Partial floor - help!

[Writemove]

We moved into a 1930s house. When we viewed we pulled back the living room carpet and saw an amazing parquet floor.

But, now we've moved in we've discovered that the floor is only on the edges of the room.

It's so beautiful I don't want to cover it up.

I prefer hard floors to carpets (two dogs, one toddler)

Could I put a contrasting floor in he middle? If so what?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[wowfudge]

What is the flooring in the middle of the parquet and is it the same level?

[Writemove]

Thanks for the reply. At the moment it's a very tatty cream carpet that doesn't go to the edges of the room.
There is a dip in the middle which is filled with underlay and newspaper from the 1970s. It needs work!

[wowfudge]

I'm a carpet fan so that's what I'd put in.

You could go for tiles or luxury vinyl tiles (Amtico, Karndean, Polyflor, etc.) in the central part. The lvts have the advantage of being quiet underfoot, warm to the touch and easy to care for and keep clean.

Or you could look at matching the parquet or having contrasting parquet in the centre. It's not cheap, but you may be able to source some second hand from a salvage place or on eBay. Or even engineered wood could work - making the original parquet stand out.

[wowfudge]

I am thinking that the dip enables you to put in flooring which will then be at the same level as the parquet once done.

[littlem133]

We've just bought a 1960s renovation project and also found parquet under the carpet in the hall and living room but what we haven't done is pull the carpet all the way back to check it isn't just on the outside edge of the room-so thanks! We're knocking down the kitchen wall so need the parquet to flow in to the kitchen. I'm going to see about getting some second hand online -auction site or parquetparquet.com. Also I'll see if some flooring such as karndean matches at all.

[Writemove]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions.
I'd not thought about karndean.

The carpet would be nice in s show home but with the toddler and dogs it is too tricky. Maybe when he's moved out!

I'll check out those websites. Veering more towards a contrast. I just hope it looks ok!

I definitely don't want to lose the parquet.

I'm going to have a similar dilemma in the bathroom. Gorgeous 1930s tiles but it all needs ripping out. I'll be gutted to lose those.

[wowfudge]

Just re-read my posts and realise I never put in what I originally thought - a lot of the lvts have stone look tiles rather than the wood planks. I think a stone look tile could look stunning in the centre of your parquet and better perhaps than trying to match the existing wood.