Wooden floors are a smart and durable option for hallways that work well with most design styles. Hard-wearing and easy to clean they are great for high volumes of foot traffic and if maintained properly, can last decades. A dark wood will add warmth to a space while a lighter finish will create the illusion of lightness and openness. Parquet block wooden flooring is a classic choice which can be laid in a variety of patterns to suit any décor.
For a more contemporary style opt for an engineered hardwood with wider planks which will provide a more modern look to the space and can help to make it feel bigger. This is especially helpful in narrower hallways as it can help to draw the eye out of the space and help to widen it.
Laminate and vinyl are also popular choices for hallways as they offer a cost-effective, smart looking alternative to traditional wooden boards. Both these options are easy to maintain as long as they are cleaned regularly and re-treated every 5 years.
Unlike solid wood, laminate and vinyl are made from manmade materials so may be more sensitive to sunlight which can cause discolouration over time. Unlike carpets which can harbour dust and dirt, they are not suitable for underfloor heating as this could cause the tiles to crack and break.
Tiled walls are a practical choice for hallways, as they are both hard-wearing and easy to clean, although bear in mind that intricately patterned tiles may be more expensive than simpler ones. Ensure the tile is suitable for use with underfloor heating as this will protect the tiles from damage and prolong their lifespan.
If you do decide to go for a tiled wall, choose a matt or satin finish rather than a gloss as this will better reflect the light and help your hallways to look more spacious. Similarly, if you do opt for a glossy finish then consider adding some mirrors to your hallways as this will reflect the light back and brighten the space.
Another way to brighten up a hallway is to paint the walls a bold shade. Shades such as deep red or electric blue will create a dramatic impact and work particularly well in a smaller space such as a hallway. A monochromatic color scheme can be used to achieve a sophisticated and elegant look that will work with most design styles.
Another benefit of Parquet flooring is that it is a self-describing data format which means that the schema or structure of the data is embedded within the data itself. This allows it to leverage predicate pushdown and avoid scanning large portions of the data in the storage layer when querying. It can also take advantage of dictionary encoding, which replaces repetitive values with unique indexes to improve data compression and reduce disk I/O. Additionally, it can limit the number of row groups read by comparing them against encoded metadata values like minimum and maximum, reducing disk I/O again.