Click-Lock Hardwood

Click-lock wood floors are a quick, fantastic flooring option, especially for those of us who aren’t so power tool savvy. Ordinarily, to install new hardwood floors, you’d need to get your hands on an air compressor with accompanying hoses, a finish nailer, a floor nailer (different from the finish nailer), special floor staples, a power saw, extra sticky wood glue, wood putty that matches the finish of the flooring… not to mention the flooring itself!

Snap-together wood flooring is easy to install. With its unique and secure tongue-and-groove system, you can have beautiful, durable hardwood totally installed in a weekend! Since it’s a glue free project, it’s practically mess free too. Almost always, click-lock floors come prefinished, saving you painstaking hours of sanding and finishing. They make the perfect project for a novice carpenter with a basic set of skills. Of course, if you run into trouble locking your floors into place, you can always call your friends at Flacks Flooring.

Before you start cutting and snapping your new hardwoods into place, you’ve got to measure the room or the area you want to re-floor. If you happen to be re-doing a square room, just multiply the width by the length. Always purchase a little bit more than you think you’ll need for the job (10 to 15 percent extra) tom make up for irregular boards and possible click-lock mishaps. To prevent warping, let the boards sit in your home for 48 hours to adjust to its temperature and humidity. While you wait for the wood to acclimate to its new home, you can ensure the subfloor (whatever it may be) is level, even and free of squeaks. Staple a vapor barrier underlayment to the subfloor with plenty of overlap between sheets.

Once the groundwork has been taken care of, you can start planning the layout of the planks. For a solid base, planks should be laid perpendicular to floor joists. The longest wall is the easiest place to start sliding in your first row of boards. You should lay the first row along a perfectly straight line about a quarter of an inch away from the wall. This will allow the wood to expand and contract and ensure you start along line that’s truly straight.

Between the first and last rows, installation is a snap. Other than some occasional saw work, you’ll be clicking boards into place with ease. Just insert them at a tilt and snap them in. Diagonal nails can be added between each row if desired. Complete the floor by cutting the last row to the correct width to fit against the wall. Make sure to leave expansion space again. Finally, reinstall any trim or baseboards you might have removed and enjoy your fancy new floor!

Click-Lock Hardwood

Bold Colored Carpet

Sometime after 1960s pink and 1980s gold, beige became the universal color for carpeting. The gradual beige invasion sure has made carpet shopping easier. Why spend time sorting through colors, patterns and textures galore, when a light, brownish gray would do just fine?

The truth is that, while beige is certainly versatile, it can also be a bit blah. Many professional interior designers avoid the color altogether to avoid having their look labeled “safe.” Combining colors may seem intimidating with all of the available options but with a little know-how you can unlock powerful design secrets and select eye-popping colors with confidence.

One way to go about choosing a carpet color is to think about it terms of warm and cool. Most shades that are considered outdated at the moment, like green and mauve, tend toward the cooler and of the warm-cool color spectrum. Current carpet trends favor warmer colors. Greens are still around, for instance, but they have been warmed up considerably. Earthy colors such as chestnut, stone, quartz, khaki and suede are also very much in demand.

Another color selection strategy involves the interplay of light and dark. In general, darker, warmer shades will make a room feel more intimate, especially if they are echoed in the color of the walls. Medium browns and rusts will anchor the room and give your furniture a grounded appearance. A light carpet works well for formal and detail-driven rooms. Because they don’t bring much attention to themselves, they let your furnishings really shine. Light colors may not seem like a bold design decision but consider how a white or cream carpet would look against darkly painted walls. That’s anything but blah!

It seems that the boldest color choices are made by those who know what they’re are doing (or just those that think they do). Applying a bright color to a carpet selection may be just what you need to bring a room to life. Game rooms, play rooms, basements and casual spaces all make great canvases for bold colors. Success will come through pairing a bold carpet with paint, fabric and accessory pieces that coordinate well together.  If you’re too nervous to install that bright teal Berber, however, any color can be made neutral by adding gray. Warm neutrals can also be achieved by graying down the oranges and the browns. The grayer the color, the more neutral it becomes. Carpet tile is another great, non-intimidating way to work in a shock of color.

Knowing how warm and cool colors affect a space and how to use lights, darks, neutrals and brights are the keys to beautiful floors and more.  Take this knowledge, mix it with your own likes and dislikes and you’ll have the room of your dreams in a matter of days.

Bold Colored Carpet