The home story of Karen & Guillaume

Karen and Guillaume have been living in the same house for 18 years. Last summer, after much thought, dreaming and planning, it finally happened: their long-awaited extension became a reality! Step into their modern, light-filled home where living room and kitchen flow into each other, thanks to Parquetvinyl.

The couple has been living here since 2003. Karen: “Quite a while when you think about it. We love this house, and we love living here, but it often felt too small after the birth of our son Bavo.” The couple has thought long about moving, but could never make the final step. “Guillaume and Bavo live just a bike ride away from work and school, the train station is nearby... The easy accessibility is a luxury”.

The house was renovated in two phases. The basics were tackled more than ten years ago, and now the couple was looking for something on a larger scale. The ultimate dream? A timber frame extension with large windows that blurred the border between indoors and outdoors. They wanted it to have a modern kitchen with island, spacious enough for the whole family, and a warm, low-maintenance floor.

That floor finally became a Parquetvinyl one. After living ten years in a tiled home, they had had enough of cold floor tiles. A wooden floor on the other hand would be too high-maintenance. Once they discovered Parquetvinyl in 'het Westvlaams Tegelhuis' the choice was soon made. “The beauty of wood, the convenience of vinyl. It seemed almost too good to be true. But now that the floor is installed, we can only say that it really IS true. The floor is lovely to look at, yet so easy to maintain.”

Karen turned out to be not only site manager, but also took on some of the work herself. Including the installation of Parquetvinyl. Karen: “We had to get used to the click-system at first, but it goes really smoothly once you know how it works.” Because the underlay is already integrated, the installation goes very smooth. The job was finished in just a matter of two days.

Fun fact: the Parquetvinyl was installed perfectly on the existing tiled floor and new screed. Just about all undergrounds are suitable for Parquetvinyl, as long as they are level. The surface looks even bigger by extending the Parquetvinyl from the living room through to the kitchen. Karen: “Installing the floor from the windows first seemed to be the easiest approach. We finished the edges with undercoated skirting boards, and flexible silicon sealant where the skirtings didn’t fit.

Karen and Guillaume liked to eat out before, but now they prefer to receive guests in their own home. The open kitchen enhances entertaining. Guests are often amazed to hear that the kitchen floor is not real wood. Karen: “I have often said that Parquetvinyl is the ideal kitchen floor. If you spill something, it's cleaned up in an instant!”

Karen and Guillaume chose for a natural look with lots of wood texture that contrasted nicely with the white kitchen and tight furniture. Despite the minimalist interior style, the house feels warm and welcoming. Karen: “We describe our style as warm minimalism. The warmth is created by the terracotta colours, but also thanks to Parquetvinyl.”

Next job on the list: the garden. "We begin in March, so hopefully we can enjoy some colourful flowers in the summer." Once again a long-haul job, but if they do something, they do it well!

Thanks for the hospitality, Karen & Guillaume!