Wood Floor Styles: Casual September 7, 2010
Posted by Shannonbilby in : Design and Decorating, Hardwood / Laminate , add a comment
Wood floors have as many personalities as there are types of trees. If your style is laid-back, have you considered the benefits of casual wood flooring?
Take the time to explore the options in our showroom. To start, let’s consider several elements that lead to a more casual feel in a wood floor.
- Look for lighter tones. These bring to mind a coastal or country feel. Maple and pine work well, as do some of the newer bamboos.
- Find a floor with some variety of tone. This will allow you to use different materials and shades in your furnishings while still linking your décor to your floor.
- Look for personality in your floor. The newer hand-scraped floors fit this profile. Also, floors with stronger grain and even a few small knots add to the relaxed feel. The flooring seems handmade rather than manufactured, adding a bit of a rustic feel to your space.
Wood floors provide such variety that there is one to fit your specific taste and style. Ask one of our salespeople for help in finding just the right one for you. If you want to start browsing in the comfort of your own home, check out our online hardwood catalog, here.
Creating Your Own “White Box” to Help Your Flooring Decision July 6, 2010
Posted by Shannonbilby in : Design and Decorating , add a commentAre you an HGTV addict? If you are not a fan, Home & Garden Television offers programs on decorating, home improvement and design. “Design Star,” is HGTV’s reality program that pits 12 designers in a contest to win an opportunity to develop their own show. After watching the first episode from this season, it made sense that you could use one of their concepts to make choosing flooring easier.
Are you ready to take a chance and consider a dramatic shift in your home but don’t know where to start? Well, it’s difficult to make a change when faced with all of your old decisions in a room. Let’s clear out most of your old choices to leave the door open for new ones.
Start by removing all the accessories from the room. Lamps, small tables and chairs go next. Are there larger pieces that you are ready, or almost ready, to replace? Cover them with white sheets. Now you’ve created your own version of a white room. You’re down to the room’s bones, without any distracting elements taking your attention away from the possibilities of the room itself.
Now that you’ve cleared the space, take a walk through it, considering every angle. Are there features you almost forgot were there? Are there wonderful windows, or possibly an appealing fireplace to warm the space? Play with any photos you may have saved of flooring from magazines, or lay out any samples you have. Picture light and darker floors, and consider what appeals to you most.
Next, take pictures of the room from every angle, and bring them with you to the store when you select your new flooring. It will be so much easier to imagine the floor with those photos in your hand. Keep the accessories packed up until your new floor is installed, then replace each item, considering whether you want to keep it, and where to put everything. In some ways by doing this you actually get to start over, with your own white box to decorate any way you want.
If you aren’t ready to do heavy lifting, you could always try out virtual room designer, here!.
Understanding Color: Color Blending from Room to Room May 20, 2010
Posted by Shannonbilby in : Design and Decorating, Uncategorized , 1 comment so far
Understanding Color: Color Blending from Room to Room
One of the challenges faced with a great room design is determining how to separate the spaces while still keeping the room cohesive. Color provides one of your best tools for accomplishing that goal. Planning your color palette ahead of time will keep you from taking the safe but rather dull one-color approach, but also protect you from too much color.
For the three spaces, choose three colors that work well together. You may already have color that will be part of the room through furniture, your flooring, rugs, paint or curtains. If not, start working with the colors you like best. One good source for ideas is your local upholstery fabric store. Take your time and discover fabrics in patterns that appeal to your color sense. Ask for sample swatches of those fabrics you like the best, and then bring them back to your space to see how they work with your flooring and other room elements.
Once you define your colors, assign one to each part of the great room: kitchen, dining and living areas. Think of which space could use brightening, and which space would benefit from the richest color in your arsenal. Make those colors the focal points of each room, using furniture and accessories, maybe even by painting an accent wall. Be sure to pull all three colors into each space in some way, to keep them interconnected.
Once you’re finished, stand back and look at the room from different perspectives. Does each space stand out, while still connecting to the rest of the room? Does the color flow well from space to space? You may need to move accessories around a to get the look you want, but it’s worth the effort to create a comfortable and inviting great room that works for you and your family.
