Instead of the usual dusty concrete interlocking vinyl floor tiles make an inexpensive floor surface. They come in a wide range of colours and surface patterns so its easy to find one that suits your particular home. They’re usually also easy to fit so that you don’t always even need a professional floor contractor – they can be loose laid or adhered to the ground with a suitable flooring adhesive.

Interlocking vinyl floor tiles are perfect for garages or uneven floors

UK Flooring Online are a web-based retailer of affordable garage floor tiles. Their Flexatile product is a 5mm thick pvc interlocking tile – ideal for use in garages. Installing a vinyl garage floor can brighten the room, make it a more comfortable place to be, but also impress your mates!

The 5mm Flexatile is supplied in two colours, grey and black – making it easy to match with existing interior styles. This new vinyl floor tile is perfect for commercial applications that don’t receive extremely heavy traffic. Vinyl is hard wearing and keeps its appearance for a very long time, making it a good choice for people who want a permanent floor solution.

Vinyl Floor Tile is Red and Black in Car Garage

The addition of a new slate effect rubber floor tile to the rubber floor tile range suggests that UK Flooring want to offer more choice to their customers and become the place to visit online for rubber floor tiles. The versatility of rubber flooring solutions is being noted by consumers and architects alike. Their flexability lies in the array of colours and style available and at a relatively reasonable price compared to new laminate and vinyl floor products.

“I’m taking over the world one downstairs loo at a time,” said Louise Wakefield of Beware the Moon, the new design house she created in partnership with her dad. She contends that the feature wall has had its day: “Now I want to see my designs in completely papered tiny rooms, nice and busy, like wallpaper should be.”

Flooring plays a crucial role in small-space decorating. Long, narrow, striped or patterned rubber floor tiles can lengthen a hallway, and wide stripes make small  rooms look more spacious. Something on the lines of the modern classic studded rubber floor tiles (500mm x 500mm, £8.99; 085451 24 24 10, ukflooringonline.com). The truly adventurous looking to add sparkle to a dingy room should check out the new hammered-metal briquettes from De Ferranti in glowing gold (10cm x 30cm, £499 per sq metre; 020 7384 4424, deferranti.com). Or, perhaps, a silver floor in engineered oak from the Salsa collection by Tarkett (Silver Star, £60 per sq metre; 01622 854151, tarkett-floors.com).

‘Digital design plays an important role in looking for new visual options, as consumers and designers alike move towards digitally customizing their flooring. Computers allow innovative textures and shapes to be designed, a new form of aesthetic that cannot be created through traditional techniques,’ said Erno Nemeth of German floor manufacturer, Parador.

Recent trends have shown an increased individualization in interior and furniture design. Innovative printing of surfaces and components is becoming more popular in the Middle East. Leading sources say that manufacturers with digital production technology will play a key role in this growing trend.

There are an ever expanding range of materials and styles for modern consumers to choose from. Rubber Floor Tiles are just one such medium domestic buyers are turning to, and designers are looking to manipulate digitally to produce innovative floor solutions.

digital rubber floor tile design

However, the resilience of the underlay is also crucial in that it is no good being thick if the underlay flattens quickly in use.

There are a number of branded underlays on the market and your retailer may well stock some if not all of these. Remember underlay is essential to carpets in a number of ways

• It helps the carpet resist dynamic forces and assists in making the carpet more resilient, more springy underfoot.
• It helps insulate the floor reducing cold ingress and heat retention
• It helps reduce the impact of any subfloor imperfections on the look and wear characteristics of the carpet.
• It will help prolong the life expectancy of a carpet.

There are 4 types of underlay recognized under BS 5325. These are:
Felt usually made of fibres entangled or matted together. This is the traditional underlay that has been in use for many years. It tends to suffer from some natural settling over time and use.

Cellular formed essentially of a rubber or other polymeric foam. These are popular and have the advantage of lightness although the cheaper varieties will sag under heavy use. If this type is to be used it must be of good quality.

Composite Underlay composed of both fibrous and polymeric material.
Rubber crumb underlay composed of crumb rubber and often made from recycled car tyres
We do not recommend re-using existing underlay. A pre-used underlay may look unharmed but it will perform less well in protecting your carpet from wear and tear.

Not all flooring types require underlay of course. Studded rubber tiles are best adhered onto a clean, dry solid surface.

Nobody knows just how old the art of crochet is, but historians have found indications that hundreds of years ago sticks were used to loop thread into stitches. The word crochet comes from the French word meaning hook. Crafter Sharon Lantham explains how to crochet strips of fabric into useful rugs using a single crochet stitch.

To read the lesson in full just head over to the DIY network, and go crazy creating your own eco-friendly crochet rug. For a more professional and stylish finish you may also want to look into the shaggy rugs that Nice Rug have to offer.

Crochet Rug

The NHS-paid for hospital was described as being one of the first in the UK to use sustainable materials and resources. The innovative underfloor heating system was publicised as being environmentally-friendly because it recycles heat. However staff say they are unnable to control the temperature of the floor in some areas of the hospital, including the corridors.

Rubber floor tiles could offer the solution to changeable floor temperatures as they are both flexable and durable. The vast array of flooring solutions available today means that stylish and practical products can be introduced into changeable and demanding environments.

Rhondda Valley Hospital - Empty

Mrs Miller said “I thought I wouldn’t do it after I retired.” However, she said she was asked to make some of the rugs to show during Landis Homes’ Farm Days. “Then it got in my blood again,” she said. Mrs Miller is donating her latest creations to the Kraybill campus of Lancaster Mennonite School’s 32nd annual benefit auction this weekend. The auction will be held Friday and Saturday at the Kraybill campus, 598 Kraybill Church Road, Mount Joy.

Mrs Miller and her hook rug creation