Home decor starts with the floor

Concrete is back, reclaimed wood remains strong and porcelain tile is surging.

Floors are basic in homes, but their beauty and functionality are the paths to a joyful experience for you, your family and your guests.

“The floor is where it all starts, grounding the room and connecting with your energy, your relationship, your family,” said Esther Boivin of Esther Boivin Interiors in Scottsdale. “I love to set the tone for all of my designed spaces starting with flooring.”

Floors, she said, shouldn’t be a practical decision based solely on utilitarian considerations.

“They should be fun and a reflection of what makes you tick,” she said.

“I love when I can start a fresh design for the floor mixed with my client’s personality. The output can be a successful, creative design, with an interesting use of materials that will continue to give you, your family and your guests pleasure for many years.”

Wood

Hard surfaces for flooring, with area rugs rather than carpeting, have become prevalent, even in bedrooms.

“We are in an age of great change with emerging technology that has given new life to old materials and solved the functional and aesthetic limitations of the past,” said Tony Sutton, founder of Est Est interior design in Scottsdale, the Valley’s oldest interior-design firm.

“Wood flooring is gaining momentum as more aesthetic options and practical cost-effective choices become available,” he said.

Reclaimed wood, harvested from old barns and farmhouses, for example, still is popular, and an engineered version is available from some manufacturers. Engineered wood is real wood at the top but has the crisscross pattern of plywood below to keep it from warping and cupping.

“It solves many problems in durability and longevity,” Sutton said.

For room logistics, too: The slab height does not have to accommodate that extra layer of plywood.

Sutton always checks the Janka ratings for wood use, especially for floors. This hardness test measures the denting resistance of wood, from hard, such as ironwood, to soft, such as pine.

For example, there are many subspecies of wood recognized as walnut or oak that vary in Janka ratings.

“Wood density, which will identify its durability, helps a designer select not only aesthetic choices but practical ones as well,” he said.

Tile

Glass tile continues to gain market share, with more sizes and styles available. At the same time, the half-inch deco and smaller linear tiles are becoming less popular.

Because of its high-quality production, porcelain tile is being widely used for its beauty and because its low porosity makes it extremely practical for both residential and commercial, Sutton said.

Pricing ranges with modest options.

“The better quality can deceive even a veteran designer into believing it’s a natural stone without seeing the edge of the material,” he said. “Huge sizes make a very grand impression.”

Concrete

Concrete floors, often integrally colored, polished and scored, are popular again, and they’re being used not only in contemporary desert design but also for a modern cowboy-ranch style, which has shown renewed interest in the Valley. Concrete tiles in great sizes are appearing, too, Sutton said.

Carpeting

“The carpet industry has responded to health concerns with improved compositions and performance,” Sutton said, explaining that many carpets no longer have traditional jute backing, which is organic, absorbent and capable of molding.

New synthetic backings are easier to clean, he said, and pads now have a moisture barrier to prevent holding moisture and odors. The best carpet composition also will not support dust mites, which can cause allergies.

Boivin said that before making a final flooring selection, the first question you should ask is: “How do I want to feel? Do I want a clean look? Do I want a soft, subtle look? Or a strong, bold and confident look? Then choose a solid, confident color. Do I like to stand out in the crowd? You can do that with a bold explosion of pattern with high contrast.”