FloorTalk – for all the latest flooring fashions

By Annette M. Callari, Allied ASID; CMG

Kane Carpet Mills has demonstrated a flair for international design and color when it comes to three new introductions they’ve launched.  Strongly colorful and a bit shocking, here are three choices that will make you take a second look.

Action Packed I is definitely not easy to describe, so I am posting a picture with this blog and daring you to put it into your own words–if you can.  Tell me what comes to mind at first sight and leave me a comment on this blog site (just click on “comment”) so we all can enjoy your interpretation.  One of the great color drivers of the next few years is going to be medical science and health influences.  Well what I see in this design is a stylized cellular structure (as if under a microscope), with bold sweeps of circular color.  It’s playful and energetic and would create a memorable area rug, bordered inset, or broadloom application.

The flip side to this display board is Action Packed II.  Prismatic, dynamic and geometric—just looking at this pattern makes you happy.  Kane has definitely taken an artist’s approach to these designs and each pattern is truly unique. 

The third pattern I chose to highlight is called Escape.  Zebra stripes with a large pattern repeat bring an exotic touch to this carpet.  While animal prints have been hugely popular for the last few years, Escape is a fresh take on the theme.  The colors are “out of the box”, so to speak, a favorite being black stripes on a purple background.  If you want to create a magnetic focal point for any room AND you happen to love purple, here’s your carpet. 

Each one of these stand-out styles features 100% Ultra-fine Heat-set Eurolon™, which is a solution-dyed polypropylene fiber.  That means the carpets are colorfast and easily cleanable.  Woven in 13’ widths, some rooms can be done with no seams at all.  High-contrast consumers—you’re going to love all three of these styles.  Kane Carpet has been manufacturing in the United States since 1947, and in a recent retailer survey, was voted “one of the top five U.S.A. carpet manufacturers for design”.  Now that’s something to be proud of.  For more information about their rug and broadloom collections, visit www.KaneCarpet.com.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

By Annette M. Callari, ASID; CMG                                       

Sometimes combining two classics brings to life an amazing new entity.  Chocolate and peanut butter certainly hit the jackpot as a combo in the candy world.  Wine and cheese seemed to produce a great marriage of tastes as well.  And now I’m seeing home goods manufacturers pairing up to help you with your interior decorating.  It was inevitable that creative forces would merge their talents and products to give consumers a fresh new take on design.

That’s exactly why Robert Allen fabrics and Sherwin-Williams Paints teamed up.  The Robert Allen group is a leading designer and marketer of decorative fabrics to the design trade.  As of May of this year, they are featuring a suggested palette of wall colors (from Sherwin-Williams) to be included in their fabric collection sample books. What a brilliant, useful combination of products!  Individually, these companies are leaders in color trends.  Together, their collaboration on trends and colors is going to be a great asset for designers as well as consumers.  For professional designers, it’s a time saver to have two key elements of a potential design specified together.  For consumers, it takes some of the guesswork out of matching and coordinating color.  Designers make color coordination look like an easy task, but it takes a well-trained professional to put colors and patterns together successfully.  Having some of the color coordination already done is a great benefit.  You can have a sneak peek at these beautiful color and fabric combo cards at sherwin-williams.com/robertallen.

Wouldn’t it be nice if floor covering manufacturers would offer a similar collaboration on interior products?  Well they have.  Shaw/Tuftex and Anderson Hardwood have announced the launch of a novel dual-display system—the Color Coordinates display. The concept is brilliant as consumers are able to visualize carpet and hardwood floor coordinates side-by-side, all put together by professional designers. Choosing floor coverings is important.  It’s the foundation for your whole design and a big investment as well.  So many consumers put off new floor covering choices because they don’t want to make a mistake.  They can’t afford to make a mistake in this area, so sometimes years go by and they still haven’t gotten the new floor coverings they really want.  Well now some of the guesswork is taken out of the equation for you.  Remember, these carpet and hardwood combinations were put together by designers, so you know they work–not only in the showroom–but in your home!  Look for a Shaw Design Center Retailer in your area to see this very helpful selection system. 

Well that’s the scoop on some pretty interesting new “marriages”.  These intriguing collaborations are just the start of more to come.  Manufacturers want to showcase their products in the best way possible, and make coordination and selection easier for the consumer.  I believe we will see a multitude of product manufacturers merging their creative talents to bring the best of product and color harmonies directly to you in the future.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

Submitted by Annette Callari, ASID; CMG

If you are old enough to remember the ‘70’s then I know you are familiar with shag carpet. Ugh! But wait a minute—maybe not “ugh”. History always has lessons for us to learn, and carpet history is no exception. It has taught us to refashion worthy design elements from the past into contemporary winners.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

By Annette M. Callari, Allied ASID; CMG

Now you’re talking!  I mean that literally.  We are getting some great questions and comments on FaceBook from you, our readers–and everybody at FloorTalk loves that.  It lets us know that you are really out there, reading, thinking, and understanding how important floor coverings are to your design.  We’ve had a request to address soft-handed carpets and the pros and cons of these styles.  All of the major fiber producers have a version of a soft-to-the-touch yarn system that equates to comfort and luxury underfoot.

Shaw Industries’ Anso (Type 6) nylon, is one of the best on the market.  The Anso Caress brand was a pioneer in this area.  Introduced in 1999, it has a proven track record that “soft” can also interpret to durable.  There is a mistaken conception that the softness of a carpet has something to do with a finishing rinse on the yarns.  That is not the case.  The denier (thickness) of each fiber that makes up the yarn is ultra fine. Shaw then adds a tight twist to each yarn bundle and tufts it into carpet.  The twist builds in the performance while the fine-denier yarn system provides the soft hand.  Ultimately this combination provides the best of both worlds for the consumer. The Anso Caress brand offers a 5-year limited texture retention warranty, 10 years for soil and stain resistance, and 10 years for abrasive wear resistance.  The texture retention warranty addresses the overall appearance of the carpet, which gives this product a lot of credibilility.

Another brand leader from Shaw Industries is their EverTouch. Here’s what Shaw has to say about EverTouch:

 It’s exactly what carpet was meant to be – wonderfully soft and exceptionally durable. EverTouch carpets are crafted with fine-denier filaments.   The smaller denier, which is a weight-per-unit-length measurement, produces the supple touch, while advanced yarn engineering accounts for the superior durability.  In contrast to their softness, EverTouch carpets are tough enough for any room in the home. As with all Shaw carpets, each style is rigorously tested and given an appearance-retention performance rating. Test results confirm that EverTouch styles perform as well or better than comparable products made from traditional nylon fiber systems.

In early 2006, Mohawk Industries and DuPont filed a joint petition for the FTC to establish a new generic fiber subclass name under the “polyester” classification.  That is significant because it means their Triexta fiber has performance qualities above and beyond regular polyester carpet fibers.  Triexta is the “ingredient” used in Mohawk’s SmartStrand and SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona carpets.  Not only is this fiber type totally renewable, the soft-handed comfort is exceptional.  Mohawk has good reason to be proud of their patented Triexta.

Anticipating growing consumer preference toward an even softer carpet experience, in January of this year Beaulieu Carpet Mill created its softest Bliss collection ever—–Bliss by Beaulieu “SoftSense”.  The line offers 48 solid colors and another 14 berber colorations.  Beaulieu loaded-up their new SoftSense collection with an impressive array of standard features. For the first time in Beaulieu’s history, the company offered a Lifetime Stain – No Exclusions Warranty. Additionally, 3M Scotchgard Protector is also standard on every SoftSense carpet. These soft-oriented carpets are made from 100% nylon and multi-colors are solution dyed polyester. 

The technologies that brought soft-handed carpets to the marketplace are among the best of this decade.  We like to “live” on our floors–playing with the kids, watching TV, enjoying video games—it’s all more fun on plush, silky-soft carpet.  Marrying technology to performance has moved “soft” to the top of our shopping list as carpet consumers.  Performance, durability, and comfort–now we can have it all.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.

Submitted by Steve Cooper

Molding for transition from one flooring material to another appears inconsequential. It hardly seems worth a blog post. That is, until you walk barefoot over a threshold that has been poorly designed. How does a bad transition make you yelp or squirm? Let’s count the ways.

1. Too narrow

2. Too high

3. A too-sharp edge

4. Splinters

5. Nails

You’ll know what’s wrong the minute you step on it. Your foot may glide across the transition but get creased by a sharp back edge. A nailhead may snag your stocking. Or the width will be so narrow that it’s slightly painful if the molding is stepped on squarely.

Wood-molding remedies are easy as long as the design gets attention prior to installation. Don’t let one be made so tall that you can stub your toe on it. Instead, have it built at least 3 inches wide, tapering down at each side. A 6- to 8-inch-wide transition may seem excessive, but it provides comfort. All nails should be set and the holes filled. For screws, countersink holes to eliminate a potential hazard.

If you are using metal or any other material for the thresholds, check for comfort before installtion by testing it with bare feet. Make sure no screw heads will be sticking up.

Let your installer know that you are concerned about comfort at transition points. This often goes unmentioned and, since molding is the last item during installation, it does not always get the attention it needs.

For more information on flooring visit the World Floor Covering Association’s Consumer Carpet & Flooring Guide.