Home front: Inspirational flooring; Living in style Shag piles are out and hard floors are in as living surfaces get a make-over.(Features)

Byline: Jo Manning

THE days of shag pile and nylon floor tiles are well and truly over as slate, tile and wooden floor coverings become the chic option in modern UK homes.

Over the last five years, our craving for hard floor coverings over the traditional carpet has risen massively, the demand for wooden floors in particular increasing by a massive 171 per cent.

Interior designer Lindsay Woolley says that hard floors have become a popular choice across Britain because people have been inspired by television makeover programmes and lifestyle magazines which have ignited a new passion amongst home owners and introduced a more continental style to …