Designers predict retro carpets and hardwood floors will be popular choices.
Sophie Flaxman is a home writer at Better Homes & Gardens. Bamboo Laminate Flooring
Replacing your flooring is a big commitment. It's typically an expensive endeavor, so you want to be sure you love your choice of wood, tile, or carpet. To help you narrow down the options, we talked to designers and flooring experts about the latest flooring trends, and what we can expect to see more of in 2024.
The experts say sustainability, inclusivity, and an appreciation for nostalgia are some of the values that will inspire our choice of flooring in the coming year. Unsurprisingly, farmhouse flooring isn't going anywhere—but you might not have expected retro carpets to make a comeback, which designers say is on the way. These are the flooring trends you can expect to see in the next year.
"In 2024, tile design trends are pointing toward warmer tones in cream, beige, and grey, paired with different size large formats and tonalities to create patterns,” says Jordana Moche, managing director of Porcelanosa NYC. According to Moche, homeowners and professional designers are increasingly drawn to medium and darker wood-effect tile ranges and brown earth-toned flooring. “This creates a warm yet moody design that lends itself towards a hospitality-like feeling inside the residence,” she says.
A retro revolution is on the cards for carpets in 2024, according to Audra Keiber, Mohawk’s director of design and development for soft surfaces. And, whether driven by the desire to live more sustainably or honor legacy, we’re excited about it. “Carpet trends for 2024 are inspired by the renewed demand for vintage furnishings and colorways of retro soft goods like upholstery and fabrics,” Keiber says. “Our upcoming release for Karastan, Stitchery, has been inspired by this retro revolution. It blends a classic herringbone pattern to soften the stark linear repetition, creating a unique finish with traditional colorways of warm golden browns, beiges, and taupe with dark blue, grey, and black accents.” Leave your plain gray carpets behind; This nod to nostalgia is far more inspiring.
The rustic and familiar modern farmhouse style will continue to dominate in 2024, so it’s no surprise that floor trends will follow suit. “We are seeing a desire for living spaces to evolve into soft-spoken retreats, a place to recharge from our daily lives,” says Adam Vester, Mohawk’s senior director of design for wood and laminate. “Farmhouse style continues to be a stable decorating trend that is evolving towards warm minimalism with Scandinese design influences.”
The farmhouse style’s raw textures and organic forms adopt Scandi minimalism through lighter-hued, smooth-surfaced wood with fewer knots and distinguishing characters, creating a visually clean backdrop to a home.
Our commitment to eco-conscious living is paying off. With consumers and design professionals actively seeking clean, renewable, and sustainable materials for their homes and projects, innovative bio-based flooring alternatives have reached the top of the charts. “At Mohawk, sustainability is a core value," Keiber says. "We are committed to helping make this planet a better place by innovating with fibers made from recycled and renewable content." We expect to see more sustainable materials take to the floor next year, so keep an eye out for even more options.
Hardwood floors will continue to take the lead in kitchen designs in 2024. According to the 2023 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Report, a quarter of renovating homeowners have already chosen stained or unstained hardwood for kitchen flooring. “Vinyl and resilient flooring came in a close second, with 22% of homeowners selecting it,” reveals Mitchell Parker, senior editor at Houzz. “Engineered wood has also gained a bit of favor after being stable for the previous two years (15% in 2023, 14% in both 2022 and 2021), and we may see this material continue to climb in prominence next year," he says. According to Parker, we can expect to see smooth surfaces, raw wood tones, and wide planks, and although lighter-hued wood is seeing a big uptick, the earthy look of rustic wood, complete with saw marks, knots, and lots of graining, remains a sturdy favorite. The classic herringbone pattern is trending big time, creating visual movement and texture and forging an overall elegant and classy appearance.
It’s not only the carpets that will be nostalgic in 2024, but the hard surfaces, too. “On the hard surface side, this trend is characterized by clean, simple lines and a pared-back aesthetic,” Vester says. “In our wood and laminate and resilient flooring categories, we are focussing on visually enhanced wood looks with smaller character knots.”
Midcentury modernism is the perfect blank canvas for contemporary features. “We are seeing interior style mix retro seventies vibes with futuristic elements,” Vester says. “This fusion creates an environment that blurs the lines between past, present, and future, offering a sense of timelessness.”
Porcelain and ceramic tiles continue to dominate in non-shower flooring. According to the 2023 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Report, 60% of homeowners currently choose it, which is expected to continue into 2024. “Porcelain is a durable material that allows you to have the look of natural stone or even wood without the maintenance or the high price tag,” Parker says. “Gray is the most common non-shower flooring color (25%), followed by white and beige (21% and 15%, respectively), the latter of which grew 2 points from the previous year.” Homeowners continue to strive towards a soothing sanctuary for their bathroom, complete with the luxurious look of tile in neutral tones.
Homeowners are renovating with everyone in mind and future-proofing by applying universal design principles. By making a property accessible, convenient, and usable by all, everyone benefits. According to Houzz research, two-thirds of homeowners address special needs during a bath renovation, up from just over half in 2021. The needs of aging household members remain the top priority, both currently (38%) and for the future (50%).
Laminated Wood Flooring “To address the needs of aging household members, renovating homeowners incorporate features such as nonslip flooring during bathroom renovations to improve safety,” Parker says.