Engineered timber was a no-brainer for Bonnie, Lana and Sophie when they chose the flooring for their family homes. It’s hardwearing, soft underfoot, looks fabulous and has all the benefits of real timber because it basically IS real timber … it’s just made up of layers. Think of it like a sandwich: the top piece of bread is what you see. It’s about 6 mm of hardwood timber, like a European or American Oak. The middle of the sandwich is packed with goodness – either a softwood like Poplar or a man-made core. This makes the whole sandwich super strong and stable.

We choose Woodcut engineered timber flooring because of the great quality product, amazing showroom which helps us to select just the right boards for each home and they have an extensive range of colours, widths and patterns which let us up our floorboard game. Check out these 4 ways we used Woodcut to make some spaces extra spesh…

1) MAKE AN ENTRANCE

At Bon’s #moderncoastalbarn we used Woodcut’s chevron parquetry boards in the entranceway to create a pattern that really makes a feature of the foyer and defines the entry to the home. The chevron boards are shorter and not as wide but they’re the same colour, White Oiled, as the big, beautiful, wide boards throughout the rest of the house.

2) BRING SOME BLING TO YOUR FLOORS

Engineered timber is great for high-tread areas of the home, making it a great option for stairs. We run the same board up our stairs to create a seamless flow from bottom to top. At Sophie’s place, our #hinterlandhideaway, we carried the gorgeous Woodcut Voss up the staircase and the pièce de résistance is the brass nosing along the width of each tread to bring some bling to these stairs.

We added the same brass strips in all the places the floorboards meet tiles too because it’s the little details that make a home feel super spesh.

3) MAKE HERRINGBONe THE HERO

If you lurve the herringbone look, why not make it the hero in your home? At House 13, our #AustralianStaycation, we used the full-size Woodcut planks, rather than smaller parquetry boards, to create a herringbone lay throughout the entire kitchen. It’s like herringbone on steroids and we’re digging it!

Where the herringbone meets the straight lay boards, also in Sea Salt, we used brass beading as a beautiful detail along the join line.

4) JAZZ up a SPECIAL SPACE

You’ve guessed by now that we think herringbone is hot… but it’s also more expensive to purchase and takes more time to lay than traditional boards, so we usually save it for special areas. Not many wardrobes would usually fall into the ‘special areas’ category, but Sophie’s wardrobe at House 10 certainly does, making it herringbone-worthy.

These are the smaller Woodcut chevron parquetry boards in the colour Voss.

Have you thought about how to up the flooring game in your home reno or build? Flooring is a major decision because it covers a big area, you walk on it every day and it usually absorbs a big chunk of your budget. It’s the first element we choose when designing a room (and house) – so everything else builds from there. Flooring is literally the base of the space which sets the tone for the rest of the interior design decisions ... no pressure!

In Reno School, our 6-week online course, we’ll talk you through the pros and cons of engineered timber, as well as bamboo, carpet, tiles, vinyl, laminate, solid timber and polished concrete to help you make this important decision.