Design Tips That Work in a Home Office

Design tips that work in a home office - St. Petersburg Times
Designer Kelly Porter recommends using laminate flooring in this article about designing a home office and brightening a room. Washington Post

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Laminate Flooring a Great Choice for Offices

Offering tips on the kind of floors to have to readers of the News Observer, editor of Fresh Home Magazine Neil Wertheimer said offices contain furniture that may place a lot of wear and tear on floors, such as desks, chairs and book cases. Wertheimer noted that office furniture can be hard on the flooring. He stated that "this [the office] is a room that would do best with laminate flooring, which is sturdy, good-looking, highly durable, easy to install and often inexpensive."
From: http://www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/news/laminate-flooring-ideal-for-home-offices~19524457.htm

Laminate Flooring: Great for Basements

Business Resources recently recommended laminate flooring for basement use because laminate is a great fit for the environment of such a room. Laminate flooring comes in many different colors and is long lasting and easy to clean.

Interior designer Naoimh Tuohy told readers of the Herald recently that the availability of laminate in a wide variety of shades and colors is one of its advantages, with it being possible for it to look similar to any other floor material.
From: http://www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/news/laminate-flooring-best-for-basements~19516403.htm

Homeowners Turn to Phased Remodeling

According to the National Association of Remodeling Industry (NARI), residential remodels are no longer those once-in-a-lifetime projects that keep homeowners dreaming years on end before they ever pick up a hammer. Instead, many homeowners opt to do a series of remodels as their schedules, budgets and lifestyles evolve over time.

In fact, according to a recent Consumer Reports poll on home remodeling, 36% of homeowners who plan to remodel plan to do so in phases.

Serial remodels, or phased remodeling projects, can go over several months and even years. For example, homeowners might opt to start slow with a remodel to a powder room or closet and then tackle a larger project, such as the kitchen, master bath or home addition.

“Most people don’t think of their house as 10 projects they want to do and prioritize them,” says Matt Lederer, president of Mahogany Builders in Chicago. “It’s not a one-time shot: People choose projects they can afford and will influence resale.”

These phased remodeling projects are part of a larger trend in American consciousness, which Trendwatching calls “Foreverism.” It speaks to people’s desire to continue conversations, relationships and projects over time. Technology is driving people’s ability to find, follow, interact and collaborate forever with anyone and anything, and home improvement is just one of the areas benefiting from the trend.

“In a lot of these situations, homeowners buy an existing home with the idea of changing things after they move in,” Lederer says “They are not flush with cash, or they just don’t have it in them to do a series of projects, so they break them up.”

Phasing a remodeling project has a number of benefits, Lederer says. For homeowners who can’t fund the entire project upfront, breaking elements of a major home remodel into stages can help extend costs over time and buy homeowners more time to save or find funding. Embarking on a series of smaller projects also keeps homeowners less stressed.

“Everyone has what I call a ‘construction tolerance,’” Lederer says. “Some people get excited about the remodel but a few weeks into it they get tired of people showing up at their house at 7 a.m.”

Lederer recently completed a phased remodel for Jane Tiffen, a Chicago-based condominium owner. In the first phase, which began in 2007, Lederer gutted and remodeled the home’s guest bathroom. He then came back to complete a master suite remodel this spring.

“We had moved into this apartment and knew we wanted to change things,” Tiffen explains. “The bathrooms had the standard run-of-the-mill stuff you find in new apartment buildings, and we wanted to upgrade it. We phased the projects because we wanted to think about how we were going to do it and live in the place for a while.”

Tips for Cleaning Laminate Floors

Laminate flooring has caught on quickly due to the ease of installation, its durability and the ease of maintaining the product. These floors carry warranties for varying years based on brands. While laminate is known for its durability, there are a few simple tips you can follow to keep your floors in great condition:

• As with other types of flooring, sand, gravel and other small particles can cause surface scratches and dullness. Use caution when cleaning these particles from the floors. Try using a vacuum without a brush or beater bar to remove these particles from the floor.

• Avoid using abrasive cleaners or scrubbing pads because they will also scratch the surface of the floor.

• Avoid use of excessive water on laminate floors. While they are designed to be waterproof, wet mopping could cause additional damage.

The Demand for Laying Laminate Flooring Goes Through The Roof

Regardless of what field we work in, learning about the history of that field can be quite motivating. We realize that we not simply instructing teenagers, inputting data into a computer, or designing another assembly-line vehicle. Instead, we are continuing a tradition in whatever field we work in. By learning the history of our trade, we can further develop previous progress made in our area. For instance, by learning the history of laminate flooring, we can better understand today’s popularity of laying laminate flooring.

Starting In Sweden

Laminate flooring symbolizes the most noteworthy new type of flooring during the past quarter century. Laminate flooring’s birth began in the early 1980s, in Sweden. A new, quality decorative laminate was produced. This product was frequently used on tables, wall panelling and countertops, but not yet on floors. The problem was that before laying laminate flooring could be done, the product had to become stronger. Within time, laminate floorings that were ten times and then twenty times stronger than those for countertops, were created. Interestingly, homeowners lay 90% of Sweden’s laminate flooring!

The Perfect Flooring

The demand for laminate flooring increased for several reasons. Laying laminate flooring can be conducted directly atop the exiting floor, saving both installation costs and precious time. Installers supported this faster “floating floor” method, as it became much easer than “glue down” flooring, to install and remove. While laying laminate flooring, if the glue is installed properly, the laminate flooring becomes resistant to liquids on its surface and can directly withstand huge objects, such as refrigerators, placed atop it. Lastly, laminate flooring’s popularity also skyrocketed, due to the floor’s attractiveness. Unlike other materials, such as stone, wood, and marble, laminate flooring contains virtually a limitless number of possible designs.

Laminated flooring’s design, installation simplicity and sturdiness allowed it to spread throughout Europe. Currently, as the popularity of laminate flooring continues to expand, European legal standards are being created for laminate flooring.

Laminate Flooring Floors North Americans

Then in the early 1990s, the demand for laying laminate flooring exploded in North America, as its popularity spread from Europe. Soon, Canadian and American kitchens boasted of laminate flooring’s durability (it resists stains, fading, wear patterns, dents) and loveliness. Furthermore, laminate flooring was easy to clean, and required no stripping or waxing. Within time, North American companies decided that laying laminate flooring was not sufficient. They would also manufacture it!

Today, installers are busily laying laminate flooring in nearly every room of new homes. Furthermore, the housing industry continues to research new applications for laminate flooring.

http://www.homefurnituregarden.com/flooring/laminate-flooring/laying-laminate-flooring.html

6 Steps to Purchasing Laminate Flooring

In order to select the laminate floor that's right for you, follow this 6-step selection process:

1. Consider design factors such as color, pattern, style and finish.

2. Consider functional factors such as traffic, sub flooring, grade of floor, temperature, humidity and budget.

3. Review available products that meet design and functional requirements and provide ease of installation, product quality and a good brand reputation.

4. Identify which appropriate products are NALFA certified for highest quality assurance by clicking here.

5. Select a NALFA certified product.

6. Purchase and install, either DIY or using professional installers

NALFA Certification Seal Helps You Choose a Quality Product

The NALFA Certification Seal is the recognized symbol of quality in the laminate flooring Industry and gives you assurance that you are purchasing laminate flooring products of the highest quality.

In order to earn the NALFA Certification Seal and the certification that it represents, a laminate flooring product must pass a rigorous and demanding series of tests designed to evaluate its performance, durability, strength, and overall quality. Products must also pass environmental requirements. Reputable manufacturers understand the value of the NALFA Certification Seal to the consumer, and aggressively seek NALFA certification for their products.

So if you're in the market for laminate flooring products that will maximize both sales and customer satisfaction, look for products that carry the NALFA Certification Seal on its packaging (above), and be assured that you are offering the best quality that the industry has to offer.

For a list of NALFA Certified Products, click here.

Discover the Benefits of Laminate

Compared with other types of flooring, laminate offers a number of distinct advantages:

Laminate flooring is durable
Protected by a tough external layer and resin coating, laminate is much stronger, scratch-resistant, and longer-lasting than any hardwood, vinyl, or carpet flooring.

Laminate flooring is easy to install
Not only are laminate sections smaller, designed to interlock, and easier to work with, but laminate can also be installed over most non-textile existing floors. In this “floating floor” method of installation, laminate is laid or “floated” over the existing floor without being glued to the surface. This saves considerable time and installation cost. Additionally, the introduction of glueless laminates further revolutionized ease of installation in the flooring industry. More than two thirds of current laminate flooring is glueless.

Laminate flooring is economical
Not only is laminate generally less expensive to start with, but when its durability and longevity are considered, compared to other flooring options, it becomes an particularly economical choice.

Laminate flooring offers a variety of styles
Originally, most laminate floors replicated only the most in-demand wood floors. As laminate grew in popularity however, other looks were introduced, including highly realistic stone and marble. One of the most appealing characteristics of laminate is that designs are limited only by the imaginations of the producers. This has resulted in laminate becoming a medium unto itself, and a variety of rich, innovative product designs that are recognized by the design and decorating communities for their ability to create an atmosphere of sophisticated beauty in addition to long-term durability.

Laminate flooring is stain, fade and moisture resistant
Most laminate flooring manufacturers offer extensive warranty protection against stains, fading, and moisture damage. Hardwood floors, on the other hand, are subject to wood grain staining, fading in sunlight, and are not appropriate for high-moisture areas.

Laminate flooring is easy to clean and maintain
Laminate's wear and moisture-resistant surface coating make spills and other messes easy to deal with.

Laminate flooring is “green” (environmentally-friendly)
Since it is made from paper, laminate's manufacture does not involve the harvesting of old-growth hardwoods as does that of wood flooring. Unlike some carpet, laminate does not contain significant quantities of some elements that affect indoor air quality. And when a laminate floor is easily replaced, it can be destroyed with no danger to the environment.