Attractive High-Traffic Flooring

We are looking at making a large unfinished room in our walk out basement into a bedroom. Once our kids are heading off to college, the basement area will be reconfigured to take advantage of the walk out into the yard so it can be used for entertaining. Hopefully our students will bring their friends home to visit, after all! Looking at floor coverings that will suit these seemingly opposite purposes has brought me to consider some interesting choices.

Finished concrete flooring offers many different choices. Simply going with polished concrete would put a marble-like shine on the gray surface. There are also gorgeous stains that add a rich, textured warmth to the hard surface and offer many options. Stencils are another way to make a concrete slab into a unique aesthetic. This video makes the process look tedious, but illustrates the environmentally friendly products available and the range of flexibility in design potential.

There are also diverse types of tiles that should be quite simple to put down over concrete. One I had never considered before is interlocking deck tile. With the many colors and textures available and the option to install them to create a pattern, an elegant and interesting look should be simple to achieve and easy to install.

FLOR Tiles have been on my radar for a long time. They are easy to install (whereas wall to wall carpeting is not) and this company really offers amazing design range. Many of their products are fun and vibrant, and they use recycled content and are recyclable. Their "House Pet" style is designed to be outdoor friendly. A similar product that has a heartier look and a great green factor is Tire Tex recycled tire carpet tiles.

I'm still on the hunt. The problem isn't that I don't like anything, it's that I like everything!

April Showers Bring Landscape Alive

As the home I have been posting about nears completion, the landscape design is the next thing in the works. These April showers should be softening the ground for some new landscaping to go into the soil. This will make the beautiful front porch setting and fabulous back deck areas ready to enjoy when the sun finally comes out!

Here is a sneak peak at the proposed layout. The front walkways and a back patio will use an exposed pebble aggregate finish. This can be an inexpensive means to create an organic feel for walkways and patios. The link provided is not to a local service provider, but does offer some nice views of aggregate used in landscape design.

Intitial landscape design proposal. 

More of this project will come after the installation has been completed--keep following the team's progress for before and after photos!