Fall 2009 Welcome to CR Floors quarterly newsletter! We will keep you updated with current flooring trends, news and provide you with beneficial flooring knowledge from throughout the industry! Please click below to view current articles/columns... >> The Beauty and Durability of Cork Flooring >> Making Color Combinations Work for You The Beauty and Durability of Cork Flooring It's hard to think that after all those bottles of wine and champagne, there would still be enough cork left over to cover whole floors, but that is the beauty of this amazing, environmentally friendly product. Used for centuries, cork can add beauty and durability to your flooring. As a flooring product, cork's resiliency is unmatched. Cork's structure is composed of millions of tiny, completely enclosed air cells. It is these air cells that allow cork to be compressed, and then spring back to its original form. Properly maintained, cork flooring will provide decades of beautiful, reliable service in your home. Cork has a highly frictional, non-slip surface that makes it ideal for kitchen or bathroom floors. In addition, it is highly resistant to liquid penetration, especially with the special finish layer applied by manufacturers. Cork also has outstanding insulating properties, which help to reduce heating and cooling costs, and a strong ability to absorb vibration. This makes it perfect for dampening sound in a room, or for reducing sound transfer between floors. Cork is also a logical choice for families that suffer from allergies or asthma. Cork flooring is naturally hypoallergenic, resisting the growth of mold and mildew. And because it is antistatic, it won't attract and accumulate dust and pollen particles. Cork does not give off any gases or shed fibers of any kind, making it ideal for those with respiratory problems. And cork flooring can be applied over any subflooring, or existing flooring except carpet. It can be glued down or floated, and comes in planks or tiles with tongue-and-groove joiners. As with so many other flooring products, modern manufacturing technology now offers many coloration options, in both finished and unfinished varieties. Cork, which has been in use since 2,500 BC, is actually the bark of an evergreen oak tree variety that grows only near the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, the vast majority of cork production is centered in Portugal and Spain. The cork is first harvested from the tree when it is 20 years old using a specially designed hatchet that strips the outer bark, but leaves a thin, protective layer of inner bark. By using care in the stripping process, the living tree will be protected, and can continue to grow new cork bark. In fact, cork can be harvested from the same tree every six to nine years, and the trees live for over 150 years. A renewable resource that provides stability, durability and beauty to your home, cork just might be the best choice for your new floor. Making Color Combinations Work for You All of us are sensitive to color. We know almost instinctively what color arrangements are pleasing to the eye, and which colors, when placed together, are irritating or unpleasant. The wise use of color is probably the most important consideration in developing a decorating plan for your home, but the immense range of color options can be intimidating. With an understanding of the basics of color, the task of putting together the perfect color scheme for you home changes from a frightening burden to a fun and exciting experience. The color wheel, that rainbow chart from grade school that shows the range of all color possibilities visible to the human eye, is the basic tool for developing a color plan. Don't be misled or limited by the colors shown on the wheel - these colors are the ingredients for unlimited shades, tones, and blends of colors that are available for your decorating plan. The human eye can distinguish more than 6 million hues, so you know there is a combination that is right for you! The color scheme itself is that combination of colors that work harmoniously together in a room. The color choice for flooring is a big part of the color scheme, since floors can contribute as much as 30 percent of the color in a room. Obviously, the right choice in flooring color is important to the success of your room design. There are three general approaches to developing a successful color scheme for your decorating project: Monochromatic color schemes use variations of a single color - tints, tones and shades - throughout the room. Monochromatic schemes are visually appealing, easy to manage, always look balanced, and are a good choice when powerful art and accessories are used in the room. These color schemes can appear flat or bland because they lack contrast and vibrancy, so if you are using a monochromatic color scheme, be sure to incorporate various textures and intensities of the single color to give your room life. Complimentary color schemes are developed around two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Here, one color gains its importance by its contrast to the “opposing” color being used. Complimentary color plans are attention getters, and can be bold and dramatic, but they are harder to balance than other color schemes. These schemes are most successful when one color dominates the opposing color, and when cool shades (blues and greens) are placed against warm ones (reds and oranges). Analogous color schemes use neighboring colors and tones on the color wheel, such as blues with greens and yellows; or oranges with reds and browns. It is easy to develop analogous color schemes, and they usually result in a rich, sophisticated look. But if you chose to use an analogous color scheme, use restraint; they can become disharmonious and distracting if too many color tones are used. When you have a general color plan in mind, you are ready to make the choices that will set the direction for your room's new look. Don't be afraid to make adjustments in your plan as you begin shopping; what looks great in a magazine or on color swatches may not be right for your room, and new ideas may appear to you that you had not considered when starting the project. And when considering carpet color, it's generally a good rule of thumb to “think lighter”. Strong and distinctive colors may appear much more intense when they fill a room, and can overpower other tones and accessories in an interior plan. A lighter or softer shade of a color is usually a more pleasing flooring option. Source: www.flooringknowledge.com