Engineered hardwood, plush carpeting, ceramic tile – no matter what your floors look like today, the chances are good that a quick trip in a time machine would reveal very different flooring choices. Flooring options haven’t always been so vast, nor have they been quite so gorgeous. Wondering what you might have had five thousand years ago? Take a walk back through time.

A Dirty Start

The very first floors would have been dirt. In fact, in some countries, floors remain dirt. Occasionally other things were mixed in, including hay, straw, and even cow dung. Things didn’t get much better during the Middle Ages, as household waste was simply thrown to the floor during the period, then trampled down. Eventually, people began to get tired of the smell, and they started to throw mint on the floor as well. Trampling it down help to spread the scent across the room.

Dirt floors didn’t have to be unattractive, though. Halfway across the world in India, they began to develop a well-known form of art called rangoli, essentially floor painting. They would create designs on a mud floor using rice powder and flower petals to help greet visitors and mark important occasions.

Stone and Tile

Wondering how we moved on from dirt to the type of flooring we have now? The Egyptians are responsible for many things in modern society, and flooring is little different. Once the Egyptians developed stone construction, stone and brick floors starting appearing everywhere. The Greeks adopted the technology, even creating beautiful pebble mosaics for the flooring. Much of Europe started to copy the technique. While the popularity of this type of floor went in cycles, it finally became standard in the mid-1800s.

Tile as we know it today properly began in 1843 with Herbert Minton. He created a unique tile making business that spread throughout the world.

Wood Floors

Wood finds its roots in the Middle Ages. Professional hardwood flooring installation was hardly necessary at this point. Instead, rough planks were thrown across the floor, sanded with stone. Eventually, stains were applied, and at some point, they even discovered how to create inlaid patterns by carving shapes out of different wood types.

Carpeting

Carpeting dates back further than other choices. Pazyryk is the oldest form of woven rugs, and they were discovered in Siberia. Other types of rug weaving, though, were used throughout the world as much as four thousand years ago. Even Marco Polo wrote about the gorgeous rugs and carpets he saw in China. Carpet flooring contractors would have found themselves completely out of work during the early days of these flooring choices, as rugs were simply thrown on top of wood, dirt, or even stone floors. In some cases, they were hung on the walls for added insulation.

Phases in the world of flooring have come and gone, and they’re certain to continue shifting with the passage of time.