There is hardly anyone who wouldn’t enjoy a beautiful and eye-catching parquet wood flooring. There is something really special and one-of-a-kind in the combination of the natural wood’s pattern and the man-made and designed pattern of the floor that adds that extra hint of spiciness and uniqueness to any space, were installed. Of course, parquet is not anyone’s cup of tea and it is not going to fit absolutely any space, because it could be a bit too overwhelming, when not matched properly to the existing interior design as well as to the size of the room, where the installation is planned. But when assorted properly, parquet will add a lot of styles, taste elegance and the thrilling charm of the classic and nostalgic old world. So, if you are trying to make a statement, parquet flooring would be the focal point of the space, a perfect choice, indeed.
Most of us enjoy the parquet patterns and we often associate them with previous decades and old, but gold interior design styles. In fact, so old that people still live in castles, where the concept of parquet flooring originates from. However, we rarely ask ourselves how the parquet happened to appear and why it has been on the top of the flooring trends and styles for so many decades already. Today we will try to answer these questions by having a brief peek at the parquet’s history.
The home country of parquet is France. No surprise right here, since France often gives the start of many sustainable trends and designs! So, back in the days, or during the late 1600s, to be exact, earth and concrete used to be the most common flooring options in the homes of the commoners, while only rich people and the royalties in the Versailles had the chance to enjoy beautiful marble floors. Parquet has been introduced exactly in the Versailles first. It was made by hand-cut small pieces of various coloured hardwoods into geometric shapes like triangles, squares and rhombuses. Parquet floors used to be a good alternative to marble back in the day because people didn’t know much about proper maintenance and the joists beneath the marble surface often got ruined because of the regular and extensive usage of water.
On the other hand, the hand-cut parquet pieces were really interesting, exciting and beautiful in their artistic compositions and patterns fitted over the concrete subfloor and then sanded and polished to perfection. Only artisans with great skills were able to fit and achieve the distinctive look of parquet that was often ruined soon after by inappropriate maintenance and replaced over and over again. As you can imagine – a very expensive luxury that only the wealthy people would be able to afford.
Parquet remained popular until the 1930s when the carpet was introduced as a beautiful, practical and inexpensive alternative that led to the quick downfall of wood as an option. But this was only for a few decades because parquet quickly made its fabulous comeback in the 1980s and 90s. We guess that it doesn’t take too much for people to realise that there is nothing to beat the beauty of parquet wood flooring! Parquet is now more popular than ever. It adds so much style, warmth and cosiness to modern homes as well as rustic ones. Its artistic beauty is here to stay for a long, long time, so if you have ever hesitated whether to choose it over the other options on the market… we guess that the right decision is obvious!
