What’s New in Flooring for 2023
See the trends in luxury vinyl, hardwood, and faux wood and stone flooring products debuting this year
Smooth surfaces, raw wood tones, and wide planks dominated the natural hardwood and faux wood flooring on display at The International Surface Event trade show, held recently in Las Vegas. The makers of luxury vinyl, porcelain, and laminates continue to improve technology to create realistic wood and stone looks, with clean, Scandi-looking, smooth-surfaced light wood taking front and center. The driftwood gray that was once dominant is now being enriched with browns and taupes with gray undertones. “Things have warmed up a bit and that was really a pandemic trend that’s still going on — that people are looking for warmth,” Julie Thomas of Karndean Designflooring says. “Everyone’s still spending a lot of time at home, and you want to feel warm and have that be a reflection of yourself.”
Along with the fresh colors and looks, companies are touting new flooring performance features, with numerous rigid core products offering more stability through stone polymer composite (SPC) cores. Beefy 20 mil (0.5-millimeter) top-most wear layers are becoming the norm, resulting in tiles and planks that can stand up to heavy use. Here are some of the flooring highlights from the Surfaces event, as the trade show for the tile, stone, and floor coverings industries is known. The new collections will be rolling out throughout 2023.
Along with the fresh colors and looks, companies are touting new flooring performance features, with numerous rigid core products offering more stability through stone polymer composite (SPC) cores. Beefy 20 mil (0.5-millimeter) top-most wear layers are becoming the norm, resulting in tiles and planks that can stand up to heavy use. Here are some of the flooring highlights from the Surfaces event, as the trade show for the tile, stone, and floor coverings industries is known. The new collections will be rolling out throughout 2023.
“What we started to notice as people were in the pandemic and now coming out of the pandemic is steering away from those grays and those really cold modern looks and going for more warm, natural modern looks,” says Heather Knutson of Cali, a California-based flooring company with a variety of coastal-inspired offerings. The gray-tinged color seen here is called Long Shore Pine, from Cali’s new Windansea collection of luxury vinyl planks.
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Here’s a sample of Barnard, from Johnson Hardwood’s Grand Chateau series of European oak engineered hardwood, similar to the company’s new Cellar House LVT line. Barnard is the most popular color in the series, according to Dana Coelho of Johnson Hardwood.
The displays from Inhaus demonstrated the shift toward more natural-looking wood. “We’re seeing lighter tones, more natural, with less variation and fewer knots. These are cleaner lines with those lighter tones getting away from really dark colors. Gray seems to be fading away now,” Chip Hamilton of Inhaus says. The company’s Sono Eclipse collection includes stone-look tiles and faux wood planks. They’re PVC-free with a rigid core made of polypropylene and ceramic dust, a patented material the company calls Ceramin.
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35 Home Design Trends on the Rise in 2023
Here’s the Sono Eclipse faux wood flooring in Trimble White Oak.
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Not sure where to start on your home project? Learn the basics
This sample from Emser Tile’s new Boxwood collection of wood-look ceramic tile is in a color called Wando, an example of the line’s trending Nordic-style color palette.
Here’s another look at Emser’s new Boxwood faux wood ceramic floor tile in Wando. The collection includes 7-by-22-inch planks in three subtle colors.
Provenza Floors’ Modern Rustic hardwood is shown here in colors ranging from grays to dark browns. For its luxury vinyl planks and hardwood, natural-looking neutrals are most popular right now, the company’s Larry Purcell says. “If something has a little gray to it, it has a brown undertone, but we’re also seeing a lot of medium brown and darker browns, a lot of requests for that coming back,” he says.
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5 Home Design Trends on the Horizon in 2023
A new color called Nest Egg is part of Provenza’s New Wave luxury vinyl plank collection.
Here are more samples from Provenza’s New Wave collection, with a new off-gray color called Daring Doe in front. The 9-by-70-inch planks have a 12-pattern repeat every 12 planks, which creates a realistic hardwood visual, Purcell says. For faux wood vinyl and laminate flooring, the wood pattern from the original wood image is repeated every couple of planks, so more patterns means fewer repeats, resulting in a more true-to-life look.
Lamdura is Inhaus’ laminate in three collections, including Landmark, shown here in the Norwood style, an almost whitewashed look that highlights the grain.
Here’s a closer look at Norwood from Inhaus’ Landmark collection of Lamdura laminate planks. Hues range from light to dark and feature prominent graining.
Karndean Designflooring’s rigid core luxury vinyl planks in the company’s new Knight Tile collection illustrate the shift to subtle hues. “We’ve introduced a lot of the new lighter tones and even midtone warms that really honestly look like an untouched prime wood,” Thomas says. “We’ve been seeing a lot of those lighter tones that are really popular in residences.” Knight Tile is available in faux wood 6-by-36-inch planks and 12-by-18-inch stone-look tiles in both glue-down and rigid core formats.
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What to Know About Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Karndean will be adding nine new colors this year to its wood-look Van Gogh collection of 7-by-48-inch rigid core and glue-down vinyl planks, Thomas says. The top plank on the left in this photo is Natural School Cedar, which Thomas says is based on boards from an old schoolhouse in San Diego. “Our product team, who travels the world, found these planks from a reclaimed schoolhouse, and you can actually see all the character and even the tar marks that were on the original floors,” Thomas says.
Here’s a close look at Vintage Pine from Karndean’s Van Gogh collection of rigid core and glue-down vinyl planks. Its mid-brown with gray undertones have a weathered feel and a rustic look.
Uberwood is a new collection for Inhaus, made up of natural-toned faux wood planks that are a PVC-free hybrid, which the company says is its entry into the “eco-resilient” flooring category. Planks of old-growth timber were scanned for a raw, realistic look. “This is going to be a hybrid product, so you get the performance of laminate but technically it’s a wood floor. It’s 100% waterproof,” Hamilton says.
2. Subtle and Smooth
Another look that dominated among the natural hardwood and faux wood products at the show was a smooth matte surface with subtle graining. Many of the products had few knots or were knot-free, with understated finishes as opposed to heavily hand-scraped or distressed surfaces. Johnson Hardwood’s Grand Chateau series of European oak engineered hardwood, seen here again in the Barnard color, is one example of the clean look.
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Another look that dominated among the natural hardwood and faux wood products at the show was a smooth matte surface with subtle graining. Many of the products had few knots or were knot-free, with understated finishes as opposed to heavily hand-scraped or distressed surfaces. Johnson Hardwood’s Grand Chateau series of European oak engineered hardwood, seen here again in the Barnard color, is one example of the clean look.
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Johnson Hardwood’s Grand Chateau in Barnard “is very clean-looking,” Coelho says. “This is a line that’s been doing very well for us the last few years.”
Although lighter-hued wood is seeing a big uptick, there’s still a lot of interest in the earthy look of rustic wood, complete with saw marks, knots and lots of graining, as evident in this engineered oak from the new Whiskey & Wine collection from Cali.
Additional qualities that give faux wood flooring a clean look are a lack of beveling on the edges where planks meet, and minimal or no grout between the planks.
Many on display at the Surfaces show had micro bevels and pressed beveling where the space between planks is almost invisible. Cali’s new Windansea luxury vinyl planks shown here in Afterglow Oak have that smooth look.
“More people are liking this natural-looking wood. If you look at real or engineered wood you’ll see a really fine bevel, so that’s what we’re trying to replicate, a real nice wood look and everything is really matte, nothing is shiny, just a real natural matte-looking floor.” Knutson says.
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Many on display at the Surfaces show had micro bevels and pressed beveling where the space between planks is almost invisible. Cali’s new Windansea luxury vinyl planks shown here in Afterglow Oak have that smooth look.
“More people are liking this natural-looking wood. If you look at real or engineered wood you’ll see a really fine bevel, so that’s what we’re trying to replicate, a real nice wood look and everything is really matte, nothing is shiny, just a real natural matte-looking floor.” Knutson says.
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“You’ll see a lot of our new colors are focusing around warm, natural and clean looks, not a lot of patterns with color variations,” Knutson says. “We’re trying to give people more neutral, just clean [looks]. You still want some character, so we’re doing a mix of grades, not all A-grade, [because] then you have no character, no knots and it’s kind of boring.”
Lumber grade refers to the amount of graining and knots in the wood; A-grade wood has less grain and fewer knots and splits. Luxury vinyl mimics those characteristics in the plank’s photographic layer when it’s created. Shown here are offerings from Cali’s new Windansea collection of luxury vinyl planks.
Lumber grade refers to the amount of graining and knots in the wood; A-grade wood has less grain and fewer knots and splits. Luxury vinyl mimics those characteristics in the plank’s photographic layer when it’s created. Shown here are offerings from Cali’s new Windansea collection of luxury vinyl planks.
Cali’s Windansea planks are 48 inches long, and the company will be selling longer planks later this year. Shown here is Natural Elm from Windansea.
Johnson Hardwood’s new Cellar House series of rigid core vinyl planks has no knots, little variation and no graining for a clean, modern look. All the colors in the series are named for grape varieties; shown here is Nebbiolo.
3. Stone Looks Keep on Rolling
Similar to the trend in decorative tile, imitation stone flooring has been surging in popularity. Many of the displays at the Surfaces show featured stone looks made of porcelain, vinyl and laminate that mimic concrete, marble, slate, limestone and terrazzo, with the latter seemingly the surface of the moment.
The terrazzo-look tile shown here is from Daltile’s new Outlander collection, a more free-form, contemporary take on the midcentury look. On the right of the patio floor and the bottom half of the shower and wall is the Grande design in the Marine color; on the top half of the shower and wall is Palazzo in Marine. All the tiles shown are in a matte finish and measure 24 by 24 inches.
Similar to the trend in decorative tile, imitation stone flooring has been surging in popularity. Many of the displays at the Surfaces show featured stone looks made of porcelain, vinyl and laminate that mimic concrete, marble, slate, limestone and terrazzo, with the latter seemingly the surface of the moment.
The terrazzo-look tile shown here is from Daltile’s new Outlander collection, a more free-form, contemporary take on the midcentury look. On the right of the patio floor and the bottom half of the shower and wall is the Grande design in the Marine color; on the top half of the shower and wall is Palazzo in Marine. All the tiles shown are in a matte finish and measure 24 by 24 inches.
Here’s a closer look at Daltile’s new Outlander tile in the Grande design and Marine color. The collection’s three designs come in three sizes of floor tile.
Also from Daltile’s new Outlander collection: the Palazzo design in Onyx in 12 by 24 inches and the Grande terrazzo design in Onyx in 24 by 24 inches.
Marble and quartzite looks with dramatic veining are increasingly popular for porcelain floor tile, especially in large sizes. The porcelain tile here is from American Olean’s new Foyer collection, in the Steely color with a matte finish, measuring 12 by 24 inches.
Foyer was created in celebration of American Olean’s 100th anniversary and is evidence of how far tile technology has come, says Michelle Corley of Daltile, a sister company of American Olean. “They took high-end quartzite from Brazil and scanned it and then made some enhancements,” she says. “This exemplifies the kind of technology we can do in tile that can emulate a material.”
Foyer was created in celebration of American Olean’s 100th anniversary and is evidence of how far tile technology has come, says Michelle Corley of Daltile, a sister company of American Olean. “They took high-end quartzite from Brazil and scanned it and then made some enhancements,” she says. “This exemplifies the kind of technology we can do in tile that can emulate a material.”
Some of the imitation stone products were strikingly realistic, illustrating the improved technology that enables copying the real thing.
“We’re excited about this, getting away from some of the boring stone visuals you see,” Knutson says of Shorebreak, Cali’s new laminate line, seen here and available in 12-by-24-inch tiles. “There are a lot of interesting stone patterns. There’s a lot of variety in every box, so you’re not going to have a lot of repeats.”
“We’re excited about this, getting away from some of the boring stone visuals you see,” Knutson says of Shorebreak, Cali’s new laminate line, seen here and available in 12-by-24-inch tiles. “There are a lot of interesting stone patterns. There’s a lot of variety in every box, so you’re not going to have a lot of repeats.”
Here’s a closer look at Cali’s Shorebreak imitation stone laminate in Seal Rock Marble.
Here’s how Cali’s Seal Rock Marble in its new Shorebreak laminate collection looks on the floor.
These stone-look tiles from XL Flooring were also on display at Surfaces. The luxury vinyl comes in eight colors that mimic various stones, and they measure 12 by 24 inches with a 12 mil wear layer.
4. Supersized
Wider hardwood and faux wood planks and larger-format tiles — the bigger-is-better trend was in full force at the show. These products require fewer pieces for installation and have minimal visible grout lines, and many homeowners and designers are turning to them for an uninterrupted look, especially in open floor plans and as a way to make a room feel more spacious. Seen here is Arizona Tile’s new limestone-look Borgo porcelain tile in the Bronzo color, measuring 24 by 48 inches.
Wider hardwood and faux wood planks and larger-format tiles — the bigger-is-better trend was in full force at the show. These products require fewer pieces for installation and have minimal visible grout lines, and many homeowners and designers are turning to them for an uninterrupted look, especially in open floor plans and as a way to make a room feel more spacious. Seen here is Arizona Tile’s new limestone-look Borgo porcelain tile in the Bronzo color, measuring 24 by 48 inches.
The Tresor collection of European white oak from Provenza has planks that are 9½ inches wide and up to 90 inches long. The collection has five new colors and is lightly wire-brushed for a clean look. “It has nice wide planks, and that’s doing very well for us,” Purcell says.
Savoir, Marazzi’s new decadent take on marble, features strong veining and is available in four colors. The porcelain tiles come in a polished or matte finish and three sizes, including an extra-large 24 by 48 inches. Shown here is the Bleu color in 24 by 24 inches.
The name says it all: XL Flooring’s XXL Large Plank luxury vinyl measures in at 9 by 60 inches.
Cali is adding three new colors to the extra-wide engineered European oak hardwood planks in its Meritage collection, including Barbera, shown here. At 9½ by 86 inches, they’re the longest, widest planks Cali offers.
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Daltile’s new marble-look porcelain tile Ravel comes in 32 by 32 inches. Here, it’s in the Lace color in a matte finish on the floor and in Lace in a polished finish on the back wall.
Here’s a closer look at Daltile’s new Ravel tile, in the Opal color. The slip-resistant tiles come in four colors, with a polished or matte finish.
Daltile’s new large-format porcelain tile collection called Synchronic features concrete-look matte-finish tiles in five minimalist colors and three sizes. The floor tiles seen here are the 18-by-36-inch in Beige.
5. Patterns Galore
For those looking to break away from neutrals — and perhaps in response to several years of restraint when it comes to home design — there were plenty of eye-catching floor patterns at Surfaces. In the wood and faux wood category, chevron and herringbone layouts were part of many companies’ displays, as were checkerboard and geometric patterns in the tile offerings.
Daltile showed a patterned porcelain tile called Human, seen here in the Octagon pattern — a fun look that emulates drawing with a felt-tip pen. “It’s about breaking free from the pandemic, feeling expressive and not taking yourself too seriously,” Corley says. The Human tiles are part of Daltile’s STARE special-order program; they measure 24 inches square and are available in nine black-and-white patterns.
For those looking to break away from neutrals — and perhaps in response to several years of restraint when it comes to home design — there were plenty of eye-catching floor patterns at Surfaces. In the wood and faux wood category, chevron and herringbone layouts were part of many companies’ displays, as were checkerboard and geometric patterns in the tile offerings.
Daltile showed a patterned porcelain tile called Human, seen here in the Octagon pattern — a fun look that emulates drawing with a felt-tip pen. “It’s about breaking free from the pandemic, feeling expressive and not taking yourself too seriously,” Corley says. The Human tiles are part of Daltile’s STARE special-order program; they measure 24 inches square and are available in nine black-and-white patterns.
Torlys displayed its herringbone-pattern EverWood Twist vinyl planks, available in four colors.
This striking black-and-white tile is Clifton, a 9-by-9-inch vinyl, in the Heritage collection from Karndean’s Opus line. Along with other patterned tiles measuring 12 by 12 inches, Opus also includes wood and stone looks in varying sizes. “Clifton has really taken inspiration from English homes and it gives you the contrast you see here,” Thomas says. “This is my absolute favorite. I’ve seen it in bathrooms and I’ve seen people trim it out almost like a faux runner. Just like any of our products, the options are endless as far as what you can do as an installation.”
Here, Karndean paired the patterned San Marco tile with solids Indigo and Black Iron from its Opus collection of vinyl tiles. The company says the tile taps into the Renaissance, “inspired by the bustling environment of Venetian piazzas, full of people, pigeons and activity.”
Salute Grigio, a new terrazzo-inspired patterned tile from Karndean’s Opus line, is paired here with solid-colored Yellow Ochre, also from Opus. The vinyl tile’s textured surface was formed by fusing hundreds of cloth strands.
Karndean’s blonde and honey-toned Pale Limed Oak luxury vinyl Knight Tile in a herringbone pattern creates dimension in this room. Two of the Knight Tile collection’s wood designs are also available in 9-by-48-inch planks for quicker installation or can be used with the collection’s corresponding 6-by-36-inch planks.
All photos belong to Julie Sheer
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All photos belong to Julie Sheer
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Natural wood and wood-look flooring continued to dominate at the Surfaces event, with a notable shift from cool whitewashed grays to sunny blondes, taupes and other warm tones. Seen here is Johnson Hardwood’s new Cellar House flooring, in the Barbera tone. The new series features rigid core luxury vinyl with an SPC (stone polymer composite) core.
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