If you are wrestling with a narrow hallway or a new kitchen extension Kelly Hoppen has a clever tip for how to use flooring to make a room look bigger.
Related: Hallway flooring ideas – to create a welcoming entrance (opens in new tab)
The award-winning interior design often shares her tips on ITV's This Morning with Holly Willoughby and Phil Schofield. On the show, Lynne, a viewer, rang in with a query about what flooring to use in an entranceway following a loft conversion (opens in new tab).
‘We’re talking about an entrance hall where we’re going to lose a spare bedroom to take the stairs up into the loft,' Lynne explained to Kelly showing her a video of her current hallway.
'So without the bedroom, we’re going to have quite a large open hallway and I just wasn’t sure what to put on the floor. Be it carpet, tile, wood.'
‘Well it’s a beautiful entrance and it’s going to be a lot bigger,' explained Kelly. 'I would use a beautiful wood from what I can see from the image.'
Even though the room will soon look a lot bigger, Kelly recommended laying the wood lengthwise to keep the room looking spacious. 'It is going to make it look a lot longer and wider if you put the planks lengthwise,' she explained.
When speaking to another viewer Kelly explained how important this layout tip was in a kitchen as well as a hallway. 'Have them going the same way as your kitchen is running. It's really important that.'
How to use flooring to make a room look bigger
Wooden flooring is the perfect tool for creating the illusion of a larger or smaller space. When choosing a wooden or wood effect flooring layout is just as important as choosing the right colour and material.
Laying wooden planks lengthways isn't the only trick for making a room look bigger. 'Another clever installation trick is to install in the classic herringbone pattern, again running lengthways,' explains Jessica Fox, Senior Marketing at Flooring Superstore (opens in new tab).
'And although it’s not necessarily the obvious choice, laying the planks diagonally can also make a room feel larger. If you’ve got an open-plan space, or large doors leading into different rooms, try using the same flooring throughout, installed in the same direction, as this can make space feel bigger.'
On This Morning, Kelly explained that Lynne didn't necessarily need to use a natural wood floor. 'You could use lino wood or ceramic wood, but eventually, you want to choose the colour that is going to work for you.'
However, she warned Lynne against opting for a tile that would need lots of grouting. 'It would look too bitty. So I would use a ceramic wood tile, because you won’t see that. You’ll just see the grains of the wood.'
Related: Living room flooring ideas - from wooden flooring and tiles to durable yet stylish carpet (opens in new tab)
Will you be trying this flooring tip at home?
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