What Should I Be Looking At

What's HOT Besides the Weather???

Wow, this summer has been brutal-- hot, hotter, hottest! But in spite of the weather, we have been busy, busy, busy! What have we been selling, and what are we installing? Lots:

Berber Carpet. Yep, Berber carpet is back! And we love it. This is not the Berber your parents had back in the 70's. First of all, the fibers are better. Back then it was mostly Olefin, and it was rough and scratchy. Today's Berbers are nylons, wools, and Triextas and they are soft and subtle. The loops aren't as big, making the carpet less "Playroom" and more "Living Room."  Back in the day, most of those Berbers were multicolored, adding to their casual appearance. Now they are mostly solids, and appropriate for any room in the house. Just beautiful!

What else is selling like hot cakes?  Wide plank wood and wood-look floors. By wide we mean 7, 8, and even 9-inch planks. We have beautiful wood floors that look like they could have come from a stately old castle in Europe, gorgeous colors, rich patina, and a little bit of distressing. And following that trend, we also have luxury vinyl plank (LVP), laminates, and porcelain floors that have those same features, for those who want the look but not the maintenance of wood. Some of them are amazing! We have even done combinations of these, for customers who wanted wood in the "living" areas of the home, but LVP or porcelain in the kitchen and bathrooms, for instance.

Which is wood? Which is LVP?

They're both gorgeous, aren't they? The bedroom is LVP, the living room is wood!

We have some other finishes that are sizzling hot! Porcelain tiles that resemble real stone are so beautiful we are looking for reasons we need it in our own homes! Look at this one called Fitch by Happy Floors-- so dramatic, so eye-catching, yet so durable. We think it would be a perfect choice for a den, an office, or a super masculine master bath.

And here is another of our favorites-- Contessa by Interceramic.

Contessa is so regal, so classic, and sooooo easy to live with! She is beautiful with grays and beiges, and is subtle and quiet, content to let other surfaces be the star of the show.

When it comes to laminates, we are in love! Laminates are "becoming" popular again-- they never stopped being great with us. Anyone with kids, dogs, rowdy husbands, or teenage boys should consider laminates, especially now! The looks are just incredible, so realistic and current, and this stuff holds up to all that an active family can do, and more, and most of it is water resistant. Great floors!

Mohawk's Beachside Collective, color Beachwood, is one of those floors that brings back memories of summers with the sand between our toes, no cares, and a warm breeze blowing. Who doesn't want to be there again? A beautiful color, with distinctive oak graining, and a timeless worn-soft look. 

If you are looking for something a little darker and more rustic, we recommend Rustic Legacy, also by Mohawk. It is a beautiful floor. We have it installed here in the showroom in the color Earthen Chestnut if you'd like to see it in person. The lineup also includes Cedar Chestnut, Knotted Chestnut, and Sandcastle Oak. 

The new Mohawk laminate line-- referred to as Revwood, is gorgeous, with lots of new introductions-- colors and textures galore, and water resistant! We also carry other beautiful laminates-Mannington Restoration, Beau Flor's Eternity line, and The Signature Collection. They are all so good looking, you'll have a hard time deciding! Mannington even offers three Chevron patterns that are color coordinated with their regular plank floors.

And usually carpet doesn't bring the ocean to mind, but how about a color called Clamshell? Dreamweaver's Exceptional II is an update to their original style Exceptional, but with all new colors, and their best-selling color is Clamshell-- that is wishful thinking! But really, if you are looking for a GREAT price on a GREAT quality carpet, come in and see Exceptional II! Other colors include Morning Fog, Sawgrass, and Iced Coffee, so we have colors for all your beach moods. 

Design Tip

Flooring stylings are influenced by fashion-- hot colors in clothing, for example, make their way into home décor.  Colors you see on the runway will start showing up in stores like Pottery Barn and Target, in paint colors, in rugs, and yes, in flooring.  The downside of this is that older colors start feeling stale and get discontinued.  

We've told you about floors that are in vogue right now.  What isn't? Frieze and super shaggy carpet. Parquet floors.  Small bathroom floor tiles like 4" x 4" and 6" x 6". Very dark, almost black hard surface floors.  Narrow width (2 ¼") wide hardwoods. Exotic hardwoods like Brazilian cherry and bamboo. Not to say that we don't install these products anymore (hey, if you love something, it's your house, own it!) but there are fewer and fewer offerings and choices these days.  If a manufacturer does not sell much of something, it's not cost effective to keep making it.  

Every week a client calls or comes in wanting more of a product we installed 20 years ago, and the first thing we do is see if it is still available.  Sometimes it is, but not always. Your design vision may become floors that complement what you already have, particularly if you do not want to replace everything.  Luckily your Enhance Floors Design Consultant can help you find products that will be beautiful in your home, once you get past the initial shock of what you have and love no longer being made.

How Much Does It Cost?

We just worked with a client that is expecting a lot of family staying over for the holidays.  They needed to finish off some rooms in the basement to add more "hang out" areas. We installed a little over 600 sq feet of LVP, 7" wide in pretty brownish-red tones, for $4500.  The space is now warm and inviting, and very much on trend.

I Was Floored By Enhance

Mickie in Smyrna writes: "We replaced carpet in our den with new hardwoods, installed on premises. They were stained to match existing hardwoods in the adjoining room that are 22 years old. We were astonished how well the staining person matched the existing hardwoods (ask for Mike, he is a genius!). You can't even tell where the old hardwoods end and the new hardwoods begin! Friends and family told me there would be dust everywhere from the sanding and that did NOT happen at all. We also replaced 22-year-old carpet with new carpet in our very large living room. Everybody showed up when they said they would, they all were quite nice and respectful and communicated perfectly despite language differences. From start to finish I loved working with all parties involved. We have had nightmares with other companies or contractors but the experience with Enhance is the BEST experience we have ever had in 33 years of home ownership!"

 

Thank you, Mickie, for the great review.  We are so glad that adding to your older existing wood floor turned out perfect.  Enjoy your "feels brand new again" home!