Beautiful Green Floors

Nowadays, a lot of people care about the environment. They have found that it is important to care about new growth and expansion of the plant kingdom and our animal kingdom brothers & sisters. You can see efforts to reduce the amount of plastic that is being used in grocery stores by shoppers bringing their own reusable bags – there are even different designs you can choose from in order to make your own personal design statement.

Other folks are making a concerted effort to recycle glass, paper, aluminum, and plastics at home. Many cities are even getting in on the act, offering free recycling programs to residents. You can also find many compost piles in homeowners’ yards. This compose is then put to good use in home gardens, with many consumers choosing fresh ingredients from right outside their doors – whether it’s in a home garden or bought from the local farmer’s market.

Perhaps you want to do more for the environment. Have you been fortunate in life and want to somehow give back? Ensure that you are making the most environmentally friendly choice when it comes to decorating your domicile? Then you will definitely want to investigate green flooring options.

Green floors are both environmentally friendly and exquisitely beautiful in their own right. For those consumers who are choosy about what goes into their homes, green flooring is an excellent option that will have all visitors marveling at the beauty underfoot.

Cork flooring and bamboo flooring are both environmentally-friendly products that can be used residentially; both choices are functional, durable, and utterly renewable. Cork can be used where ever you desire a soundproof floor, such as in a basement or on a stairwell.

Bamboo flooring can take on the look of hardwood, so you may want to consider using this elegant flooring option in rooms such as a sitting room, living room, or dining room. Bamboo plants can be harvested about every five years and need no replanting. Cork is harvested from the cork tree’s thick bark, and this does not hurt the tree; it simply re-grows its bark, which allows for re-harvesting in another ten years.

If you want to make a statement in your home while still being mindful of the environment, choose green flooring – a statement in itself.

To speak with one of our design consultants, please call us at 1-800-764-1633.

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The Future of Luxury Flooring

Flooring shown from Atlas Concorde

When choosing the flooring for your brand new home (or updating an older home undergoing renovation) you will have many luxurious choices to pick from. Bamboo, hardwood, cork, vinyl, laminateceramic tile, stone tile, leather, rubber…it’s enough to make you dizzy, just thinking of all the available beautiful options.

Just 15 – 20 years ago, there were fewer options, and homeowners had to be content with having a floor that looked just like their neighbor’s floor. There were “expected” places to put certain types of flooring, and it was difficult for homeowners to personalize their floors. Floors were, for the most part, predictable.

Fast forward to today. Rather than just having access to carpet and vinyl options, you’ve got many more luxurious flooring options – including a few that are even eco-friendly. Recent discoveries have found that vinyl flooring can contain noxious chemicals that can continue to be emitted long after installation. Additionally, carpet and rugs have been found to harbor incredible amounts of allergens. These traditional flooring options are not environmentally friendly, and the trend in luxury flooring has been to lean towards greener flooring options. These include bamboo, cork, ceramic tiles, stone tiles, porcelain tiles, and palm woods – with bamboo and cork topping the list.

Bamboo is a great alternative to your typical hardwood flooring. Its beauty is just now catching on, and it is still very mysterious and alluring to those who see it. Many people will not believe that your beautiful, durable, and brilliant hardwood floor is actually made from bamboo, a natural resource. Bamboo flooring is made from the bamboo plant. When pressed, bamboo flooring’s durability is increased. You will also get that desirable smooth, glossy appearance, and you can stain a bamboo flooring as well.

Cork is made from the bark of the cork tree; the harvesting does not harm the tree in any way. Cork is a brilliant flooring option for areas where you want to muffle sound – like in a basement or on stair treads. It is hypo-allergenic and anti-microbial.

So, if you want a floor on the cutting edge of luxury, you needn’t look further than what Mother Nature has to offer.

To speak with one of our design consultants, please call us at 1-800-764-1633.

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The Difference Between Commercial Grade and Consumer Grade Bamboo

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo Flooring by Duro Design

Today, the trend in home improvement is all about bamboo flooring. It is a sustainable, green product that has an exclusive allure to all those who tread upon it. Bamboo flooring is a durable alternative to traditional wood floors, and all your visitors who come for a friendly game of pool or one of your dinner parties will want to know more about your beautiful and attractive floor.

If you have already made the decision to have bamboo flooring installed in your home, you may have run across two different types of bamboo flooring grades– commercial grade and consumer grade. Perhaps you are now trying to decide which of these two grades of bamboo flooring you should have installed.

The answer is simple. Do you expect to use your floor? Walk upon it? Place furniture upon it?

Of course.

Then, the only real choice is commercial grade bamboo flooring. Commercial grade bamboo flooring is more durable and harder than typical consumer grade bamboo flooring. While bamboo flooring is hard anyway, you want to be sure that your flooring looks attractive for years to come. And a commercial grade bamboo is made in such a way as to stand up to years of traffic, and maintain its beauty throughout.

While the commercial grade bamboo flooring will cost more up front, this cost is recouped when you see how well the commercial grade bamboo flooring holds up over time. Rather than pay for brand new flooring and yet another installation usually found with lesser-quality materials, your commercial grade bamboo flooring will stand the test of time. You may also want to consider the amount of time that you won’t spend picking your way around your displaced furniture as it is moved a second (or even a third!) time.

What makes commercial grade bamboo flooring so special? Unlike consumer grade bamboo flooring, commercial grade bamboo flooring contains smaller pieces and strips alike that are woven together, molded, and glued together under intense pressure. This added step increases the strength of the flooring, and keeps your floors looking gorgeous for years.

To speak with one of our design consultants, please call us at 1-800-764-1633.

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Is Your Wood Flooring Certified?

FSC CertifiedFor homeowners who want elegance and style echoed throughout the home, most know that wood flooring is the way to go. But we also know that it is wise to invest in products that will last a long time while still maintaining their original beauty.

This is where the certification of wood flooring comes in.

This process of evaluating wood products and their origins can date back to the early nineties, when choosy homeowners wanted to be sure that they were choosing wood products created by ecologically reputable companies. It was difficult to discern a high-grade product from a wood product created by Bob’s Discount Lumber. Today, if you go to any reputable lumber yard, you will see planks of wood with the stamp “FSC Certified,” which tells you that this product meets the highest standards for eco-friendly wood.

FSC is an acronym for Forest Stewardship Council and is the most recognized of the three major certification program sponsors (the others being the Sustainable Forest Initiative [SFI], and the Canadian Standards Association).

The Forest Stewardship Council developed first out of the three sponsors, and has received the most support from worldwide recognized environmental organizations; these include The World Wildlife Fund and Sierra Club. The FSC upholds its reputation by contracting with third-party auditors to get independent examinations and evaluations. These third-party organizations include Smartwood and Scientific Certification Systems.

The Sustainable Forest Initiative was created in 1994 from the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA); this organization oversees the standards in the paper industry.

Finally, the Canadian Standards Association works in Canada and provides certification and stringent standards to follow for wood products from all over the world. The Canadian Standards Association is also responsible for the National Standard for Sustainable Forest Management of Canada.

If you are looking for ways to help the environment, seek out wood products that were created with the environment in mind — look for certified wood flooring products. When you purchase certified wood flooring products, you are not only getting a beautiful floor, but you are being eco-conscious as well. They may cost a little more, but you are helping to ensure that the expansive and marvelous forests will be around for years to come.

To speak with one of our design consultants, please call us at 1-800-764-1633.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About High End Remodeling

When moving into your new home, you want to make it yours. You want to improve upon it, polish things up a bit, and allow for your own personal style to come through. For some people, buying a house is seen as a temporary residence until something bigger can be bought. For others, however, they want to be able to nest in the home and really bring out its inner beauty.

While there are plenty of projects you can tackle yourself, if you are a little less than mechanically inclined, you may want to hire a contractor to do the job for you. When interviewing contractors, you will want to question them thoroughly, ask for references, and compare estimates. If you work with a professional that guarantees his work, it will save you a lot of time and stress. Talk with a contractor who is familiar with the local building codes to make sure your home remodeling is done correctly. You will also want to work with a contractor who can provide you with a well-written contract, which will prevent mistakes or additions to your project.

Prior to starting your remodeling, you may save yourself some money by finding products that you like that are less expensive. When shopping for products, make your decisions based on the total value of the item and the quality of the item, not just the price.

Besides putting your own personal stamp on your home, remodeling can also increase the value of the home. For instance: if you own an older home and only have one bathroom in it, it can make your house a little more attractive if you were to put in another bathroom. . . not to mention make your time in your home a little more comfortable!  Additionally, if you were to turn your basement space or attic space into actual living spaces by remodeling them, you can help to increase the value of your home.

Another way to increase the value of your home is to put in some high end appliances. If you opt to include some stainless steel appliances, dual-flush toilets, whirlpool tubs, and heated floors, you will attract more buyers. . . and buyers who are apt to spend more.

To speak with one of our design consultants, please call us at 1-800-764-1633.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About Leather Wall Tiles

For a look that is both exotic and familiar, choose leather wall tiles to pull a room together and finish your interior décor look. While this statement may seem a little odd, leather wall tiles are quickly gaining appeal as a hip new way to decorate a room. If you are a home owner who is trying to make a statement and stand out, you will definitely want to give leather wall tiles another look. Additionally, leather wall tiles can go with any type of décor that you can imagine. From a country scheme to a contemporary scheme, this wall covering blends seamlessly in while providing an unexpected element to your room.

Leather wall tiles are a great way to update any décor. When you care for a leather wall tile properly, it can last you a long time – up to three decades. Installing leather tiles on your wall will create a warm, lasting impression on guests and visitors for years to come. Not just a visual appeal, leather tiles lend a tactile experience not found in any other wall covering. Leather wall tiles invite you to touch and caress your walls, experiencing each and every panel.

When designing your wall covering, you will be able to choose from many different patterns like checkerboard, on a diagonal, straight, with or without inserts, or in a herringbone pattern. If you do not want to work with a pattern, you can always paint the tiles for a unique look. Leather wall tiles can also be framed with wood, leather, or brass.

Leather wall tiles can be installed in nearly any room of the house, with the exception of rooms with high humidity like bathrooms and kitchens. Many people choose to use leather wall tiles in rooms where there are a lot of activity, such as the rec room, or a child’s room.

Some of you may be concerned about durability. Don’t be! Leather wall tiles are created from the center part of the cowhide, which means it will be very strong and very thick. Leather wall tiles also have the natural ability to adjust to its current environment, making it very flexible. It will age gracefully over the years and acquire a natural, weathered look.

To learn more about Leather Wall Tiles, please contact one of our design consultants at 1-800-764-1633.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About High End Vinyl Flooring

If you have an area of your home that gets a lot of foot traffic, you may want to consider installing vinyl flooring. Vinyl flooring is durable, attractive, and a popular choice for many homeowners today.

Vinyl flooring comes in many forms: in sheets, in glue down tiles, and in self-stick tiles. Because of its versatility, it is a popular do it yourself project for many weekend warriors. Vinyl flooring comes in a variety of different patterns and colors, including realistic-looking marble.

Vinyl is one of the more water-resistant floor materials on the market. It is especially good for areas of your home that are susceptible to water exposure, such as entryways, bathrooms, laundry rooms, basements, and kitchens. A properly installed vinyl floor can last you for as many as 15 years. For many homeowners, their tastes have changed after 15 years, and it’s time for a fresh look.

Another benefit of installing vinyl flooring in your home is the ease of maintenance that it offers. Busy home owners have no time waxing and resealing wood floors, so vinyl flooring offers an option that is beautiful and easy to take care of.

The first thing you can do to keeping your floor beautiful is to use a door mat to catch outside dirt before it gets in. Routine maintenance for vinyl flooring can be limited to sweeping, vacuuming, or using a dust mop on the surface to get up any dust bunnies that may be lurking about.

For more ground-in dirt, you can use a resilient floor cleaner or a damp mop to bring out your floor’s shine. If you install vinyl flooring in the bathroom and need to get up a hairspray stain, use shampoo in a gallon of warm water with a damp mop. Remember, stick to using a DAMP mop, not a wet mop. This cannot be stressed enough.

If you drench your vinyl, you run the risk of water seeping into the cracks, seams, and edges. Water underneath the floor can eat away the glue bond that holds the vinyl flooring to the subfloor, causing it to curl away at the seams, corners, and edges.

To learn more about High End Vinyl Flooring, please contact one of our design consultants at 1-800-764-1633.

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