What’s Your Style?

Designer, space planner, and consultant Florence Michelson’s design career began in 1957. She has enjoyed working on private homes, offices, restaurants, yachts, and movie sets. In 1979 she opened a designer’s showroom, “To the Trade,” filling an industry void for contemporary lamps, lighting, and accessories. Now retired, she has crowned her career by joining the team at Fabulous Floors Magazine, offering her expertise on style and design For years, vinyl flooring has been used for its durability, ease of maintenance, and beauty. Today the abundance of colors and textures coordinates with various design styles. What is your personal style? Do you have one? Is it casual? Modern? Traditional? Country? Eclectic? Does it have an Asian flair? Let’s explore some style options together.

A deep red color or mahogany floor in a traditional study or living room is a wonderful foreground for leathers and woven fabric furniture. Replace neutral “beige/brown” with a gray palette. Imagine a living room, dining room, and hall in a shade of gray wood. This works in both traditional and modern homes!

Width of planks connotes style: Narrow 3" to 4" planks are classic and formal; wide 8" planks are country, colonial and relaxed. Envision a wide-plank floor in a country kitchen or a fireplace-warmed family room. Conversely, a sleek new floor of 3" to 4" planks, in very light or very dark wood with little figurative grain, is striking in a traditional or highly styled contemporary/modern living room or kitchen.

Innovative distressed wood includes light wire scraping, reproduction bark, barn wood, and reused wood floors with nail holes, saw marks, and knots. For an eclectic feel, use it in a family room with repurposed furnishings complementing the furniture’s unique character. A lightly distressed luxury vinyl floor would be welcome in a study, family, or game room.

The addition of tile styles allows replicating stone, slate, ceramic, and concrete on your fabulous floors! The slate is realistic and marked like actual stone without grout or roughness. Its uniqueness might be found in a country or sleek modern kitchen. The stone look can replicate marble or granite in a shiny or distressed finish. A shiny marble look is very dressy and would be wonderful in a traditional living room or a sleek contemporary space.

Far left: Vintage Pine from the Van Gogh range by Karndean DesignFlooring. At Left: Serenbe by Novalis in English Walnut Stratford

Today the abundance of colors and textures coordinates with various design styles. What is your personal style? Do you have one? Is it casual? Modern? Traditional? Country? Eclectic?

Korlok Select in Brunella Marble from Karndean DesignFlooring

Above; Engage Inception by MetroFlor in Almost Black. At right: Limed Linen Oak from the Da Vinci range by Karndean DesignFlooring Imagine a random group of stones resembling a country floor with rounded edges. These are very effective in an entry hall, den, or colonial kitchen. Consider mosaic style sheet vinyl, which replicates small tiles. One thing to remember about mosaics is they usually depict a picture, a flower, or an animal. Mosaic patterns should be used in smaller venues such as an entry hall or in four corners of a dining room or wonderfully well as trim. Mosaic tile style is traditional and more formal and can be mixed with the look of high-styled modern. When choosing resilient floors, let’s not forget the industrial, contemporary look of a concrete floor. Yes, you can get that look too!

With Luxury Flooring... The possibilities are endless.

So...What’s YOUR style? With luxury vinyl, you are only limited by your own ingenuity! ■