Article Design Trend: Reclaimed Wood

Creating Experiences, Not Transactions

Consumers are seeking a deeper, more meaningful experience when they enter places of business, from retail to restaurants and even healthcare settings. There is a strong desire for personal service, a sense of community, and a preference for storytelling. The consumer experience should be easy, relaxing and enjoyable – and our flooring solutions are able to create a foundation for this type of experience.

Capturing the Experience with Reclaimed Wood Looks

Rustic designs with reclaimed character create a unique look and feel within a space – it can be a great way to add warmth and texture. This design aesthetic also helps to disguise the wear and tear in high traffic areas, commonly found in retail, hospitality, and healthcare settings. Designers tell us they’re looking for specific things with a reclaimed wood look:

• Weathered and worn/faded/washed out
• Remains of chipped or faded paint for interest
• Color and plank size variation
• Vintage look with various machine marks and textures

While it would be ideal to use authentic reclaimed wood for the flooring in every scenario, the look of reclaimed wood is just as good – and many times better – than the real thing. Commercial flooring products like LVT and Rigid Core will give the look of reclaimed wood with the added benefit of performance characteristics like resistance to staining and added durability. This aesthetic/performance combination allows the rustic, beautiful look of reclaimed wood to be used in some surprising places.

Natural Elements Help Healing

Evidence-Based Design research suggests that a relaxing, serene, and natural atmosphere can actually help speed patient healing in healthcare spaces. But reclaimed wood would not be an ideal flooring choice for a hospital, doctor’s office, or even nursing care facilities. These spaces require extremely durable flooring to stand up to high traffic, heavy rolling loads, and all manner of spills .

High-Drama Flooring for Low-Drama Spaces

We’ve kept this key design trend in mind in some of our latest collections, too. Natural Creations with Diamond 10 Technology features some dramatic reclaimed wood-look flooring choices that are not only stylish, but also durable.

This newly redesigned office space features ArborArt flooring in three colors: City Mill Wind Storm, City Mill Fog, and City Mill Storm Cloud. With coordinating colors and styles, the pattern possibilities are endless, and the end result is an eclectic yet orderly design reminiscent of a centuries-old barn or outbuilding.

Rigid Core Vantage combines striking and realistic wood styles to create a dramatic look. With embossed-in-register texture, the exacting detail of the natural wood look is brought to life. Extra-large format planks, high plank-to-plank variation, and painted bevel edges accentuate each floor design and goes beyond traditional wood species for one-of-a-kind-look.