet. In the end, carpet won because of the noise and comfort factor. We reached out to Godfrey Hirst for help at this point and they pointed us towards some commercial grade carpet finishing that would be hard wearing and ideal for an office space. We chose Inscribe from their Commercial collection. I opted for this style because it has a slightly irregular pattern that looks less mainstream and not as boring as some traditional carpet patterns (and lord knows we don’t do boring!) This carpet actually came as carpet tiles and it was ridiculously easy to install (not that I did it, I just watched on with my popcorn and megaphone). Seriously though the entire floor surface area is approximately 250sqm and it was carpeted within 1 day.
The colour that we selected was called Pottery, I chose this because of its interesting combination of tones. I liked that it had flecks of different colouring which gave it an overall ‘lightness’ when displayed on mass. Also, I love a flecked colour on the floor either in carpet or on a rug as it hides all manner of sins and any dirty marks are less noticeable.
When trying to decide which floor is right for you and your office just remember to consider the use of space (how much traffic will your floor have to deal with?); floor size (are you covering a huge space or do you have stairs or maybe awkward corners to consider?); budget (find the most economical floor cover, you run a business after all!); maintenance (how much time do you want to spend cleaning your floor?); noise (do you have an open plan office that needs noise control or do you have a quiet space?); durability (it’s gotta outlive your time in the space) and most of all… style, choose something that looks incredible (you need to look at it every day, so make sure it makes you happy!)
What a beautiful carpet! I love it when offices have beautiful carpeting instead of the generic brown carpet with mulicolor specks. It really makes the whole office feel more welcoming. We recently replaced our office carpet (after years and years of use, not even our excellent commercial carpet cleaner could save them) and even though I like them, I wish I had seen this first as your carpet is lovely.