If you’re frustrated that your home never looks like the photos in décor magazines, don’t be. Before each shot, designers step up and bring in, remove, arrange and rearrange accessories and furniture so the look is perfect for the angle of each photo. Everything is polished and fluffed, and extra lights from the sides or hidden behind furniture make sure you can see every element perfectly. Those photos can give you ideas, but don’t expect any home, no matter how coifed, to compare to those images.

Given that, there are things you can do to help your home more closely resemble those beautiful magazine illustrations. How about trying one or more of these tips?

• Clear clutter. Yes, you’ve heard it before, but one reason everything stands out so beautifully in those photos is that the eye is not distracted by pockets of clutter. Sometimes you may have odds-and-ends living in the corners for so long that you don’t even see it anymore, but visitors do.
• Keep everything at its best. This means no smudges on that glass-topped table, throw pillows straightened and fluffed, rugs straight and accessories in just the perfect position. Polish wood furniture and floors till they shine. Notice how in this photo the floor and coffee table seem to glow, and the pillows are set just right. Little things like that make a difference.
• Check your lighting. You may not have spotlights hitting your table at just the right angle, but consider whether an additional light or two might make your rooms more inviting. Lighting is one of the most powerful decorating tools.
• Update. Are some of your accessories looking tired or dated? Is it time for a new light fixture in the dining room? How about taking the time to update your home? You don’t have to jump in and do everything at once. Instead, plan updates into your budget and fix up one element at a time. So many times people wait until they’re ready to sell a home before doing any updating, so the new owner gets to enjoy it rather than you. Don’t let that happen.

While our homes may never be quite as magazine-ready as those images, but by following a few tips, they can be more appealing and inviting places to live and invite guests. Why don’t you see what you can do to add to your home’s visual charm?

At the end of a long work day walking into the comfort of your home is a treat. Nothing is better than the look and smell of freshly washed hardwood floors, free of dirt, stains and pet hair.  Whether you just installed hardwood floors or purchased a home with them, here is a list of tips to help you maintain and keep your hardwood floors looking brand new.

Remember to wipe your feet before walking on your hardwood floors. Regularly shake out rugs and mats at each entrance to your home.

Water and hardwood floors do not mix. Avoid using large amounts of water on your flooring. Mop up spills quickly as wood expands with water, which can lead to cracking and splintering. Placing a mat or rug near sinks is also a good idea as splashing happens.

Floors with a urethane finish should not be waxed and require cleaning products that will not leave a residue.  Check with us before choosing a product if you are unsure.

Sweep often to pick up dirt and gritty particles that can scratch your floors.

Use a vacuum cleaner (with the brush attachment) to pick up dirt left behind by sweeping.

Spots can be removed by spraying floor cleaner on a soft cloth. Buff the spot away. For more stubborn stains use a damp cloth – just be sure you are not using too much water.

Buff your floors after sweeping with a soft mop. This will help keep your floors looking shiny and lusterous.

The time spent caring for your hardwood floors will ensure they stay looking beautiful for years to come.

When it comes to choices of flooring, the options are endless especially now that flooring trends tend to become more and more interesting and out of the ordinary. You are not only to the limited to the traditional types like vinyl tiles and hardwood floorings. If you happen to go for unique styles and long to add a new twist to their home, you can get as innovative as you want.

One emerging trend in flooring today is called handscraped flooring. Handscraped flooring is sometimes mistaken as distressed flooring; although they are similar in a lot of ways. In fact, handscraped flooring is a type of distressed flooring. However, they differ in how they are made. Distressed floorings are manufactured by machines while handscraped floors are, needless to say manually created. Essentially, this technique has been used by trained craftsmen, one group called the Amish wood workers way back during the 19^th century. They take great care when it comes to their work and they produce quality products.

The great thing about handscraped floors is that no plank is the same. unlike  the distressed types that are machine milled. Machine milled ones follow a certain pattern so each plank looks the same. They may mimic uniqueness but if you have a keen eye, you can easily spot a machine made from a handscraped one once the floors are installed.

If you plan to have handscraped floorings installed, we recommend that you use darker woods since they can bring out the best in your floor by enhancing the lines and grooves on the wood.

Prior to deciding on flooring ideas for the home office, it is important that you remember floors cover a vast amount of space in the home, the type of flooring you choose for your home office will go a long way to make or break the entire design or decoration of the room.

Based on this, it becomes necessary that you consider the level of traffic that will be associated with your home office. If the traffic is such that it will be heavy, it is better to use a type of flooring that is durable and can stand the test of time and traffic. Using a carpet is not the ideal choice in this case since steady traffic tends to make the carpet look dull with time. What then are the best flooring ideas for the home office?

If from your evaluations, the traffic into your home office will not be much and secondly, you are on a tight budget, carpet becomes a solid option for your home office. From your evaluations, the traffic to your home office will be much and you wonder what flooring option that will last for you. This calls for hard flooring ideas for the home office.

Research has shown that most of the hard flooring options are durable and last for a long time which makes it worthwhile if you need home office flooring that will last no matter the level of traffic in the room. You can either choose any of the stone, tile or hardwood flooring options.

Who wouldn’t want to have a sleek and luxurious looking room?  Usually, we encounter these types of rooms when we go for an overnight stay in a 5-star hotel suite. Yes, this can be quite heavy on the pocketbook; but the good news is we do not have to spend so much just to experience the luxury of sleeping in a lavish and grand bedroom. You can achieve this look just by simply changing your flooring.

One of the trends in luxury flooring right now is the use of bamboo. Well, bamboo is actually a hollow and thin type of wood. In order to create planks, bamboo strips are engineered and laminated to form it into the desired size of flooring. Surprisingly, it is harder and more durable than you think it is. It is also very eco-friendly since it grows back fast after it is harvested. You will be amazed on how bamboo floorings can dramatically change the look of your room.

Commonly used in countertops and backsplashes, granite has also started to become a current trend in luxury flooring today. Well, talk about luxury. Granite is actually living up to the name of luxury because it is, as a matter of fact, quite expensive; but it can definitely help you get the air of richness that you are looking for in your room.

Marble floors are also a current trend in luxurious flooring.  The name itself exudes grandness. You can count on it for its durability and strength. Aside from giving off and air of richness, it can also provide a welcoming feeling to anyone who enters your home.

Start living the dream and come home like the rich and famous with these luxury floorings.

Are you familiar with lyptus floors? What are they? Lyptus is actually a kind of wood that is a hybrid to two types of Eucalyptus trees namely Eucalyptus urophylla and Eucalyptus grandis.  Lyptus is generally grown in Brazil in plantations that are operated by the merger of Votorantim Celulose e Papel and Aracruz Celulose S.A. or commonly known as the company, Fibria. They have a total of 1.3 million hectares of forests and 461,000 hectares of it are located in six Brazilian states. Lyptus is distributed to the areas in North America by Weyerhaeuser.

Lyptus is a hard, closed-grain wood which makes it a very popular material for cabinets, millworks and floorings. It can take on the forces of machining and milling very well. Its colors can vary from light salmon to deeper red. The pigments in lyptus get darker when exposed to ultraviolet light. It is occasionally likened to other hardwoods when it comes to some mechanical properties; but it is more often than not compared to maple and is harder than oak. It can be harvested immediately and is usually marketed as an eco-friendly substitute to cherry, oak, and mahogany.

Choosing lyptus is highly beneficial to the environment. Since it is bred and grown in plantations, it does not affect the growth of old forests which are known to be highly essential to biodiversity. Since lyptus grows very fast, the supply will always be enough and the costs will be low. It is a very feasible substitute to mahogany.

If you grew up with wood floors, you may feel that the only option to consider is solid wood. However, if you spend some time looking into engineered wood you may change your mind.

To start, engineered wood offers considerable advantages for renovation. Solid wood installation requires cutting, placing, sanding and staining. This is a dusty and time-consuming process for established households. Engineered wood is pre-stained and finished. Installation is faster and cleaner.

In some cases, engineered wood is a noticeably better choice. For example, if you have concrete subfloors engineered wood is designed to handle the temperature and humidity shifts that occur. Solid wood may buckle and warp under those circumstances.

If you want radiant heat, engineered wood is the only reasonable option because of the changes in humidity and temperature involved under the floor.

Today’s choices in engineered wood include a broad variety of options. You can choose from many different types of wood, finishes, widths and textures. With expert installation, the floor will look just as good and be just as easy to maintain.

When you’re ready to upgrade to a wood floor, or if you’re installing wood in your new home, consider the possibility of engineered wood. You may be surprised by the quality, variety and results.

Shopping for new flooring for a room can be overwhelming. If you answer a few questions before you start, you may find the shopping process easier and more successful.

• Take a look at whether the room has a different purpose than its original one. Perhaps what had been an office is now a child’s bedroom. Or as empty-nesters, you have converted an old bedroom into a sewing or guest room. Now is the time to decide whether the flooring should be changed to reflect its new purpose.
• With the change in purpose, your new flooring may need to fit new goals. Do you need low maintenance, or is style the first consideration? Make up a list of those expectations and bring it with you when you shop.
• Do you still have the same style preferences you had in past years? Do you find yourself leaning more toward modern elements or have you gone more traditional lately? Be sure to choose a floor that will reflect the way your taste is headed rather than how it used to be.
• Do you have any color requirements or preferences? Once again, choose flooring for what you want rather than what you have.
• Have you determined your budget for the floor? If possible, give yourself a range. If you choose a floor that will have more value for resale it may be worth spending some extra dollars.

Answering these questions can help direct your search and reduce confusion, making the purchase process more streamlined, easier and more fun.

When space is limited, you can still create a sense of expansion by making specific decorating choices. This small dining room takes several steps to add a feeling of room.

To begin with, space looks less limited when colors and tones have little contrast. By combining the light bamboo flooring, light maple cupboards and a maple table, their similar tones connect everything together. Even the artwork on the wall echoes these colors. White shows up in the chairs, light and walls, providing a bright but minimal level of contrast.

The next space-expanding choice is leaving the dining room open. By eliminating the fourth wall, the table can be pulled away from the back wall, literally expanding this dining room beyond its boundaries.

When you limit contrast, it’s a good idea to add texture. This room shows a variety of texture choices – the floor with a minimal grain, a bit stronger grain in the cabinetry, the shiny chairs in contrast to the matte table surface and the bright stylized look of the pendant lights echoed in the mini lighted bar at the back. The back wall also features a buffet-level narrow shelf, providing serving space without taking up any additional floor space. This is a great way to add storage and display space in a small room without reducing the perception or the reality of space.

Pattern is kept to a minimum in this space – too busy a look would shrink the room’s feel. Altogether this room makes the most of its limited space to create a modern room made for entertaining.

This rustic room works for many reasons. The farmhouse table has a hand-turned bowl as a centerpiece. The shelves and the fireplace have a hand-crafted look. From the accessories to the layout of the space, the room recalls an era where people made most of what they had and hunted or grew what they ate.

If you want a more rustic look for your home, the best place to start is with wide-plank wood floors. More and more, the look of wide planks has an appeal today. If you have a long narrow room such as this one, choosing wide planks helps the space feel more balanced. It also has that handcrafted feel that works so well with a more rustic style. Whether you choose a classic such as pine or oak, or a more unusual but still traditional look such as hickory or ash, think about selecting a wide plank option.

Another feature that helps today’s wood floors look like yesterday’s is choosing hand-scraped wood. This provides a texture and personality to the floor. You have a rich selection of options once you choose wood, so don’t hesitate to think outside the crate.

Visit our showroom to see samples of our wood floors. Whether you choose a rustic look like this or a more contemporary style, your floor will look wonderful for years and with proper care should last for the life of your house.