Beach Cottages

Many readers here will remember watching the mystery television show Murder, She Wrote. Wherein author, slash detective, Jessica Fletcher notoriously found herself in the middle of a not so kosher murder. Over the course of a few stumbles and fabulous clues, Ms. Fletcher, would solve the case and continue on her merry way.

Jessica’s 1888 Victorian home was set in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine. And although  this location was filled with mystery and murder, I was completely fascinated with the interior and theme of Jessica’s home. Not only did the coastal location lend to the mood, every interior detail was perfect.

Coastal cottage decor is very much in right now! And while it is awesome to find little accessories and pieces of furniture to compliment every corner of your indoor theme, perhaps the largest portion of your design is the most difficult to pinpoint.

While wallpaper or paint may take a little bit of time to select, it is easily compared or redone. Flooring, most of the time overlooked, tends to be a bit harder to select. Which species, color, texture and durability? There are many features that come into play with such a narrow theme. However,one of Super Floor Center’s newest products offers the best overall compliments for your north eastern beach home.

Whitewash Coastal Bamboo is available in both solid Nantucket, and engineered Cape Cod bamboo product. This Strand Woven Bamboo features light hand scraping details filled with chatter and character. Available in a 5 foot width, this Eco Timber product provides the perfect touch to a little Cottage along the coast.

Not only does it offer a distressed look, it is made out of Strand Woven bamboo for optimum durability under heavy foot traffic. Bamboo is stripped apart to boil and soak in resin. Once it is finish the strands are then compacted together to form planks and eventually, flooring. Because this method of manufacturing allows the Bamboo to soak in resin, it forms a durable barrier inside and out against damage.

So if you are looking to style your home similar to that of Jessica Fletcher’s, don’t forget to stop by Super Floor Center, and check out our extensive line of Eco Friendly Bamboo, and newest addition of Whitewash Coastal Bamboo.

Hardwood Flooring Samples

Would you buy a car straight off the lot without researching any information? Have you purchased a house on a whim? You wouldn’t simply run out and decide to drop tons of cash on such a large investment, without learning about pros and cons, or reading specs and testing it out yourself. That is, unless you’re part of the Trump family tree.

Flooring is the third largest purchase someone will ever make. First biggest is a house, and second is a vehicle, making hardwood a very important part of everyday living. People and pets will walk, play, bounce, run, rough house, and slobber all over it. Wood will be expected to adjust to indoor temperatures and levels of humidity without a second thought, as well as to stand up to other various modern standards while being affordable and dependable.

If you take a little trip down search engine lane, you will find a large resource of flooring retailers who offer samples in their hardwood and carpet programs. And while you may find the occasional free sample, you are most likely going to spend $1-$5 per sample, including free shipping. Choosing to pay a small amount for a package of samples insures you will receive (A) something you’re interested in, (B) a product to suit your needs, and (C) flooring you can afford.

Solid Bamboo Floor Samples

Most consumers have a general idea of characteristics they like in a hardwood. Whether it’s a natural color, features hand scraped details or offers a thick top in engineered form. It is much easier to have a brief understanding of what your home requires before taking the plunge. Don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and speak with a sales rep to discuss your needs beforehand. They should have the knowledge and understanding to guide you towards a smart, compatible choice, as well as a free quote.

About Hardwood Grain Patterns

Each and every branch of hardwood flooring features grain patterns according to how the tree grew, and how the pieces were individually cut. Most of the time, manufacturers use a template to cut each trunk the same way depending on the species. You will find line, hue and tone variations throughout every plank due to the fact that it’s a completely natural product.

But many people may wonder how grain patterns are formed while the tree is still growing. You may know that each tree exhibits one growth ring for each year of it’s life. Moving out from the pith, a tree features heartwood, sapwood, cambium and bark as part of it’s entire trunk. Each part of the makeup serves a different purpose in the category of building materials.

Depending on the way a tree is cut, you will get one of three grain patterns within a plank.  Plain Sawing is used for regular lumber, quarter sawing produces parallel cuts featuring flat grain along the edges. Live sawing is available upon request from a woodworker to produce significantly wider boards than any other method.

Because of the possible ways to cut a tree, there is a variety of grain types featuring definite direction. End, Plain, Quarter and Long grain are produced whenever wood is processed in any particular manner. Many of these patterns have been favored highly in regards to flooring, building and interior decor.

Many exotic trees are abundant with thick, dark grain patterns creating a moister product for flooring. Mineral deposits and moisture play their parts in growth rings, and these streaks retain water throughout the life of the plank. Many individuals have issues installing exotic hardwoods in their homes because of the characteristic lines and streaks. It is more difficult to acclimate an exotic flooring to a dry climate, such as that of Utah and the like. With a moist product you have to remember to lengthen the time for adjusting to new environments, to prevent shrinking, warping, buckling and cupping throughout the year.

Find Us On Pinterest!

Redecorating your home is a huge undertaking! There are many aspects that come into play with color, texture and character. Not only do you want your home to be unique and beautiful, you want it to be a visual representation of who you are. Many people create a dream book of clippings and paint chips for future room ensembles. These collections tend to grow quickly, and soon overflow with ideas.

Some people may have turned to the ever useful MicrosoftOffice program to paste images and links with descriptions of home decor. While this is a great tool to use, it’s difficult to access online from a different computer… unless you have emailed it to yourself. It takes a little bit of time to gather all of the info, and switching screens back and forth, but the end result is a more organized look book.

But those of us who work from any given location at a time need an online space to design, share and inspire. Thankfully Pinterest has surfaced as a public board pinning frenzy of pictures, and fashion, and design; subscription available upon request. Not only can you create and maintain multiple boards, you can also view another user’s collection of turtle inspired origami as it’s updated!

While everyone at Super Floor Center understands that you are going crazy looking for particular floral patterns, we are putting our effort into a collection of boards to spark imagination. Not only are our pins helpful and creative, many of the items are real, and readily available from online retailers. There’s nothing more disappointing than finding a fabulous piece of furniture, than to realize you can’t buy it.

Our boards are divided by color, with the exception of one reserved for advertisements. Color accent boards are updated by our designer, Ericka, so you can draw creativity into your home for an environment that works for you! From there, you can like, and re-pin from board to board without skipping a beat. Most product pins will be backed up with relevant links to more information, and specific store landing pages for your convenience!

Thanks for reading our blog - Happy Pinning!

Add Exotic Flair

With all of the unique, tropical trees we have in the world it can be tough to pick one sole product to jazz up your home with. Many hardwoods offer the same touches as others do, durable Janka ratings, exclusive color and detailed personality. Each wood is different, depending on it’s country of origin, with the way it reacts to moisture, sunlight and foot traffic. And if you’re looking to get an exotic pick that offers an all inclusive package, take a moment to look at Tigerwood.

Several brands promote different species of hardwood with the color name Tigerwood, such as Acacia and Strand Woven Bamboo. But we are talking about Natural Tigerwood itself, also known as Brazilian (or Hawaiian) Koa. Often used to craft fine guitars, this wood boasts a Janka rating varying anywhere from 1850 to 2160, depending on where harvesting took place. This little beauty also darkens in color after prolonged exposure to the sun, adding more depth to it’s brilliant highlights and dramatic lowlights. You will notice the colors may blend into a reddish hue from sunlight, lessening the contrast between grain “stripes”.

Preparations for such a beautiful exotic hardwood shouldn’t be taken lightly. Tigerwood should be allowed to acclimate for a minimum of 72 hours in an air controlled room of the home. Each end of the box should be opened to allow for ample air flow and moisture adjustment. Your air conditioner should be running as it normally would so the wood can become accustomed to daily indoor surroundings.

Keep in mind amidst the handling of sample boards and online images, you will find the product that is the right wood for your home. It’s important to understand your household’s demands and requirements before delving into the mass of hardwood flooring information. Levels of foot traffic should determine a lot of the good candidates before moving onto aesthetics and environmentally friendliness.

Easy DIY Carpet

One part of cutting expenses is finding ways to get as much done yourself rather than paying someone else to do it. Many DIYers choose to pickup their flooring deliveries at freight terminals to relieve themselves of a home delivery fee. Other people realize buying something as important as underlayment locally can cut down on shipping and handling fees; delivery can easily outweigh the cost of material. But, have you thought of installing the next carpet project yourself?

Carpet tiles are normally found in commercial locations such as offices, small boutiques and apartment complexes. They feature durable fibers over a PVC vinyl backing that is installed using a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Because they are found in sizes ranging anywhere from 20″x20″ to 40″x40″ square tiles they are simple to install and easy to switch out when any kind of irreversible damage occurs. Commercial tiles tend to feature a loop or Berber styled carpet.

What many homeowners don’t realize is that carpet tiles are also available in residential styles with attached padding! You can also find tiles in plush and frieze carpet with a variety of colors and fiber heights. Some tiles feature attached polyurethane padding rather than a PVC vinyl back as commercial rated ones do. Whether you are looking to install tiles over a sub floor or concrete pad, you will be interested to know they can be used pretty much anywhere.

If you are looking for a quick fix to your flooring problem, carpet tiles can be floated side by side as a temporary use. Don’t expect these tiles to stay put though, unless you have locked them in with trim they will move and need to be repositioned. Some retailers suggest laying out tape in a square pattern to hold down tiles, however we don’t see this as an acceptable form of installation. FLOR manufactures carpet tiles, and offers a “dot” system, which includes sticky pieces of plastic laid between two meeting tiles.

Whichever way you decide to install your tiles, make sure you add overage to your project for backup. Not only will you need to “measure twice and cut once”; those extras can come in handy further down the road. Whenever you, your family or pets has an accident on your floor it’s easy to pull out individual tiles and replace them with another, clean, backup tile.

Looking for a Rug?

For years covering up hardwood flooring with carpet and rugs was the thing to do. And while many people have recognized their ways and revealed their beautiful hardwoods again, some individuals feel it necessary to add rugs to their inner decor.

Now, we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with rugs, nor are we judging your use of them. But if you insist on making them part of your floor, please take the care and treatment your wood into consideration before hopping in the car to make your purchase.

In previous posts we have discussed how sunlight effects hardwood depending on the species. Tropical woods darken into a richer color while others may look a little faded, etc. This isn’t to be thought of as anything out of the ordinary, it’s to be expected with natural products.

Home owners also have to beware of furniture by protecting legs and feet with felt pads. Not only do they help move heavy furniture around on wood, they prevent gouges and scratches to the surface. Some may seek a different result by using rubber-like pads to prevent pieces from sliding everywhere.

No matter the intention, you should always take steps of precaution while shopping for that desired centerpiece. Just as you purchase underlayment for hardwood, and carpet pad for carpeting, you should invest in a good quality rug pad. There are several different styles, prices and materials to best suit your needs.

Take time to measure your floor space to determine the precise dimensions before you begin searching for a rug. When ordering your pad use the rug dimensions minus an inch or two and the edges of your rug will cover the padding.

If you do have hardwood flooring in your home, and are looking to add a rug, please refrain from using textured pads. To prevent any type of odd grooves from transferring to your wood, only shop for smooth surface pads. That being said, you might consider staying away from PVC backed rugs, and only consider those with ActionBac material; waffle like weaved appearance.

While there isn’t anything you can do to prevent the sun from reacting with exposed wood, following these guidelines can help prevent other damages from using a rug. While wood is beautiful on its own, sometimes the addition of a rug makes all the difference.