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.

How can you be sure that your selections for kitchens or baths are right? You can improve your chances by making sure you look at every sample at the same angle they will be when installed.

It seems like a simple idea, but in the throes of making your new home or remodel decisions, it may seem easier to lay everything flat on a table. That’s a fine approach for the initial analysis, but before you make your final selection, elicit some help to hold every piece together at the installation position and angle.

Put all flooring horizontal on the floor. Just the action of placing a piece of carpeting or a tile or wood sample on the floor completely changes the way the light hits. Both the tone and the texture of flooring can be dramatically different when you see it from eye-to-floor height. Those broad differences in pattern may suddenly look subtle. Colors will change with angle and distance. Even choosing a grout color is easier if you look at it between two tiles on the floor.

If you’re picking out your kitchen, place your countertops horizontal on top of your cupboard choice. Position the backsplash between the countertop and a cupboard door. It can be very hard to visualize your final product, but using this approach helps.

Making design decisions can stretch your imagination and your visual sense. Taking this approach moves you a bit closer to the final product, making the choices easier for you.

Today’s manufacturers keep providing more and more wonderful choices for flooring and other home design elements. This is good news, but it can make selecting the options that are right for you rather overwhelming at times. Don’t be upset by feeling challenged; studies have shown that the more choices we have, the harder the process of making a decision becomes.

Here are two simple techniques to help you make your final decision: reverse decision making and divide and decide.

Reverse Decision Making: If you’re down to your final three or four options and have hit the wall on deciding, take a fresh approach. Instead of choosing which one you want, eliminate the one or two you like the least. Generally if you take this shift in perspective, you will discover that you can walk away from one or more of your selections. The one that’s left is the one you can’t bear to give up and the right choice for your home.

Divide and Decide: If you are considering many more options, it’s hard to focus on any of them long enough to really evaluate your choices. To make the process more manageable, place your choices in sets of two, then eliminate one of each set. It’s surprising how quickly you can narrow your choices to a manageable number.

Making your final decisions can be stressful, but these two tools can reduce your stress and ensure that you are happy with your final selection.

Feeling a bit intimidated about making your flooring selections? A little pre-planning will make your decision process easier and less stressful. Here is the first of a couple of suggestions to help you make good decisions.

When you go clothes shopping, you generally have a notion of what you’re shopping for rather than just going with no plan. Knowing you need a sweater or a couple of skirts makes the process more straightforward. If you have the information you need, you can determine the type of flooring you want for each part of your home and your budget before even going to the showroom. If you’re not sure what you want, sit down with us and discuss your needs and budget. This makes it easier for your us to use our knowledge and expertise narrow your options to those best for your situation.

Once you make your plan, don’t let yourself get distracted by the other options offered in the showroom. There are a number of truly beautiful choices, but you will be happiest and most successful by focusing on your specific needs. There are good products in every category and price point. Take the time to get to know the options that will work best for you and your home.