Elaborate Cover-Ups

When Tustin graphic designer Carrol Caldwell decided to replace her kitchen floor, she knew that tile or vinyl flooring just wouldn’t do.

“I wanted something really different,” says Caldwell, who found her solution during a home tour.

“In a little old house in Solana Beach, I saw a kitchen floor covered in magazine covers from gourmet food magazines,” said Caldwell, who runs a company that manufactures vinyl inspirational sayings for floors and walls.

“I had been saving copies of home-related magazines for years, because I liked their cover designs and layouts, and this gave me something to do with them,” she said.

With the help of a friend, Caldwell installed the floor herself, trying a variety of methods until she discovered what worked. Eventually she found that the best way to install the floor was to apply the magazine covers with wallpaper paste and then cover them with epoxy.

“In many ways, making the floor was like creating a patchwork quilt,” she said. “You can make it as personal as you want. On one of the magazine covers in the window of a house, I put a picture of myself and my sister.”

When it’s time to change flooring, today’s homeowners don’t automatically decide on wall-to-wall carpeting, vinyl or tile. Many consumers know they have many more options, from hand-distressed wood to patterned carpeting.

“People want something different in flooring today,” said Dave Czerniak, president of Floorworks in Costa Mesa, a floor-covering source for interior designers. “Thanks to consumer demand and new technology, there’s a lot more options and opportunities to be creative.”

There’s something new in just about every area of flooring, including the fairly recent introduction of Pergo, a laminate flooring that comes in a wide variety of designs and colors. You’ll find something new even in wood and carpeting.

Carpeting

Forget about shag and plush pile covering the floor. Today’s carpeting is low-profile--only about 5/8 of an inch thick--which gives it a commercial look. This new style of carpeting comes in a variety of patterns and colors, said Donna Ahlf, director of sales in the flooring department at Glabman Furniture in Costa Mesa.

It’s also popular to use different colors of carpeting throughout the home, Ahlf said. “Five to 10 years ago, people put all of the same color carpet in a house, but nowadays designers are treating each room separately,” she said. “In an average-size house, for instance, we’ll put two to three different carpets that all have the same color tone and pattern. Bordering rooms in coordinating patterns and colors is also popular.”

While nylon carpeting is the old standby, wool is in style, Czerniak said. “People are finding that wool makes for a higher-end carpeting that lasts longer and looks better,” he said. “It’s kind of like the difference between a wool suit and a polyester one.”

Wood

Wood continues to be popular and is showing signs of surpassing carpeting in popularity, Ahlf said. “We’re starting to do more wood sales than carpeting,” she said.

The latest trend is hand-distressed wood that is made to look antique. Distressing is done to just about any type of wood in varying degrees, depending on the look that is desired.

Also new on the scene is bamboo flooring, which is made of bamboo planks and gives an interior a tropical feel.

“Bamboo is a durable, good-looking floor that works well in entryways, sun rooms, dens, office and kitchens--anywhere you want a more casual, tropical feel,” Czerniak said.

Options in wood include solid wood and engineered laminated wood, the later composed of wood layers. Engineered laminated wood can be glued to a concrete floor, which makes installing wood floors possible in just about any home.

Stone

Natural stone such as marble, limestone and granite have been gaining popularity in the last several years.

“The beauty of natural stone is that every piece is unique,” Czerniak said. “You don’t get consistency with it.”

Stone types are often mixed to give an even more creative effect. There is a wood and stone mixture known as basket weave, which is a diamond shaped pattern in wood with stone insets.

Tile

If you decide on tile, give yourself some time to look through the huge selection in color, style and pattern, Czerniak said. “There’s more variety in tile than any other type of flooring, which makes it a really practical way to go. A nice tile can make a house come alive.”

High-quality tiles last longer than lower quality ones, which tend to be soft and break easily. Czerniak suggested finding out the tile grade before purchasing.

Vinyl and Pergo

The world of vinyl is varied, from inexpensive to high-end. Vinyl comes in a variety of styles and colors. There is even vinyl that simulates wood or stone. It’s possible to mix and match vinyl types--bordering a room in one style or color and using another style or color in the center.

In recent years, Pergo has taken some business from the vinyl industry. This is a laminate with fiber board as a core. It comes in various styles and colors, including a wood look. Many flooring companies have their own version.

* Glabman Furniture, (714) 540-3822.

* Carrol Caldwell of Wallwords, (714) 573-9370 or https://www.wallwords.com.