How do I remove wine stains from my Wicanders cork floor?

Cork floor in general is a porous product and so will absorb the spills if not wiped off right away. Wicanders 1000 and 2000 series, which is primarily used in commercial high traffic areas, comes with High Performance Surface. You probably have a series 100 WRT product in your home. Use only the mild cleaners recommended by the manufacturer, for example, Xtreme Natural Cleaner or Wicanders Soft Cleaner. You can find these at a floor outlet. Use a sponge or soft scrubbing pad if you have to, else you will damage your floors parmanantly.

Elegant custom floor using two colors by Wicanders cork.

Even if cork floors have a tendency to stain and dent, I like Wicanders products. They are extremely comfortable since they are warmer to touch, absorb sound and due to their porous nature provide the cushioning effect. This is really a “green” product since it is made of a rapidly renewable raw material. Wicanders is actually a domestically manufactured product, since it is cut, stained, beveled, packeged locally in the US minimizing the adverse effects of transportation.

Wicanders claims their floating floor Cork Planks absorb CO2 reversing the effect of emission. These products come in variety of colors and provide a possibility to customize your own floors. Check this out for their product range:

http://worldwide.wicanders.com/main.php

Can’t decide what pattern would be good for our new Marmoleum floors!

We discussed about some design tips for Marmoleum floor patterns in an earlier post. People do find it intimidating when it comes to so many colors and design possibilities.

Marmoleum Click for residential applications

Some homeowners like to go with checker board pattern just because it is an easy solution. But to my mind, your pattern does not have to be so typical and so obvious. Now that you decided to go with Marmoleum Click for your new floors, make sure you get the most for your money. You really have so many options to add that visual impact to your room. Spend some time to figure out your unique design now. You will cherish your new floors for years to come.

Sahara, Van Gogh, and Barbados from Marmoleum Click series

See if you would like to go with a little bit of abstract design. Add a bright accent color in to couple of coordinating colors, and play with them! Depending on how big your space is, you may have a module of 4 or 9 or 16 tiles and repeat it.

Using a border around the perimeter or say, kitchen island, also is a simple way to add character.

Various borders are available from Forbo

If you are designing kids’ rooms, involve them in picking colors. A simple pattern like this is enough to create visual interest.

accent color to add that character

A rug like look may work good in any bedroom.

I don't need an area rug for 10 months of the year, really!

Make sure you try to stagger the joints if you are using panels. With the revised Click II system, the length of a panel now equals to 3 square tiles. It may be hard to calculate the quantities for each color if your pattern is too complicated. Why not hire the professional instead! At LFD we are experts at space design, material estimation, and installation. Whether it is just new floors or you need a holistic design upgrade, talk to us and we would be happy to assist you.

Things to consider while designing custom floors?

Designing your own personalized floors is the most exciting part of replacing your floors with a product like Marmoleum Click.

While designing your new floors, take into consideration the utility factor of the room – if it is a kids’ room or a adult’s bedroom, overall size of the room. If it is a huge space you may want to break it visually in 2 areas, for example Living and Dining, or Living and Family or Media room. You can achieve this either by changing the colors or the pattern design. Think about the natural light source in the room, the direction of the traffic – circulation paths. Consider the style of existing furniture in the room. What kind of ambiance you want to achieve. You don’t want to end up with hodgepodge mix of too many styles. Also, it is a good idea to stick to 3 or 4 colors in the room at the most. The overall effect should be soothing to the eyes, and not a jumble of conflicting hues.

Remember, as a rule of thumb it is best to stagger the joints while using panels. Make sure your design pattern allows this staggering. With some designs it may not be possible to achieve this, though. For example, while using all 1’x1′ squares, you obviously have continuous joints. This is something an expert will help you with.

Think of what kind of sub floor you have, check if it is fairly leveled, and go for the floors of your dreams!

P.S.  Non-residential applications is a different ball game.

warm and cool color palettes

If you have seen the range of different color options available in product like Marmoleum Click, it is very likely that you got intimidated with the variety. At first, even I had a hard time deciding which colors I wanted to pick for which room and all.

The key is to look for one base color that will go well with both warm and cool color palettes. Here is what I did:

I picked vibrant colors to go with bathroom cabinets.

I picked Van Gogh as one base color that flows in the whole house. Each room may have a warm color scheme like in this Master Bath photo or

A simpler design for a Guest Bed

cool colors like this one in one of the rooms. Please note the light quality is causing different hues of Van Gogh in different rooms.

One can use the squares to make such patterns or mix them with panels to make a rug like effect:

Make sure the colors you pick, go well with the walls, and other decor.

I love the way each room has its own character. I let the kids and my husband pick the colors to go with the decor of the room, and I am glad to see everyone happy with the results!

Have fun with the design process for your new floors….

Is Linoleum floor only good for certain areas in my home?

I get that question a lot.

Actually, one can use linoleum in all parts of the house. Living room, Family room, Play rooms, Kitchen, Laundry, and even in Bathrooms.

The material linoleum, by nature is dust repellent, and so is best in kids’ rooms or pretty much all over for anyone with allergies.

I have experienced how a well designed floor makes a significant impact on the aesthetic part of the room.

Here is a photo of my Breakfast nook area:

I love how the cabinet and floor colors go so well together!

Here I have used 3 different color squares to make a pattern.

I have used Van Gogh, Sahara, and Barbados from Marmoleum Click system. I chose these colors because they go well with my Cinnamon Maple cabinetry and Breakfast table.

The best part I like about this material is it is so easy to maintain. Just Swiffer once a week, and use wet mop whenever you think it is dirty.

Here is one more picture of the Guest Bed:

A combination of Marmoleum Click squares and panels used here.

Upstairs in our bedrooms I used 2 colors.

Van Gogh that flows all around, and one more color to add that punch. In this room I used Eucalyptus squares. Just a simple design like this brings the special character to the room.

If you are looking for some change in your home, whether you are feeling responsible for the environment or not, you might want to give Linoleum a thought. I know many happy homeowners, who are glad they did!