Today was pretty productive already, and it is only 1 pm. My weekend was no different. My weekend was insane. I facebooked this morning that I needed a weekend from my weekend, and it was no exaggeration. Between this bar project, four other clients in the midst of projects, and producing another musical, I only sat still for about 10 minutes and slept little more.
I met with my restaurant clients to go over the drawings for the table arrangements. We made some decisions, and I tightened up some measurements.
We went to see Bud, who is crafting the bar, to finalize wood stains. True to form, this decision created a domino effect. I felt that the first selections of stains were too orange since the bar is being fabricated out of maple, which naturally has a reddish undertone. We decided instead on Old World stain, which is a wonderful rich brown, and not too deep to hide the grain. But as a result, this selection required that the floor stain now be changed to a slightly deeper tone, because the contrast between the floor and the bar stain was just too great.
Though it is never simple, I am really happy with the choices. This maple stain brings out the metallic highlights in the glass tile that will cover four enormous columns. And the new floor stain complements the wood-look tile planks perfectly.
Remember Betsy from Tuesday’s post? To catch you up, Betsy is remodeling the Kitchen in her 95 year old house. Yesterday her workers prepared the floor for her gorgeous green penny round tile. They had to scrape through 5 layers to get to the original wood floor. One layer was particularly fabulous.
Unfortunately, this linoleum beauty is too far gone to be restored. Betsy said it just peeled away like cardboard. What I would give for an original floor like this. It is hard to see from her photos, but Betsy said the floor has silver and gold flecks, and all sorts of funky mod colors. I can see my signature olive and teal in there. Excuse me while I swoon.
Please don’t confuse linoleum with vinyl. I have heard many people refer to the vinyl flooring that rolls out in sheets as linoleum, but the two are as different as chocolate and carob coating. Both are categorized as Resilient, but genuine linoleum, while still available, was popular from 1900-1950. Linoleum is a natural product made from linseed oil, pine resins, ground wood and ground limestone. Strong, healthy, vibrant and colorfast, linoleum combines durability with style. It is naturally antimicrobic and outgases very little VOCs.
Vintage floors were often stylized, bold, graphic, detailed and colorful. I found these on flickr, from JAVA1888, a world and 50 years from today’s beige tile.
I wish I knew why in the United States linoleum was replaced by vinyl. The last US factory closed in 1975. The manufactures that still carry it obtain it from Europe. Here are some photos from Marmoleum.
The linoleum floor was a work of art. And later, the linoleum floor again becomes a work of art. Bill Miller uses salvaged pieces of former floors to create incredible collage paintings.
The search engine requests from my web statistics give me insight into what people are googling to be to Design Strategies. I have noticed some version of the terms Mixing Woods every month.
Like many decorating decisions, the introduction of wood tones into a plan requires some conscious awareness, but at the same time, when I visit a space for a first time I never think, “Well, this would be nice if the wood tones coordinated better.”
I hear about this fear from my clients, too. Mixing Wood Tones scares people. I think part of this comes from the choices of the recent past. About 20 years ago there was natural oak (country) and deep cherry (traditional). And they didn’t work very well in the same space.
Today case goods are readily available in retail furniture stores in an easier mix of palettes. Deep nearly grain-less dark brown tones commonly called espresso and equally grain-less birch are very common. Both play well with others.
Choose wood tones that coordinate well with the entire plan. The fore mentioned oak works well in casual rooms, where the rules are looser. If the flooring is wood, consideration should be given to its tone as well. It is not necessary to match the wood on the furniture to the wood on the floor. Not necessary or even desirable. A knotty pine floor, oak cabinetry and painted end tables could be interesting here. In a contemporary plan, light bamboo floors would be a perfect backdrop to a dynamic teak.
I don’t think it is a mistake to sometimes place an area rug on top of wall to wall carpet. Many homes (and especially condos) are mostly carpeted so defining separate areas can be more of a challenge.
Using a contrasting area rug can solve the problem by grouping an area visually. In the photo, although this area is in a separate room, it is open to the more formal space next to it. The addition of a deep, dark, textured rug emphasizes the point–This space is for reading and TV viewing.
I just finished writing a Design Recap for the clients I mentioned on Saturday. I am absolutely and completely enamored with their Alexandria split level.
I can’t believe how perfect the tiles in the bathrooms are. They are beautiful. AND SOME ARE PEA GREEN. (really-pee green..)
For the blue tile in the Hall Bath, I chose a really golden green, Sherwin Williams Independent Gold. Yea, more pea. (pee.) Ten years ago I would have said “Rip it out!” I have to confess.
Today, I am envious.
I love cork floors.
A sustainable substance, cork is environmentally friendly. Durable yet soft on the feet, cork maintains an even temperature and is sound absorbing. It is being used in condos as an under layer because of its sound deadening ability.
Best of all, cork flooring is beautiful. It gives a room subtle, deep texture. I recommended it to my client, Sharron, last year. I viewed it Thursday and was amazed by how rich a straight forward foyer can become. Not surprising, I knew it would be the perfect treatment for the 1962 split level home I worked on today.
Today’s product, perfect in yesterday’s construction.