Wooden flooring stands out the most on concrete

It may sound strange, but wood stands out the most on concrete. Therefore, in the new Prague showroom of Kratochvíl parket profi in Park Poděbradská in Vysočany, the flooring is not wooden coverings from the KPP offer (as in previous showrooms), but a concrete screed. "It was intentional. When you place a sample of wooden flooring on this gray floor, the wood stands out beautifully. You are not distracted by a wooden floor that would be underneath it, or around it, and you only see the selected wood as it will really look," explains Petr Kratochvíl, founder of Kratochvíl parket profi.

The floor is typically a dominant feature in every interior, and as Swedish designer Maria Kingsley says: "The impression of a floor is created by the combination of what your eyes see and how your feet feel." The new KPP showroom in Park Poděbradská, located in the newly built interior design center in Prague's Vysočany, takes both aspects into account. In addition to traditional wooden floors (Kährs, KPP), laminate and vinyl coverings (Kährs, Wineo, 1Floor, mFLOR, KPP...), and ecological bio-floors (Wineo Purline), KPP also presents a new generation of mineral SPC (Stone Polymer Composite) flooring from Arbiton and Kährs, as well as, for the first time in the company's history, carpets in rolls and tiles from the Belgian brand Balta. More than a thousand samples of various coverings are displayed over an area of 250 meters.

A meeting room built by a carpenter from Kährs Dub Safari flooring

The new concept does not diminish the space dedicated specifically to the largest European manufacturer of wooden floors, the oldest Swedish brand Kährs (founded in 1857). In the spirit of current trends, floors occupy other positions as well - for example, on walls, tables, bar counters, or carpenters crafted shelves from them. An example of the new application of coverings that help create a design-harmonious interior (without the need to painstakingly match the floor with furniture from another manufacturer) is the meeting room in the new KPP showroom. Its walls rose in the middle of the space from three-layer Kährs Dub Safari flooring, and the meeting box exemplifies the versatility of Kährs flooring and the precise carpentry skills of the partner company KPP. It also serves as inspiration for customers about what is possible today.

In the kpponline.cz app, customers see flooring in their own interior; they can touch it in the showroom

The visual aspect is just one of the forms in which the exhibit affects customers' senses; another is the ability to feel different surface finishes. "We have recently launched the kpponline.cz app, which allows our customers to select any floor from our range and visualize it in their own interior, which they photograph and upload to the app. Ideally, they then come to the showroom with pre-selected decors and here they find out how they perceive a specific surface finish with another sense," explains Petr Kratochvíl, continuing: "There are many surfaces and types of wood finishes; we selected the 12 most important ones, from satin lacquer to oil, hand-brushed surfaces, cut structures, there’s also a sample of 'V' grooves and micro grooves, just everything essential so that customers can see what the individual terms mean and can also feel the surfaces."

To get an idea of how the flooring will look in a space, sorting is also important, such as what the knottiness and grain of the wood will be, whether the final impression of the floor will be clean or, on the contrary, rustic. Therefore, KPP also considers this parameter and again explains it to people using large formats. These are displayed in real size, from several centimeter strips to 6-meter boards, from single strip to three-strip, including examples of locking connections and tongue-and-groove joints to illustrate how floating flooring is laid or how the covering is fully glued.

KPP flooring in the company of other interior furnishings

The new showroom of Kratochvíl parket profi, which you can also explore virtually, will be surrounded by other manufacturers and sellers of interior furnishings in Park Poděbradská, from bathroom studios to kitchens and sofas, even coffee machines. Visitors will find everything needed for home furnishing in one place. Moreover, it is ideally accessible by public transport or car, as there is ample parking for customers. This is also one of the advantages of the new KPP showroom, which has moved to Prague's Vysočany from the outskirts of Čestlice.

The KPP showroom will also feature a boutique with branded sportswear from KPP and a stylish bar with refreshments.