Home Decorating Tips Fun with Flooring Ideas

Posted by admin on October 23rd, 2008 filed in HomeDecor


The wide range of flooring options available today probably makes your head buzz every time you contemplate getting a new floor. At the same time, it also means you can find the perfect flooring idea for your home or office/place of work. Thus you can take your pick of wood or wood laminates, ceramic tiles, slate/stone, vinyl flooring, carpets, stone and marble, etc.

And then there are the sub-sections: if you choose wood, what is it to be, maple, oak, pine or teak? Do you like black, white, Connemara, rough finish, or polished marble? Of course, a lot depends on your budget and individual taste, but here’s a ready guide to the broad categories of flooring available on the market:

  • Laminate: Provided you cannot install a solid wood floor, wood laminates are a great substitute. They are available in as many colors and species as wood, and in as many styles, but the way they are constructed makes them last longer and withstand moisture and traffic better than wood. That makes it an excellent flooring idea for the bathroom

  • Linoleum: Linoleum, the flooring of choice for the disco era, is well on its way back. An all-natural flooring material made from linseed oil, cork, stone and natural resins, linoleum is available in a wide range of colors and patterns, and it is as durable as they come. What’s more, exposure to sunlight, which fades most other flooring materials, actually makes the colors in a linoleum floor richer. So you have a flooring option that is easy to care for, wears extremely well and lasts forever

  • Vinyl Tiles: Perfect flooring idea for kitchens, bathrooms and family rooms. Inexpensive, easy to install, and available in a vast range of colors and patterns, vinyl tiles also wear well, and are easy to maintain

  • Ceramic Tiles: No longer confined to bathrooms, ceramic tiles today come in rich tones, and include a range of patterns that is hard to incorporate on any other material. They can still provide excellent flooring ideas for the bathroom, but are not at all out of place in the kitchen, the patio or by the poolside

  • Slate Tiles: Slate looks like stone - well, it is stone - but has a number of advantages over stone floors. For one thing, its smooth surface holds a glossy finish well and is comfortable underfoot. Besides, it is available in its natural colors and is a great natural flooring idea

  • Wooden Flooring: Time-tested, beautiful and stylish, wood floors suit any decor. What’s more, with proper care, a wood floor lasts a lifetime, and gives you numerous flooring ideas courtesy its variety of patterns

  • Parquet Flooring: This is a particularly elegant and stylish flooring idea. Different colors, types or species of wood are cut and stained and fitted to create a pattern. The pattern may be overall, or it may be used to accent a border, corner or center of the floor

  • Stone Floors: Marble, slate, limestone and travertine are flooring ideas that are growing in popularity. Marble is, of course, particularly popular in public buildings

  • Carpets: Wall to wall carpets will always be in fashion. Modern choices include natural wool or cotton, acrylic, olefin and nylon, as well as jute and other natural fibers

  • Rugs: Floor and area rugs can brighten a dark space. They can also add a touch of luxury or elegance, depending on color and style. They go particularly well with wood and stone floors

    Tips before you buy your flooring

  • Draw an outline of the room or rooms. Indicate where the entrances are placed

  • Measure the room accurately with a measuring tape and write down its width and length. Remember, smaller print patterns can make the room seem a lot bigger

  • Take into account adjoining rooms and the flooring on those rooms and make sure you harmonize the new flooring with the old

  • If too much natural light enters the room, you might consider a laminated floor, and vinyl, ceramic or porcelain tiles

  • Coordinate the color and style of your flooring with your furniture, curtains and wallpaper

  • The foot traffic that a room gets should dictate your flooring idea. A room with a high volume of traffic needs more durable flooring

  • Similarly, a room used mainly for leisure activities can accommodate relatively delicate flooring materials

  • Remember, pets may damage flooring, so factor that in. equally, the number of children in the house will also impact flooring

  • Lighter colors make rooms seem bigger

  • How much will the new flooring cost? Is sub-floor preparation part of the quoted price? Also, is the quoted price inclusive of the installation? Make sure all the necessary materials are included in the quoted price

    Now you have your flooring ideas in place, go play!

    Tania Penwell is a professional writer who provides information for A1 Wood Flooring on cork flooring and laminate flooring.

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    • Floor Tile Design For Better Home Decor

    Posted by admin on August 19th, 2008 filed in HomeDecor


    If one goes to a trip inside a house, the first thing that he will see is the floor. Once he takes his first step, he looks at the floor and nothing more. The difference is, if the flooring is not impressive, then the visitor will never notice it, but if the floor is filled with a wonderful array of tile designs, it’s going to leave a good impression on the mind of the visitor.

    If he goes to the kitchen, the presence of good tiles will also be the first thing that he will notice. It’s not the pans nor the oven, nor the refrigerator, it’s the counter-top. If he goes to the bathroom to relieve himself, we’re pretty sure that he will definitely notice the tiles, if there are any.

    Tiles are wonderful house ornaments which exist for the function of accentuating the beauty of one’s home. Tiles also have a purpose, and they are chosen according to where they are going to be put and how they are going to be used.

    Types of Tiles

    There are thousands of different types and styles of tiles. This is because tiles are used practically everywhere, not only in the house but in other structures as well. There are the common stock tiles which one can find in any common folk’s kitchen or bathroom. There are the higher-end ceramic tiles which are used in a more decorative fashion. There are also the stone tiles which come in different materials such as granite, marble or slate. Some tiles are mass produced and some are hand-made. The hand-painted tiles are usually the most expensive ones because they are made with a specific design which caters to a specific type of consumer.

    Natural tiles (which are made from either stone or ceramic) will project a certain level of exquisiteness. These tiles are usually priced more expensively. They are very resilient and durable. The downside is that everything that falls into the tiles will certainly break most of the times because of the structural soundness of these tiles. They also keep the coldness of the environment which can be a downside in cold areas.

    Different tiles are installed in different places according to their resilience, beauty and durability. There are tiles which are more suitable for flooring, there are those which are suitable for kitchen tops and those which are more suitable for the bathrooms. Diversity and combination are key things toward putting up a great tile design.

    Installing Tiles

    When installing tiles, it’s important to take note of the kind of tile you are using and the location where it is going to be put. Different materials entail different procedures and tools for installation. Often times, the specific instructions are given by the manufacturer, but to be sure, always ask the sales person regarding the specifics of the installation procedures.

    There are several tools that one needs to have to be able to properly and cleanly install tiles. For the more advanced tile enthusiasts, having tile nippers, tile cutters and trowels would be good. Remember that installing tiles in flat surfaces is the key, however, curved surfaces can also be covered with tiles if needed. Remember that when purchasing tiles, always get some extra tiles because accidents will happen and some of the tiles will get broken. The law of averages also applies to tile installation.

    Designing through Tiles

    If you are thinking about installing tiles in a certain area of your house, a good practice is to make an illustration of the area. The dimensions of the area in the illustration should be proportional to the dimensions of the area. The area should be divided into the dimensions that would be proportionate to the tiles that you are going to use. This way, you can clearly see how each tile would fit into the specified area and you can estimate how many tiles you are going to buy. Don’t forget to include the buffer tiles in case some of them break.

    Also make sure that the color of the tiles that you are going to use would match that of the rest of the area. The tiles need not to be of one-color only. One can mix and match as long as he knows that the colors will match.

    Tiles greatly accentuate the beauty of one’s home. Whether they are placed in the floor, in the kitchen or elsewhere, proper preparation and installation of these tiles will definitely mark up the value of one’s home.

    Lee Dobbins writes for http://tile.pagechic.com where you can learn more about floor tile selection and installation.

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