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The Great Outdoors

Wednesday, March 11, 2026 from Floor Covering Weekly

Making the home a sanctuary
By Delfine Kernizan

Fitness, screen-time boundaries, clean eating, mindfulness and more — today’s consumer is prioritizing wellness and seeking a deeper connection to nature across all aspects of life. In the home building, buying and renovation processes, biophilia has emerged as the design world’s response to this innate human need, integrating natural elements and patterns, and restorative aesthetics, known to lower heart rate, improve focus and increase creativity. They can also help reduce stress and support healing. The flooring industry has embraced this shift, setting a new standard of manufacturing that promotes wellness while remaining trend-forward. This new approach to flooring not only addresses sustainability concerns, but harnesses nature’s influence to transform interior spaces into sanctuaries.

“In homes, biophilic design helps create calm environments where people can feel restored,” said CALI CEO Doug Jackson. “All this is driving demand for natural materials and authentic wood visuals in flooring.” CALI’s newest floors feature organic textures, natural variation and minimally processed materials. “Our collections show how modern materials and production techniques can celebrate natural design while ensuring lasting performance for today’s homes,” added Jackson.

Using textures, colors and patterns that reflect natural elements, such as wood grain, stone textures or organic shapes, can create visually soothing environments, a concept central to biophilic design. “We explore innovative ways to incorporate the patterns, textures and colors found in nature into our carpets, evoking the essence of outdoor environments and enhancing the connection to the natural world,” shared Malisa Maynard, chief sustainability officer, Mohawk.

For HMTX, biophilic design establishes a “new framework for satisfying the human need to experience the serenity of nature in the built environment.” Natalia Smith, senior director, commercial design, HTMX stated, “An evergreen force in design, biophilia brings designs, patterns and colorways that evoke the natural world into the home with new vigor. Data empirically shows that nature does heal, and so people are intuitively noticing that when they

CALI’s hardwood invites an indoor-outdoor lifestyle while incorporating nature’s original color and character, with unstained planks of ash, acacia, maple and hickory that bring the outdoors directly into the home.
WOW Design’s latest proposal reimagines ceramics with styles like Sabil, shifting the narrative to a surface capable of defining interior spaces.
With styles like Oxford Manor that mimic the look of natural wood, Mohawk’s SolidTech R Plus collection offers the same premium design as its Debut and Select lines, with increased thickness for superior durability.
Daltile’s latest tile offerings include technology that produces high levels of realism, emulating wood, marble, stone and other natural materials.
Shaw Contract’s ROAM Tropical Retreat collection features tile, broadloom and rugs that can be layered throughout a space to foster creativity and reflection.
Metroflor, an HMTX brand, offers WPC styles in a range that mimics both the warm tones of natural wood and the light, airy feel of the outdoors.