It doesn’t seem so long ago that a fitted carpet was the sign that one had “arrived”. These days, of course, it says something quite different, ie, “not design-aware”. Speaking personally, as one who was landed with a perfectly sensible fitted carpet that it seemed criminal to dispose of right away, I always think that’s rather harsh. After all, one can be perfectly design-aware, but lack the means to ring the changes. That said, getting rid of our own fitted carpet (the one that was in situ when we bought the house), sanding down the old and characterful floorboards beneath it and painting them a greyish shade of white gave me more pleasure than any fancy new piece of furniture. And the room itself immediately looked lighter, fresher, younger – the interior design equivalent of a facelift.

So floors matter. The modish interior does not sport fitted carpets. It has marble, granite, old stone, wood – even rubber. Dalsouple (01278 727777; www.dalsouple.com), which makes almost indestructible rubber floors, is the name on many a designer’s lips. Polly Dickens, creative director of the Conran Shop, has a floor of bright orange rubber in one of her rooms, and most dazzling it looks, too. John Hitchcox, the developer behind the Yoo design and building company, has a bright bubblegum-pink floor from Bolidt (www.bolidt.com), a Dutch manufacturer that goes in for all manner of bespoke artificial-resin flooring. I once read of a New York restaurant owner who put hand-sanded acrylic mirror on his floor at a cost of just £4 per square foot. It came from Industrial Plastic Supply, New York (00 1 212 226 2010).

But for those who like the look of something older, more restful and aesthetically long-lasting, wood is the ideal choice. Unfortunately, finding the right sort isn’t easy. Too many wooden floors are spoiled by planks that are too thin or parquet that is too mean. As in most things, generosity is everything, particularly in large areas such as loft-style apartments and open-plan rooms. To the rescue comes Türgon (020-7751 0541; www.turgon.co.uk), a company that recognised early on that for the average punter it wasn’t easy to get hold of those big, fat, wide floorboards that give a room an air of grandeur and airiness as opposed to prissy narrow boards.

Take its Gothic Custom Finish flooring. This comes in huge planks, with widths that range from 140mm to 400mm. Much of the wood’s charm lies in the fact that it is “dark oiled” and hand-scraped, which gives it a splendidly muted and therefore “old” appearance. For a lighter, airier, more Scandinavian effect, something like its Slow Grown Ukrainian Oak might be more the thing. All the boards Türgon offers can be treated in a number of different ways so that almost any colour can be achieved, from a pale, almost limed effect to a dark “Russian” finish. Its brochure is well worth getting as it graphically shows just what a difference wide planks make to a floor, whether laid straight or in a herringbone or traditional parquet pattern. Most flooring companies offer planks up to a maximum of about 5m in length, but Türgon can do them in six, eight, ten or 12m and it even has 15m boards in Douglas Fir. It offers lots of different woods, though in practice most of its customers ask for oak. Boards are produced to order for each room – in other words, it offers a “couture” or bespoke service.

More choices can be viewed at Dinesen (www.dinesen-floors.com), a Danish company which started by specialising in flooring for restoration projects and now produces beautiful wooden flooring of every kind for ordinary domestic and commercial use. It sells planks long enough for almost any room measuring up to 15m, in widths of up to 450mm. If you want to see it laid out in all its glory, Dinesen is exhibiting at Townhouse DK 20, Egerton Garden Mews, London SW3, until the end of December. All you will need are some snazzy rugs.

Times recommends

• Interior design: It's time to end our craze for open-plan living
• How to make cool bedrooms for kids
• Inside Zaha Hadid's East London apartment