Houzz.com - With more than 400,000 photos of recently redesigned homes (both inside and out), Houzz features thousands of highly-engaging articles written by design experts, product recommendations and social tools to manage the remodeling and decorating process. Wondering if your dream home is possible? Search “before and after” for to see examples of how houses were transformed. Or, if you want ideas for a specific project, you can search for specific elements and browse photos by room. You can even add remodeling ideas you see that you want to remember to an ideabook so you can refer to it later.

Remodelista – A site that focuses on the interior of the home. Started by four friends that love mixing design elements, such as vintage and new, Remodelista provides helpful articles chock full of fabulous remodeling ideas. In addition to offering helpful posts, the site lets visitors browse products by category as well.

This Old House – Like the TV show, this site shows the transformation of a house into a dream home. The before and after photos are truly inspiring, and serve as a fantastic source of remodeling ideas. Articles include tips and tricks from the experts, unconventional uses for everyday items and timely stories that will get your creative juices flowing. The site also provides a wealth of information about planning, products, tools, DIY repairs and more. Browse their galleries for specific ideas to incorporate in your home!

HGTV Remodels - Not sure where to get started with your home remodel? HGTV Remodels' site breaks your house into rooms so you can start the planning process the right way. Their helpful buying guides are a great resource as you get your budget figured out, and their articles provide fabulous ideas to incorporate into your project.

Better Homes and Gardens – A fantastic source of inspiration and remodeling ideas, Better Homes and Gardens’ before and after pictures showcase just what can be done with a space. Browse through the site for helpful advice as you plan, and subscribe to their newsletter for weekly tips via email. You can also look at their ideas for additions to consider whether building out or up might be a viable option for your home.

Want additional resources for remodeling ideas? Contact us and we can help you out!

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Why do we love EcoFusion? By blending renewable and recyclable materials, they’re able to create beautiful eco-friendly flooring. They offer three basic product lines:

1. Strand Woven Bamboo: With a 35-year transferrable warranty, this bamboo flooring has an engineered cross-grain core to add stability and reduce expansion and contraction. The bamboo stalks are shredded into strands, infused with a dense adhesive compound (free from harmful VOCs) and cold-pressed into long railroad tie blocks where they’re carefully dried and condition over several months. EcoFusion also grows, harvests and processes their own bamboo so they know exactly where it comes from and how it gets there.
2. Recycled Strand Woven Poplar: Created using 100% recycled scraps of poplar veneers from the furniture industry, EcoFusion is proud that no trees are required to make this eco-friendly flooring. With a Janka rating near 4000, this variety of floor is constructed similarly to the strand woven bamboo, meaning its also extremely stable, reduces expansion and contraction and free from VOCs.
3. Color Fusion™ Engineered: In addition to the process behind the Strand Woven Bamboo, this eco-friendly flooring is also available in a wide variety of shades, allowing consumers to find the perfect fit for their home. EcoFusion’s patented Color Fusion technology dyes the bamboo strands with pure plant-based pigments.

All of EcoFusion’s bamboo flooring qualify for credits under the LEED Green Building Rating System, another reason to consider their floors. Want to know more? Ask our experts what they love about EcoFusion’s eco-friendly flooring next time you visit our showroom!

Photo Credit: EcoFusion

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HomerWood offers a wide array of hardwood flooring options for homeowners, including pre-finished varieties, wider and longer planks than many manufacturers, reclaimed wood and designs like wire brushed and soft scraped. For those that want distressed floors, HomerWood’s premium hardwood flooring is hand-scraped by local Pennsylvania Dutch craftsmen that use techniques perfect by generations of Amish woodworkers.

How sustainable is HomerWood? A member of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc., they contribute to the continued successful growth and sustainability of their forests. In fact, the Appalachian Hardwood Forest is adding 2.29 trees for every single tree harvested and has more trees today than it had 70 years ago. In addition to being their stewardship of the forests, HomerWood is a zero percent waste company and their plant is FSC certified.

Want to learn more? Visit www.homerwood.com or contact us for additional details!

Photo courtesy of HomerWood

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1. Figure out the size area rug you want. Measure the space and choose one that is two feet shorter than the smallest wall in the room (this is HGTV's Karl Lohnes’ rule of thumb). Standard rug sizes are 4 x 6, 5 x 8, 6 x 9, 8 x 10, 9 x 12 and 12 x 14.
2. Think about your color scheme, design and texture. Do you already have furniture? As you go to look at area rugs, bring one of your cushions with you so you can match it to the colors already in the room. Thirty percent of a room’s color is dominated by the color of your floor coloring, so make sure you coordinate it with the other tones throughout the room. Pick a design that fits with the feel of your home and your lifestyle. For example, area rugs covered in geometric shapes tend to be perfect for a modern home, and those with floral patterns are better for are more traditional English feel. If you’re the type of person that likes to go barefoot, think about how it will feel beneath your feet. If you make a lot of messes, try to find a pattern and texture that can hide stains.
3. Start browsing. Before you think about price, look at all the options to decide what you want. Look in magazines, visit various stores and take your time deciding what you want. Once you’re ready to buy, Washington-based interior designer Patrick J. Baglino, Jr. recommends looking for name brand retailers and manufacturers, such as Karastan, Royal Intercontinental, Merida Meridian, Elson and Tufenkian to find the best price.
4. Choose your materials carefully. Do you want it made by from natural or man-made fibers? Wool rugs are the most common as they’re durable and easy to maintain, but there are other options for those that want an area rug made of natural materials including silk, viscose, cotton and jute. Man-made fibers like nylon and polypropylene tend to be cheaper and easy to maintain although they aren’t as eco-friendly.
5. Look for a high-quality rug. Consider the craftsmanship. Is it hand woven, hand tufted, machine-woven or tufted? Is their precision in the design? If it’s wool, was it moth proofed? How dense is it? The denser the rug, the longer it will last.

An area rug can add a really nice design element to your home. Want more advice for finding the perfect addition to your hardwood floors? Contact us and we’ll share our insight!

Photo courtesy of HomerWood Premium Hardwood Flooring

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A great place to get reclaimed flooring is from Southend Building Products, Inc. In fact, we're very excited that we just started working with them! We like to recommend them for several reasons, including their high-quality products and commitment to sustainability.

Southend Building Products has been a leader in the reclaimed and green building industry for more than a decade. Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company finds obsolete textile mills, barns, and factories (most are 250,000 square feet or bigger) throughout the Carolinas and carefully pulls them apart, reclaiming each piece of wood and brick as well as metals and glass, to be used again.

For those that want a completely eco-friendly home, Southend Building Products provides more than reclaimed wood. They also sell sustainable brick, green finishes and stains, eco-friendly flooring adhesives and more.

Find out more about Southend Building Products at www.southendbuilding.com or ask our experts next time you visit our showroom!

Photo courtesy of Southend Building Products

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Curious how the process works? There are a few key steps when it comes to reclaiming wood to use as hardwood flooring in a home:

1. The manufacturer looks for obsolete structures built with wood species like pine, oak and chestnut and carefully harvests the wood, keeping them from taking up space in a landfill.
2. After being removed, the best timbers are selected and de-nailed by hand before being sent to the sawmill.
3. The sawmill runs the timbers through a process that helps prevent shrinking and swelling in addition to making sure they’re strong and supportive.

What are the benefits to reclaimed hardwood flooring? In addition to the sustainability factor, reclaimed wood has a natural distressed look due to its history such as random nail holes.

Is it possible to get reclaimed engineered flooring? Yes! In fact, reclaimed engineered flooring can be even better than solid because it helps the harvested timber last longer (just the top layer is reclaimed hardwood), can handle rooms prone to moisture with less expansion and contraction, and provides more stability than solid hardwood floors.

Want to know more about reclaimed flooring? Contact us or come visit our showroom!

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As we’ve explained before, engineered hardwood is comprised of finished wood and less expensive, stronger wood layers pressed together, with the grains running in different directions. So the construction involves gluing various wood plies, or plywood (also referred to as core board), with a veneer of real hardwood on top.

To make sure the engineered hardwood flooring is strong, the core board is created by stacking pieces of plywood together in opposite directions before gluing them together. This process actually makes them more stable than solid hardwood, so they can withstand moisture, humidity and temperature changes without as much expansion and contraction.

Curious about the differences in price? Some engineered wood floors are more expensive because core boards can also be made with high density fiberboard (HDF) which is even more dimensionally stable than the plywood variety (although it costs more to make due to using more expensive materials).

Thickness of the top veneer, ranges from 0.6mm to 6mm; the thicker it is, the higher quality of the engineered flooring (and the higher the price). As you select the thickness, make sure you get veneer that is at least 2mm thick if you plan on sanding and refinishing at any point.

Another reason for price difference has to do with the real hardwood veneer on the top of the flooring. The cutting method also impacts the overall cost:

1. Dry solid-sawn is the most expensive type. The wood is slowly dried out with a low humidity level so the moisture inside the wood cells remain, which reduces the risk of cupping. This is the variety that looks and acts most like a solid hardwood floor.
Pros: Looks the most like solid hardwood and has the strongest grain structure.
Cons: It’s the most expensive to make and produces the lowest amount of wood veneer.
2. Rotary-peel can have issues with cupping and warping. After being boiled, it’s created by scraping the wood from the outside of a log to the inside.
Pros: Is the most affordable and produces the highest amount of wood veneer.
Cons: Looks the least like solid hardwood and the weakest structure.
3. Sliced-peel also comes from a boiled log, but is sliced from the end instead.
Pros: Produces a better amount of wood veneer than dry solid-sawn and is a medium cost. It also looks more like solid wood and is stronger structurally than rotary-peel.
Cons: It doesn’t look as much like solid hardwood as dry solid-sawn and is more expensive than rotary-peel.

An additional construction element to be aware of include the quality of the glue used to hold the layers together. Cheaper ones generally emit more VOCs (specifically formaldehyde), so look for those that are E1 or E0 class or CARB-compliant.

Want to know more? Contact our experts to find out which type of engineered hardwood flooring would be best for your home, lifestyle and budget!

Photo courtesy of Colonial Craft

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1. Flat or Plain Sawn – the most common type, strips are cut off the log into planks of wood.
2. Quarter Sawn – the log is divided into fourths before being cut into strips of wood.
3. Rift Sawn – the log is cut at a different angle (kind of like a pizza), making it more stable (and also more expensive).

After strips are cut from the log, they’re graded based on their appearance and planed on all sides to smooth out the saw marks and make sure the plank is level.

Once the strips are planed, they’re put through a machine that cuts tongue and groove edges so the boards can fit together tightly, and to allow for expansion and contraction of the planks. For homeowners that choose distressed hardwood floors, the boards are hand scraped next.

Lastly, the planks of wood are sealed or stained with protective finish or shipped out unfinished, depending on which type of solid hardwood flooring the consumer chooses. Some prefer their floors to be prefinished as it can make installation easier, although those finished following installation will actually retain the seal longer.

Want to know more? Give us a call, and keep an eye out for our next post that will share how engineered wood flooring is made.

Photo Credit: Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden

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For homeowners worried about VOCs, Plankfloor is compliant with the strictest emission standards and CARB Phase II certified to protect the home’s air quality. It’s FSC certified, too!

Find out more about Owens Flooring’s Plankfloor on Quanex.com, and be sure to let us know if you want additional engineered hardwood flooring suggestions!

Photo courtesy of Owens Wood Flooring

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Here are 3 reasons to consider bamboo flooring:

1. Eco-Friendly and Healthy. Bamboo is one of the most sustainable flooring materials available. Unlike traditional hardwoods that take 20-120 years to mature, bamboo is ready in 3-5 years, and harvesting doesn’t affect the root system, meaning the plant can simply keep growing over and over again. Bamboo floors are also known for their low levels of chemical emissions, or VOCs, and for resisting allergens. When it comes to cleaning, all the homeowner needs to do is use a damp cloth – no cleaning chemicals are necessary!
2. Practical. A lot of people worry about the practicality of bamboo flooring, but the reality is it actually stronger than steel yet flexible enough to use in building. In regards to price, bamboo floors tend to be less per square foot when compared to common hardwood flooring like oak, walnut or pine. Naturally moisture repellant and fire resistant, its no wonder bamboo has become a common kitchen flooring trend.
3. Color and Style. Although bamboo comes in two colors (natural tan and carbonized brown), it’s easy to adjust the color to fit with any color. Plyboo has created a wide variety of color choices and variations that go beyond the standard.

See additional reasons to invest in bamboo flooring at Bambooki, or just ask one of our experts next time you stop by our showroom!

Photo courtesy of EcoTimber

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