Choosing perfect flooring for the store

Solid wooden flooring provides a professional, stylish, and executive air to any home office, but it can often be scratched and marked by wheeled office chairs. However, this doesn't mean you need to lay down carpeting or vinyl – you just need to take the steps listed below.

1. Use a Mat

This is the easiest solution to your office chair problem, even though it might not be the most visually flattering. If you're low on time, just slide a mat underneath the chair to form a barrier between its wheels and the floor beneath. You can pick up a simple plastic mat to do the job, but these don't look too great. If this will be a long-term solution, try to find an attractive woven rug to use instead. Sisal is a good material to look out for, since it is tough and dense, yet thin enough to roll around on.  

2. Find the Right Wheels

Many office chairs come equipped with harder wheels designed for use across carpet; after all, the vast majority of modern offices are fitted with carpets instead of expensive wooden floors. These harder wheels can easily cause damage to your wooden flooring, so make sure you replace them. There are plenty of wheels available online that use a softer material ideal for use on wooden flooring, and it's usually pretty easy to swap out your chair's current wheels for these alternatives.

3. Keep Your Back to the Wall

You won't be able to cause as much damage to the floor below your office chair if you aren't moving around as much while seated. Unfortunately, it's often easy to get bored and start pushing yourself back and forth. To restrict those movements, try placing just one of the shorter sides of your desk against the wall, bringing a space between the other wall and the longest side. You can then sit with your back to the wall. This means you won't have as much room to move around; it also means that any marks that are made will be close to the wall instead of right at the room's centre, and therefore easier to hide with large pieces of furniture.  

4. Select the Right Wood

Solid wood flooring already has a substantial durability advantage over other options, but it's still wise to pick out a variety that will hold up well against damage. If you're smart enough to have started considering this problem before you've even laid your wooden flooring down, try looking for woods that hold up better under stress than others.

Hardwoods will always make a better option than softwoods; for example, Douglas Fir has one of the lowest relative strengths among woods. Teak, cherry, and walnut are all right at the top of the scale, with oak and maple falling somewhere in the middle.