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.