FloorTalk – for all the latest flooring fashions

Submitted by Annette M. Callari, Allied ASID; CMG

“Love of beauty is taste.  The creation of beauty is art. “
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the author of that beautiful quote.  But it was the Jamie Beckwith Collection website that brought it to my attention.  Jamie Beckwith is a renowned designer who had the vision to create elegant wood surface treatments for floors and walls.  Her unique wood tile designs bring out the best of nature with attention to dimension, profile and embellishment.

The total collection is comprised of four specialized hardwood tile series:  Enigma, Projection, Mosaic and Embellished.  Each artistic gallery of styles has a memorable character of its own:

Enigma Floor and Surface
Enigma is another word for mystery.  And this series adds an element of mystery to wood floors by offering intriguing wood tile shapes.  Jigsaw, Pisces, sextant, lotus, and crescent to name a few, feed the imagination.

ProjectionSurface
Dimension and depth are combined in six block shapes to create high-character wood walls. Walls become works of art, using shadow and light to its best advantage.

Mosaic Floor and Surface
Mosaic is the art of creating images through the grouping of small pieces.  In this case, the pieces are beautifully patterned wood blocks.  The resulting image is varied and ever-changing, as wood grain patterns swirl and merge across the floor.

Embellished Surface
Lastly, Jamie Beckwith has brought to life “jewelry” for your walls.  Crystals, geodes and gemstones are the crowning jewels adorning each individual wood tile.  They can be used alone or combined to accent Projection block walls.

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the Beckwith Companies are adept at creating exceptional hardwood tiles.  Organic materials have been artfully redefined with a fresh, contemporary interpretation.  I’m so pleased to be able to share this beautiful collection with you.  A list of showrooms across the U.S. that carry this exceptional line can be found at www.jamiebeckwithcollection.com.  Explore and enjoy!

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

By Steve Cooper

Years ago, I spent a few days at fabulous new home just built on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, It had incredible wood and stone flooring, a classic living-room inglenook offering seclusion and a staircase that spun down from the second to the first floor. At that lower-level landing, a visitor would step onto a very memorable piece of Italian limestone. Embedded in the stone tile was the fossilized shell of some ancient sea creature. It was lovely and it was real.

The best floors are real. I’m not being metaphysical here. By real, I mean that quality floors are marked by something genuine that sets them apart as worthy of praise. They have to show care in design, offer characteristics that aren’t seen in every other house on the block, and they have to be authentic. The shell was a real shell; not a poorly produced fake.

But what if it had been a very well done fake? What if it had been painted on quite exquisitely or if it had been a casting precisely installed in the tile? Then, it might have stopped guests, who would admire it. It would have been authentic art. That’s OK. That’s real, too.

Here’s the deal when you are seeking something special for your new floors: We can’t all afford fossil-bearing limestone imported from Italy. But most of us can certainly look for ways to give ourselves a story to tell about our flooring. One homeowner can have a fossil to talk about, while another may have that impressive art fossil crafted into a tile. Which is a better story? I bought this fossil or I worked with an artisan to create something unique and lovely for my floor. If it’s well done, I would probably go with the later.

Other types of authenticity include floors that are hand-scraped, made from salvaged wood, or a richly grained species of wood that is also sustainable. In all these cases, you will have a story to tell about your new flooring. That’s the hallmark of authenticity: It will give you something to talk about, something to offer in conversations with guests, and something to build your pride-of-place.

That’s what makes flooring authentic. You care about it so much you want to tell your friends.

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

By Steve Cooper

No one wants flooring that is dull, scratched, stained, mottled, scarred, pitted and ruined. But these are common problems. How can they be avoided?

Follow the simple rules here to steer clear of most of the things that  damage flooring. On the positive side, always clean floors according to the manufacturer’s instructions. They know how their products are finishing and they know the most effective ways to keep them looking good.

• But this isn’t a list of what to do. Here’s what not to do

• Never use ammonia or abrasive cleaners on a wood floor. It will dull the finish.

• High-acid vinegars should not be put on flooring. Vinegar can etch clear finishes, clouding the finish.

• Minimize the water when wet mopping and always use a neutral-pH soap, such as a dish detergent. Don’t allow puddles to form and dry. Evaporated, water creates stains that suck the shine right off your floor. It’s also critical to use clean water for rinsing because dirty water may be filled with grit and sand, which may leave fine scratch-marks on the floor.

• Install floor guards on the feet of all furniture. Raw wood on the bottom of sofas, chairs and tables may gouge and scar flooring.

• Place mats and rugs at entry doors and in front of sinks, where they can catch pebbles, sand and water that might damage floors.

• Avoid wearing high heels across wood floors. Pointed heels can leave a behind a trail of pockmarks.

• Always trim the nails of a large dog. Big pets can play havoc with a wood-floor finish.

• Set up windows and rooms to minimize sun exposure on flooring. Over time, sun will dull a finish.

Wood flooring is made to endure quite a bit of abuse, but every finish is vulnerable to damage in a variety of ways. Take care and treat your flooring right.

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

By Steve Cooper

David Letterman has a gap between his front teeth. So does Madonna. And in his first Rocky movie, Sylvester Stallone gave the boxer some lines about gaps in our lives. “We all have gaps,” he tells his love, Adrian.

However, if you are having new hardwood flooring installed, the last thing you want are gaps. Yet, it’s a potential problem when an installation is botched. The reason? Wood is wood.

Like all wood products, solid hardwood flooring will expand and contract as the temperature and moisture levels change in a house. Extreme swings in these levels may even affect the stability of engineered wood flooring.

Protect against this problem by acclimating new wood flooring to your home prior to installation. Acclimation is simple. It just means that new flooring should be unboxed in your home and left to react to conditions for a week or two. Check with your flooring manufacturers for their specific recommendations for acclimating your type of floor.

While the wood is open to household air, you should keep your home’s temperature and humidity set at its usual levels. You won’t notice it anything happening, but solid wood may expand or contract significantly and there may be some movement with engineered products.

Finally, ask your installer to check the moisture content with a wood moisture meter before starting the job. Proceed with the installation only if the moisture level is within the amount stated by the manufacturer.

If the installer doesn’t pay attention to this issue, gaps may soon appear in your flooring. Better to avoid such a rocky start with new hardwood.

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

Photo:  Mannington Chesapeake Hickory

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.