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 FLOORING
Hardwood Floors · Carpeting · Laminates
There are many factors to consider when selecting floor coverings for your home. Most important, consider a room's function and usage. Your family room will probably see a lot more use than the guest bedroom. Take into consideration the members of your household.
The white rug you saw in that elegant designer's showcase house may work well in a home with adults only, but throw a few children or dogs into the mix, and you may want to revise your decorating scheme!
Think about how much time you are willing to spend maintaining your floors. The maintenance requirements for a hardwood floor, for example, are very different from those of a laminate floor. Decide how much prominence you want to give your floors. Many people want their floors to be a focal point of the room, while others prefer them to serve as a subtle backdrop.
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 HARDWOOD FLOORS Wood is gaining in popularity, as people strive to bring the beauty of nature inside their homes. Wood entryways and family rooms add tremendous drama and openness to a home. Add a dramatic area rug as an accent, and you have a classic, but timeless look.
Hardwood floors come in many different kinds of woods, including oak, maple, cherry and even bamboo.
Hardwood floors come prefinished as shown here or you can buy the material unfinished and have it sanded and finished afterwards.
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CARPETING Carpet can make bold statements, is a natural insulator, provides a feeling of warmth, and reduces a home's noise level. It is soft underfoot, providing a comfortable walking surface and reducing fatigue. It's easy to maintain. Vacuum a few times weekly, and deep clean every year or so.
Consider how much use the carpeted areas of your home will receive. Get the best carpet you can afford in high traffic areas such as hallways, family room or den. Save a little money by buying less expensive carpet in an area that's seldom used. Keep in mind that darker colors hide soil better than lighter ones. Patterned carpets are excellent at hiding soil.
 Cut-pile carpets create a luxurious look and feel. A velvet cut pile is smooth and ultraplush. It will show footprints and vacuum marks, while a textured saxony cut pile will show these marks less. Loop-pile carpets tend to be very durable and withstand heavy traffic. Multi-level loops and the very popular berbers offer exciting design alternatives to cut piles.
Most carpets are made of nylon, because it wears well, resists stains, and comes in brilliant colors. Berbers are primarily produced in olefin, another synthetic yarn. Wool is a natural fiber that produces a beautiful carpet that is fire-resistant and static-free. It is much more expensive than synthetic fibers, so it's not for everyone. Natural fiber carpets or coir (coconut husk), jute (tree mulch), and sisal (cactus pulp) are very popular with decorators seeking a more casual, au naturale look in muted earth tones.
What are the different fibers, and what should I look for? It makes good sense to buy the very best quality you can, so that your investment will yield long-lasting beauty. There are several kinds of fiber used in the surface pile of carpet. No single one can be called "best" because the decision deals in both aesthetic and practical matters.
- Wool
If you want the ultimate in luxury, wool carpet is the one that feels soft and springy, yet substantial. Colors glow richly through a soft surface luster, and its resilience stands up to traffic and heavy furniture. If you believe that superior style and performance justify a bit more expense, then only wool will do for you.
- Nylon
If fashion is important, and you want the broadest array of choices in texture, design and color; if you prefer a lustrous surface and bolder colors; if you want one kind of carpet throughout your home; and if resilience and durability matter to you, then decide on nylon, the most popular choice.
- Berbers
You'll find your answers in Olefin (also known as polypropylene) if classic or fashion berbers appeal to you, and if stain resistance and cleanability are top priorities. Colorfastness and economy are pluses.
- Polyester
If you want sumptuous softness under foot, and rich colors and textures for the eye, this is the fiber for you. Stain resistance is a feature of this fiber, but your traffic expectations should be moderate. If recycling rings true to you, then you'll find extra value in a polyester carpet.
- Natural Fibers
If both high fashion and nature influence your style, if you enjoy subtle earth colors and rich textures, and if you seek a unique complement to a formal setting or a casual sun room, then look into natural fibers.
Carpeting woven from natural plant fibers include sisal, coir, seagrass and jute. Each has a different fiber texture, style of weave and natural color shading. These are most often bound into rugs with borders of tapestry, brocade or printed animal skins. These rugs are made in our own workshop by a highly skilled artisan.
- Resilient Flooring
The choices in resilient flooring are greater than ever. Many times, resilient flooring reproduces Mother Nature with deeply veined marble, granite and stone looks, "plankwood" flooring and other natural-appearing styles.
Resilient sheet flooring with inlaid color offers a handcrafted look of extraordinary depth and richness. The designs are made from millions of tiny color granules laid into hand-cut stencils, which create the pattern color by color, shade by shade. The entire structure is fused into a solid sheet under intense heat and pressure. These floors are scuff-, damage- and indentation-resistant. Designs today clearly show a combination of objects, prints, colors, and textures that reflect a mingling of cultures from around the world.
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LAMINATES Premium high-pressure laminate construction with an enhanced water-resistant core is more practical than wood, and more durable than vinyl. It is suited for every room in your home—even the bath! Designs run the gamut from stunning woodgrain plank to natural stone. It's as close to maintenance free as a floor can get...simple vacuuming and a quick once-over with a damp mop is all it takes.
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Hardwood Floors · Carpeting
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