From the Floors Up

Top Flooring Trends for 2020

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With the new year, new trends are making their way into the market. Throughout time, many flooring trends come and go. We have seen plenty of them in the last decade as technological advancements in flooring have changed the market. Since buying flooring is not something that you do every year, it is easy to get outdated information on what are the latest trends in the industry. Lucky for you, we are here to help keep your head in the game. Here are some of the most trending floors as we make our way into 2020:

Waterproof Flooring

Flooring advancements in technology have really answered the demand for waterproof flooring. Many different flooring options come with their own sets of pros and cons; however, a considerable drawback for many flooring options is not being able to withstand wet environments. That being said, we are seeing flooring like vinyl planks and even carpet coming as waterproof options. This feature can allow you a significant variance of flooring selections in your home in 2020.

High Variation Hardwood

A newer trend in the flooring industry is a high variation of colors and sizes in planks in hardwood. Hardwood is already desirable for its wide variety in character. Now, homeowners and businesses are allowing hardwood to be even more expressive with high variations of colors and sized planks being mixed together in a single room installation.

Greige Flooring

We saw grey rule the market for some time over the last decade. It came in as the neutral color choice that pushed out beige tones as the highest demand choice. However, now we are witnessing an exciting turn in tides. Greige is the mixed color of grey and beige together. It is becoming quite popular in the flooring industry, showing both interest in the colors beige and grey.

Encaustic Cement Tile

Encaustic tiles are typical handmade tiles with colorful patterns on designs. They are becoming very trending in bathrooms and kitchens lately. These designs can be incredibly unique and help create a stunning design pattern in any home.

These are just a few of the great flooring trends that we see staying around for some time. What are some flooring trends that interest you? Let us know your thoughts below in the comment section!

Creative Design Hacks for Your Apartment’s Bathroom

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Apartment bathrooms can come with their own series of problems. They can be smaller than some home bathrooms while also lacking the freedom to remodel. While you cannot install the tile of your choice or paint the walls the color you want in most leases, there are still several ways to make your bathroom personalized to your taste. Take your apartment bathroom’s aesthetics to the next level with these easy tricks.

Two Shower Curtains

If your apartment needs to have a shower curtain, this is an opportunity to get creative. Traditionally, you would purchase one shower rod, your rings, and the shower curtain. However, there is a creative, functional, and more aesthetically pleasing look to consider. Purchase two matching shower curtains. Allow them to part in the middle like curtains do on windows. You can also improve the look even more by investing in curtain hooks or a curved rod!

Add Another Mirror

Another common amenity your bathroom probably offers is a mirror. While the single mirror serves its own purpose, adding another mirror will double the benefits. You can find a framed mirror in any shape to add to your bathroom. This second mirror will move light even more around your bathroom and help eliminate visual barriers, making your bathroom look and feel bigger.

Floating Shelves

With limited space available in many apartments, functionality and aesthetics should be attempted to be used together. Add some floating shelves to your bathroom to allow you to add some personalized and stylish décor. Use these as extra spaces to help display your taste will providing more storage.

Upgrade Your Showerhead

While aesthetically, this feature will not make a significant difference, you will love this upgrade. Changing your showerhead to a more efficient and personalized one will make your shower time much more enjoyable. This feature is an easy fix that you can switch back after your lease ends.

Do not let a lease limit you from making your home feel like home. Add some personal, stylish, and creative additions to your bathroom with these tricks. What design tricks do you use in your own bathroom? Let us know in the comment section.

How to Design a White Room

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An all-white room is a blank canvas for you to create whatever you like. Perhaps, you love the crisp and clean feel of a white atmosphere. And while monochromatic spaces are rooms that use only one color in their color palette, white can be tricky. Unlike traditional colors like red, yellow, blue, and so on, you do not have the privilege to play with hues or darken the color. However, this does not mean making a monochromatic white room is impossible. There are several tricks for decorating and designing a white room that you might want to try. Let’s take a look!

Texture

With a monochromatic color palette, texture is vital. Texture will help create depth and contrast in your home. And since white on white does not pop, adding some texture will create clear, crisp lines.

Add Warmth Subtly

White is as neutral of a color as you can get. You will want to warm up your home with subtle influences of color. Never add too much to take away from the all-white look, but just enough to add warmth. Consider adding some light pastel tones to pillows or décor pieces in your room. These soft, muted colors will not distract from the overall design, but help enhance the space.

Wood

Another element you can add without taking away from the design is wood. Consider adding hardwood or wood furniture to the room. This feature can help give a classy and sophisticated look to your all-white color palette. Plus, wood will also help stay neutral and support your design rather than overpower it.

Plants

A key secret to any design is adding plants. Plants will add vitality to a room and help spruce up your space. This greenery is a great way to add a little color without distracting the eyes. With such a clean and crisp color palette, your plants will also work as a natural air purifier in your home as well.

Metal Accents

There are metal accents in many areas of your home. From door handles, accent pieces, trim, furniture, and drawer handles, all of these items can have metal to them. Making the metal trim agree in your design will help bring it to the next level!

A monochromatic room is a tremendous and foolproof way of styling your space. Simply buy everything in the color of your choice. When tackling white; however, remember to keep some of these tricks in mind. They will help make your monochromatic white room feel aesthetically pleasing and well balanced.

Best Lighting for Rooms Without Ceiling Lights

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Many homes and apartments today come without overhead ceiling lights. This feature is great because it gives you the freedom to select your own lighting, yet it can also be problematic because you start off without any general lighting. The first thing to do is to make sure the light your get serves the right purpose. Since your room is missing general lighting, this light feature’s task is to illuminate the whole room. With this in mind, a simple end table lamp may not do the trick. To help, here are some great options to consider for rooms without overhead ceiling lighting:

Plug-in Ceiling Pendants

If your room has no overhead lighting, you probably have an outlet that will provide electricity when the light switch is flipped. First, you will want to locate this outlet then you can purchase a plug-in ceiling pendant. A pendant is a light fixture that is mount to the ceiling and hangs down from a rod or chain. These lights can come in thousands of styles, so find one that works with your home design. Try to tastefully secure your wire to the wall and down to your outlet when installing these pendants.

Plug-in Light Rail

Light rails can also provide an excellent source of light for your room. You will want to install the lighting rail in an area that will allow your lights to cover the entire room. Plus, plug-in light rails can usually have several lights installed on them, so you will want to angle your lights to help provide balanced lighting throughout the entire atmosphere.

Large Floor Lamp

There are many large floor lamps available on the market today as well. This option may be your best bet if you do not want a wire running up to your ceiling. Floor lamps are a common remedy for dark rooms. Just make sure you find a floor lamp that provides adequate lighting for your space. Some lampshades may not be transparent enough to allow light to cover the whole room properly, so be sure to look for the right lamp for your space.

While not having overhead lighting may first seem like an inconvenience, there are still a lot of great options to explore. You have the freedom to choose the lighting style you want. Try to look for a lighting option that works best with your design style by incorporating one of these ideas. Thanks for reading!

Oil vs Acrylic Paints

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A fresh coat of paint can turn a scuffed-up wall or scratched piece of furniture into something brand new. Paint gives new life to things and can be a valuable asset in almost any home improvement project. However, a good paint job begins with getting the right paint for the job. Before you even choose your paint color, you have to determine what type of paint is best for your project. When it comes to paint types, your two basic options are oil and acrylic. Which one you use depends on what you are painting and your method of doing so. Knowing the specifics of each paint will ensure you get the right type for the project, and the best results every time.

Oil Paint

Oil-based paints, also known as Alkyd paints, are the slowest drying type of paint. The longer dry time and the fact that oil paints blend better than other paints make it the best choice for painting a large area of space such as a wall or ceiling. Oil-based paints emit strong fumes and can sometimes even be toxic. If you choose to use an oil-based paint, make sure the room you are working in is well ventilated and consider wearing a mask to reduce the amount of fumes you inhale. Additionally, if you are using an oil-based paint, make sure you have mineral spirits or paint thinner handy to clean your brushes or rollers.

Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paints are water-based, making them the most popular of the choices. Clean up is much simpler than it is with oil, all you need to clean your supplies is use water. Plus, acrylic paints dry more quickly than oil, so using them to paint larger areas without streaking or leaving brush marks can be difficult. They can also have trouble adhering to things that were previously painted with oil-based paint, so it is essential to use a primer when going over anything previously painted with oil. Acrylic paints are an excellent option for painting door frames, window frames, and furniture.

A project is always easier if you start with the right materials. Knowing the basics of acrylic and oil paints makes choosing the best option a simple task. Next time you want to bring a fresh color to a wall or new life to a piece of furniture, make sure you use the right type of paint for the job.

From the Floors Up

From the Floors Up blog was created with the goal of providing a destination for consumers, designers and those interested in the flooring, design, and kitchen and bath industries. Here you’ll find, current, accurate and informative information that is always just a click away!

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