We’ve often ruminated on the advantages and drawbacks of laminate and solid wood flooring. Many’s the blog post we’ve spent weighing up the pros and cons of these two flooring types, and yet we’ve never really decided which one we prefer. They both have their benefits, but the question still remains: given the choice between a real oak floor and an oak effect laminate, which is the wisest choice?

Well, as always, it depends on your circumstances. Oak effect laminate flooring is fantastic because it allows busy households to enjoy the authentic appeal of wood flooring without worrying about care and maintenance. Laminate flooring is far harder to damage than real wood, and so people with children or pets will probably want to opt for an oak effect laminate, if only for peace of mind.

That said, if you asked us which floor was objectively better, we’d probably have to opt for the real oak flooring. Yes, it’s slightly more expensive, and yes, it requires a little more looking-after than an oak effect laminate, but we wouldn’t be selling it if there wasn’t an upside to balance out those drawbacks. Real oak flooring is a superb, luxurious product with which laminate flooring simply can’t compete – the natural veneer is a cut above any laminate finish, and your extra investment will bear a rich reward.

So that’s our take on things, but what do you think? Do you agree that real oak  is the most fabulous flooring of all, or would you sooner plump for an oak effect laminate? Either way, you’re well catered-for here at Floormaker.

Finding the ideal flooring for a kitchen is tricky! You want something that’s going to last and will be able to cope with the moisture and pressure a kitchen puts on a flooring. Well luckily for you Floormaker have a huge range of flooring products that are suitable for kitchens; meaning you can simply choose the flooring you like best.

Floormaker believe one of the best types of floors for a kitchen is the Ceramic Tile. They’re part of the Laminate Flooring family so you can count on this flooring for its durability trait. These clever tiles are able to take the strain and pressure a kitchen puts on a floor and they’ll do it whilst looking beautiful. It’s hard to ruin these tiles so you don’t need to worry about whom or what walks all over them… after all, that’s what flooring is for. 

Another handy advantage to ceramic tiles is that they clean easily. There’s no need to worry about spills or accidents as some warm, soapy water will have them sparkling again in no time; just be sure to attend to the accident as quick as possible! 

Floormaker have a wide range of Ceramic Tiles so you’re sure to find the perfect tile for you. Whether it’s subtlety you want or something a little bright and glossy then we’ve got a ceramic tile for you. 

We love a nice, thick laminate floor here at Floormaker. Thickness may not be the most important consideration when you’re purchasing a new floor, but it’s certainly worth bearing in mind; thicker floors are stronger, sturdier, and better for noise reduction. Also, an ample 12mm oak laminate feels a lot closer to real wood than thinner products do!

12mm is just about as thick as laminate flooring gets, so if you’re seeking the beefiest bit of floor on the market, your search ends here. The Phalsbourg oak laminate is a fantastic example of balanced flooring design; the veneer is beautiful, of course, with all the rich tone and detail you’d expect from a wood-effect floor, but this gorgeous surface is underpinned with a phenomenally robust construction. 12mm laminate flooring almost never buckles or warps, so you can rest assured that your oak laminate will look lovely for a good long time!

So if you’re looking to floor your home with an attractive oak laminate, remember that thicker is almost always better! The 12mm Phalsbourg oak laminate is just one of the fabulous laminate products we’ve got on offer; check out our Laminate Flooring section for a whole lot more.

If you’ve arrived here at the Floormaker website, there’s a reasonably good chance that you want to buy laminate flooring. You could be after a different type of floor – solid wood, perhaps, or vinyl – but laminate flooring products are by far our most popular, so that’s what we’re going to be talking about for the moment.

There are all sorts of things to consider when you buy laminate flooring, but here are some of the most important factors:

1) Quality

This will depend more on your supplier than the specific laminate floor that you choose. If you’re buying from a reputable flooring supplier, you should receive a high-quality floor no matter which product you decide to purchase. Conversely, if you’ve chosen a flooring retailer that isn’t quite up to scratch, you’ll probably find that even their most high-end products are rubbish. To sort the wheat from the chaff, it’s good to do a bit of digging; read reviews from previous customers, see if anyone is talking about the company online, and find out whether their experience was positive or negative. Choose your supplier wisely!

2) Colour/Design

Once you’ve found a reliable flooring supplier, the next step is deciding how you want your new laminate flooring to look. Take a look at the room you’re refurbishing, and think about what kind of design would best complement it. Would it look good with a light-coloured laminate, or would it benefit from something a little darker and richer? If your supplier allows it, you may want to order a free flooring sample or two before you actually buy laminate flooring; that way, you can find out in advance how a floor will look with the rest of your decor.

3) Price

Depending on how deep your pockets are, this could be the most important consideration of all! Obviously, you’ll want the lowest price possible when you buy laminate flooring, but bear in mind that more expensive floors are that way for a reason. It may be worth aiming for a happy medium - a mid-priced floor that looks better than the cheap stuff but still doesn’t break the bank. That said, if you stuck to Step 1 and found a good flooring supplier, it shouldn’t matter how cheap the floor is; quality will be assured!

Laminate flooring usually looks like wood, and that’s probably because wood flooring is an extremely desirable look (even if it isn’t really made of wood!) Wood looks a lot classier than carpet or linoleum, and wood-style laminate flooring is a simple, affordable way to get it.

But one must always remember that wood-look laminate flooring isn’t the only option. There are plenty of alternatives, ranging from deliciously dark minimalism to outrageously eye-catching design. And then there’s white laminate flooring - if you’re looking to brighten up your home, even the lightest-coloured wood can’t compete with pure white.

White laminate flooring reflects light, creating the illusion of space and making the whole room feel airy and modern. Just take a look at the Carrara Marmor Tile Effect Flooring in the picture above; can you honestly say that wouldn’t look astounding in your home? You might think that the luxurious marble-style veneer would be a lot more expensive than wood-look laminates, but at £23.99 per metre, the cost is almost exactly the same.

White laminate flooring can do wonders for a room – why not order a free sample and see what you make of it?  

The Laura Ashley designers keep topping their latest and greatest, we have yet another beautiful laminate wood flooring from the Laura Ashley designers and it’s stunning. We don’t know what they’re going to come up with next because this beautiful Bog Oak Laminate Floor can’t be beaten… it’s too pretty!

Laura Ashley’s Bog Oak Laminate is sumptuous and stylish, everything you’d ever want and need from flooring! Its dark chocolate colour swirls twirls with a lighter, caramel colour to create a deep, divine texture you’ll want to swim in. 

If you’ve been looking for a dark, sophisticated laminate then Floormaker think you’ve found the perfect one! The world is your oyster with this Laura Ashley Laminate as you can style it up with some modern furniture and create a sleek, classy urban look. OR you bring out the vintage, rustic style of this luxurious laminate. Ideal for both, meaning you don’t have to change your flooring if you want to change your style! 

Completely versatile and utterly unique; Laura Ashley’s Bog Oak Laminate is like no other so go on, indulge yourself and grab it while stocks last. 

Have you ever wondered why filmmakers and photographers still opt for black and white when full colour photography is just as readily available? It’s because the monochromatic look is as striking as it gets; no matter how bright and vivid your colour palette is, you’ll never get anything bolder than the contrast between solid black and perfect white.

And this doesn’t just apply to photography. Black and white make great choices for laminate flooring, too, and while black and white film tends to be associated with movies from decades ago, black and white laminate flooring will make your home look as magnificently modern as possible.

White laminate flooring is great for a wide open, airy feel, and even if you’ve not got much space to work with, white laminate flooring can make it feel a lot more spacious. This also applies to our glossy black laminate flooring, but where white tiles feel fresh and pure, a bodacious black floor is a little more saucy, a little more decadent. It’s the very height of flooring fashion!

And if you can’t decide between black and white laminate flooring, why not have both? Our Zaha Hadid Crystal Laminate Flooring is, you guessed it, a full-blown black and white laminate flooring product, combining a beautiful black base with dazzling white zig-zags to stunning effect. If you want a floor that really stands out, black and white really is the best option!

You can’t have your cake and eat it too, and that applies just as much to flooring as it does to everything else in the world. One of the most important choices you have to make when choosing a new floor is whether you favour style or practicality. You’ve got the fashionable, fabulous flooring products and the robust, workmanlike floors that are built to last – there’s very little overlap!

So which is more important: beauty or brawn? A floor should last you for at least a few years, but on the other hand, who cares how long the floor will last when it looks absolutely awful? It’s a tricky decision, but if you’ve got children, pets, or a lot of foot traffic, then you’ll probably have to opt for durability over decadence.

Fortunately, we at Floormaker are capable of providing the best of both worlds. Remember when we said you couldn’t have your cake and it eat it? Well, we’ve decided to bend that particular rule – the 8mm Lava Block laminate flooring is some seriously durable flooring, but the wood-style beauty is no less stunning for its practicality. Laminate flooring is great for busy families who still want a little bit of style, because it looks just as good as wood while requiring far less maintenance! If durability is top of your list, then Floormaker’s sturdy yet stunning products are almost certainly the perfect choice.

White is the fashion colour of the year. It’s cool and stylish and just a good looking colour and so far most of the floors Floormaker have had in have been very chic and modern – just take our Glossy White Tiles, they’re so fashionable and very modern looking. 

But we’ve finally got a laminate flooring in that’s a gorgeous white but still looks beautifully rustic. So despite the colour the 12mm Rip White Oak gorgeously made laminate will work well with rustic or vintage designs. It’s a bit out of the norm from any other ‘rustic’ flooring so you can feel a bit unique and a bit special. 

The grain within the Rip White Oak is what keeps this wood looking rustic and beautiful as well as the wide planks. Including both of these factors in a wood makes for the perfect vintage style laminate and adding a white coat makes this wood simply unique and very exclusive. 

So don’t miss out on such an exceptional laminate floor. And from just £15.59 per square meter is practically an investment. 

We’ve established (several times over, in fact) that vinyl flooring is the best choice for the bathroom. It’s durable, it’s moisture-resistant, and our vinyl floor tiles are self-adhesive, which makes them super-easy to lay! Vinyl flooring is simply the most practical, flexible flooring out there, and it’s suitable for those high-risk environments that are too much for other floor types.

But let’s forget about practicality for a moment and have a little think about design. Vinyl may be an inexpensive, artificial option, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look stylish! Just take a look at this brilliant vinyl parquet flooring; the wood-effect design is a subtle yet arresting take on parquet flooring, and we think that a decorative vinyl parquet looks just as lovely as a solid wood one!

Still, if the vinyl parquet flooring isn’t your bag, don’t panic – vinyl tiles lend themselves to all kinds of other attractive designs as well, and just because the vinyl parquet is our favourite doesn’t mean it has to be yours as well! We’ve got a wide range of groovy styles just waiting to be discovered, so no matter what you want from your bathroom floor, rest assured that Floormaker can make it happen.