Archive for December, 2011

Bring your pet In Your Carpet

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Sometimes, you won’t want to simply settle for things as they are in your home. Should you be looking for any unique and complicated flooring style to convey your inner animal, think about using animal print carpet for the floors.

Animal prints give your house a subtle, natural look or perhaps a bold reflection of nature’s most vibrant animals, based on your taste and preferences.

The Sneaky Snake

Snake designs work well due to the contrasting colors within the rug. These types of designs easily hide stains or dirt – if you have any sort of accident – because of the spots and colours. Blacks, browns, mustards and grays make snake patterns versatile and right for many of the different types of spaces in your home.

The Teasing Tiger

Tiger patterns present more contrast than snake patterns. The black stands out from the vivid yellow or orange background, which kinds of designs create a bold statement for your home. Different yellows or creams may be used as the field colors, so consider this when you are determining what type of atmosphere you want in your areas.

Tiger patterns also look wonderful with complementary colors and patterns to have an urban modern look in your home, that is certain to evoke plenty of compliments from your family and friends.

The Zesty Zebra

Zebra patterns are wild and fun when accented with bright colors. Or a more elaborate look, match zebra patterns with emerald greens, dark woods and golds. With such striking contrast, zebra patterns aren’t subtle, but when applied within the right setting you may create an exceptional design that will wow these potential customers.

The Alluring Antelope

Punctuating tans and browns with small white dots give a room a warm feeling. This pattern also hides small stains and will work well with wooden interiors or perhaps in rustic settings like cabins and mountain homes.

The Cheeky Cheetah

The Cheetah and leopard patterns have always been the symbol of royalty for a lot of tribal African kings. Cheetah patterns are full of browns and complement dark, rich colors, while golds and whites inspire a regal look, showing off your character and individuality.

The Environmentally Friendly Advantages of Hardwood flooring

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

With regards to your home renovation, there are many options to make, including how eco-friendly you would like assembling your shed to be. Among the largest impacts you can make around the eco-friendliness of the renovation would be to consider hardwood flooring.

Wood Is a Renewable Resource

It appears obvious, but wood, unlike many other materials employed for flooring, originates from among earth’s easiest-to-renew resources. Instead of depleting the earth of clay for tiling or oil for the plastic in carpeting, hardwood floors come from trees and even bamboo. Obviously, certain varieties of tree grow much more quickly than the others, making them a far more viable source for wood flooring, plus some farms only take part in sustainable growth and harvesting practices, making their wood more eco-conscious. To be sure that your wood was sustainably grown, ask your contractor for certification from the Forest Stewardship Council or LEED certification.

Be cautious about Chemical Finishing

With a few types of flooring, off-put from chemical toxins (VOCs) is a real problem. VOCs begin as chemicals, like formaldehyde, and are used to preserve and finished the flooring. These chemicals have low boiling points, which causes them to vaporize at room temperature. These vapors have been proven to be toxic to humans and also the environment and have even been proven to encourage cancerous growth. Carpet is especially notorious for containing VOCs, but if you select any flooring that’s been unsustainably treated, you could be putting your family at risk of VOC exposure.

Chose Your Finish Wisely

Rather than exposing your family to VOCs, request a water-based low- or no-VOC finish for the floors. Low- or no-VOC finishes are much more eco-friendly as they do not off-put harmful VOC gasses like formaldehyde into the environment and they make sure the wood contains fewer chemicals so it can later be repurposed.

Wood Is Reusable and Recyclable

Reclaimed wood (wood that was used) can be repurposed for a variety of different projects including, but not restricted to, furniture builds, decks as well as as new flooring. Once wood is not usable as reclaimed wood, it may be further reused/recycled into mulch, animal bedding, pressed woods or any other of the number of wood-based products. Should the day come when your hardwood flooring are no longer viable as flooring, you know they are able to still go on to help the earth rather than visiting the dump.