Inspirational Floor Ideas

When I founded Graphic Image Flooring in 2013 it was with one primary mission in mind. To introduce the world to an incredible new way to design your own flooring using a material that has actually been used for more than 150 years. Yep you read that right! With modern technology we are able to provide a considerably more durable and vibrant version of the flooring. Gone are the cheap fillers and increased is the most important aspect, the wear layer. 

Today's polyvinyl is not only more durable but it is brighter allowing us to provide you with a much more vibrant color result. This area is dedicated to INSPIRATION. All of these images are Photoshop and not actual projects. The rest of our site contains countless actual projects. 

It is our hope that these images help inspire you do create a floor that is unique, one of a kind and inspiring for your space. 

Thanks you,

Tim Wirtz

Founder, CEO

History of Linoleum Flooring

Linoleum was invented in 1860 by Frederick Walton and was intended for use first as a ship deck covering (battleship linoleum up to 1/2" thick). Earlier, in the 1700s, non-woven floor coverings were made of oil cloth - heavy canvas coated with wax or oils (for water resistance and durability) that were then painted.

Linoleum, commonly abbreviated to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing. Pigments are often added to the materials to create the desired colour finish. High-quality linoleum is flexible and thus can be used in buildings where a more rigid material (such as ceramic tile) would crack.

Between the time of its invention in 1860 and its being largely superseded by other hard floor coverings in the 1950s, linoleum was considered to be an excellent, inexpensive material for high-use areas. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was favoured in hallways and passages, and as a surround for carpet squares. However, most people associate linoleum with its common twentieth century use on kitchen floors. Its water resistance enabled easy maintenance of sanitary conditions and its resilience made standing easier and reduced breakage of dropped china.

Linoleum has largely been replaced as a floor covering by polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is often colloquially but incorrectly called linoleum or lino. PVC has similar flexibility and durability to linoleum, but also has greater brightness and translucency, and is relatively less flammable.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleum

More Info: https://wfca.org/page/vinyl-flooring