Boom of stone decorations in flooring coverings

It might not occur to many that stone decors for floors started on laminate coverings, but it is true. However, from today's perspective, the technologies available at the time were insufficient; the stone design was essentially just a "photograph" on the surface of laminate floors, a visual matter without any real surface structure that you would perceive by touch. Only modern technologies, which have gone hand in hand with the development of vinyl and SPC floorings, are responsible for the current boom in stone decors, as they can create a perfectly realistic stone-like structure that is indistinguishable at first glance. Stone decors no longer lag behind and currently account for up to a quarter of sales.

"When I divide decors into wooden and stone based on popularity, wooden decors are still in first place, but stone ones are on the rise. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it is currently a trending issue,” confirms Milan Mrkáček, head of regional sales at Kratochvíl parket profi (KPP), one of our leading manufacturers and importers of flooring materials. "Until now, wooden decors always dominated and still prevail, but the popularity of stone decors is growing. It is no longer like before when their sales share was minimal, five or six percent; today, sales of stone decors are increasing, and I dare say they already account for 20 - 25% of sales." The rising popularity can be corroborated by the fact that the range of stone decors is expanding. "Whereas in the past, when a manufacturer introduced a new collection, it usually had twenty decors, of which 18 were wooden and two were stone, just to say they had them. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for eight of the twenty decors in a new collection to be stone,” continues Milan Mrkáček from KPP, and the collections of world manufacturers such as Swedish Kährs, German WINEO, or KPP's own brand only confirm his words.

The popularity of stone decors may be due to the search for something non-traditional

One possible reason for this trend could be the fact that customers eventually become saturated with everything, so at the moment they are likely overwhelmed by the classic wooden appearance of floors and are looking for something different, something fresh. Another impulse for the rise of stone decors could also be their easier compatibility with other furnishings that have wooden surfaces. "While with wooden decors you are limited when tuning your interior, stone decors are not as restricted, and you can choose any type of wood for the furniture,” agrees Milan Mrkáček from KPP.

Manufacturers are finding names for stone decors even in the mountains

While wooden floor looks usually mimic a specific type of wood (oak, birch, ash, etc.) that is (usually) reflected in the name of the flooring, in the case of stone decors, manufacturers tend to imitate a more generic stone appearance. "It does not directly imitate granite or travertine, rather, it is said that these are stone decors imitating concrete, tiles, etc. The terminology is therefore not entirely precise, and manufacturers prefer names that refer to concrete - for example, the vinyls and SPC coverings from the KPP Brick Design Stone collection offer decors like Cement light or Concrete sand. Of course, the surface of such a floor does not look like a poured concrete slab,” warns Milan Mrkáček from KPP.

Some manufacturers seek other connections and hunt for names in the mountains, for instance, a Swedish manufacturer features the fifth highest mountain in the world, the eight-thousander Makalu or the highest peak of the Scandinavian mountains Kebnekaise in its collection of vinyls and SPC coverings Kährs Stone Design. Others do not spend much time searching for “aspects,” for example, the vinyls and SPC BrooklynFactory from the WINEO 600 STONE XL collection and in the title of the eco-friendly flooring Introducing Otto Wineo PURLINE 1200, you would hardly find any relation to rock.

Brighter shades are the most sought after

According to the expert from KPP, the most sought-after shades are lighter ones, sandy, gray (e.g., vinyl Off Grey from the mFLOR Nuance collection with a concrete imitation, vinyls and SPC CamdenFactory with sandstone imitation from the WINEO 600 STONE XL collection, SPC covering Concrete Tokio from the Arbiton Amaron Stone XXL collection).

Darker to black shades, although they appear more luxurious, can be more complicated (e.g., SOLID BLACK with a hand-scratched structure from the vinyl and SPC flooring collection WINEO 800 Tile XXL, slate imitation WINEO Dark slate from the WINEO 800 STONE XL collection, coal-colored vinyl Charcoal from the mFLOR Nuance collection). "Basalt decors are being made, which look very good. Generally, dark floors look luxurious, but they come with certain complexities. Firstly, you need a larger room because dark floors visually shrink space, and the room must also have large sources of natural light, ideally facing south. Last but not least, every speck is visible on dark floors, so they require more maintenance. Therefore, very dark decors are not popular among wood decors, and it is similar with stones.”

What laminates failed to achieve, vinyls and SPC coverings perfected

Looking back, stone surfaces have been around since laminate floors allowed the production of virtually any design that the manufacturer could imagine. However, the technology was not at the level it is today, and the resulting look was not as convincing. It was only when manufacturers perfected their technologies that stone decors acquired a real texture. "In laminates, stone decors did not catch on because years ago, the technologies were about photographs, thus being purely visual. Manufacturers could not create that texture, which is why stone decors became popular in vinyl and SPC coverings, whose development went hand in hand with the boom in interest in stone decors. Today, it is no longer just a photo; the surface of the flooring has a real quality mimicking the structure of stone, so just like the stone originals, neither vinyl nor SPC coverings are smooth, but you feel irregularities when you touch them," confirms Milan Mrkáček from KPP and adds: "If you see today's vinyls and SPC coverings with a stone decor laid out flat, you have no chance at first glance to tell whether it is real stone or vinyl or SPC."

Still, one type of rock that remains challenging to perfectly represent is marble. "It is produced, but still, natural marble has such a specific appearance that, in my opinion, it is not ideal for imitation. Because when you make an imitation of a product that is based on the principle that every piece is an original, it becomes harder to achieve a natural appearance in the surface where the panels repeat," explains Milan Mrkáček from Kratochvíl parket profi.

In this regard, marble is unique, but generally, stone decors are primarily beneficial from the perspective of utility characteristics. In the form of vinyl and SPC coverings, customers receive a touch-friendly, durable covering with a long lifespan and easy maintenance, thanks to current technologies, also recyclable and environmentally friendly.

Collections from the range of Kratochvíl parket profi that feature stone decors:

Kährs - vinyl and SPC collection Kährs Stone Design
WINEO - vinyls and SPC collections WINEO 400 STONE, WINEO 600 STONE XL, WINEO 800 STONE XL, WINEO 800 Tile XXL
WINEO Purline - eco-friendly coverings from collections Purline 1000, Purline 1200, Purline 1500
KPP - vinyl and SPC collection KPP BRICK DESIGN STONE
Arbiton - SPC collection Arbiton Amaron XXL Stone DESIGN
mFLOR - vinyl collections mFLOR Nuance and Fonteyn