After World War 2, American homeowners began covering up their floors with carpet, and having solely wooden floors became more of a status symbol for the rich. In the 1960s and 1970s, flooring manufacturers began to mass-produce thin parquet tiles, which were 8 to 12 inches square. Since the tiles only required thin hardwood veneers to make, they were very cheap, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of homes removing their carpeting in favor of parquet tiles once again. Gradually, parquet tiles became common all across the U.S., and people started to see it as an inexpensive copy of what was once an expensive status symbol. However, as new flooring materials such as plastic laminates, vinyl planks, and porcelain tiles came into fashion, hardwood parquet tiles fell out of favor once again.
Today, parquet flooring is seen not as a cheap knockoff version of a former status symbol of the elite, but as a tribute to the vintage era of the 60s and 70s. The quality of parquet flooring has also increased drastically, thanks to flooring manufacturers using solid wood instead of hardwood veneers, which means these floors can be sanded and refinished at least once. Thanks to the renewed popularity of mid-century modern styles – where parquet was once wildly popular – it is safe to say that parquet flooring has found its way back into the contemporary 21st century home.
