An integral feature of any home, flooring choices are limitless and crucial to the overall look of your home. From packed dirt to tumbled marble, its history is as extensive as the materials it can be made from. As you may know, my summer has been made all the more exciting (and exhausting!) by my home renovation.
The use of more refined wood flooring didn't become standard until the early 19th century. Historically, many homes featured unfinished, rough-hewn planks with the intent of covering them with decorative rugs. Following the industrial revolution, new machinery resulted in the ability to cost effectively produce elaborate wood flooring options thus establishing their use throughout the home!
Ari with AR Floor Designs had done such a great job helping me with my offices three years ago that I made a trip to his warehouse to check out their enormous collection of finished and unfinished wood! This is a sample that he had made for sweet architectural consultant, Sarah West to show the many reclaimed woods he had in stock for use in flooring. Wouldn’t it make such a cool inset in an entrance way?
Established in 2005, Ari and his team have become an invaluable resource for all things flooring! With so many beautiful options to consider, how could I ever choose?
I really loved their reclaimed wood with a European oil finish on them as well as the beautiful walnut samples! Although I am getting new floors in the front three rooms, the rooms adjacent have existing oak flooring throughout. I so loved all of your comments and suggestions about using stone in the entry and, though I was torn, decide to stick with all oak to keep the house feeling open and cohesive.
From the lumber yard to the showroom floor, a variety of wood species and stains are hand chosen, carefully milled, and expertly arranged to create the flooring custom to your home. It was so fun learning about the process! He also had a large selection of engineered floors, some made from reclaimed wood. Something I didn’t know was possible!
Ari also had a large selection of reclaimed beams to admire and just look at that fab antique red barn siding! What a statement piece it would be in the right setting. So it got us to talking…….
Remember this California home designed by my friend Ohara Davies- Gaetano featured in the summer issue of Veranda? I adore the concept of this ceiling. Seeing his wonderful supply of reclaimed planking, Ari agreed to select some for me and install it on my own dining room ceiling! Fingers crossed my little Segreto elves are up to the challenge of creating a design just as spectacular!!!
I had told the guys that I was quick and easy when creating the samples for my living room. I guess I underestimated how many options I’d have! Sweet Ari never seemed frustrated and custom mixed my vision of the perfect brown.
Now his guys were left to mix the same color for the wood floors in my living room. These floors connect to both the foyer and the kitchen as well as the den. I had been told prior that they were mesquite inlaid in oak. Yet, in their stripped form, it was easy to see that they were red and white oak, cut like bricks and framed within a red oak grid. These floors, probably installed in the home in the 1970’s, have always been my favorite!
With the den and kitchen finally complete, I was able to move all of the furniture back in just in time for John to come home from his California Dreaming vacation! Although waxed finishes are the rage now, I decided on a oil polyurethane finish in the main parts of the house for the sake of durability! My dogs really give the floors a beating! With this sealant all you need to do is clean as needed with Bonax wood floor cleaner!
In my master bedroom, the floors are pine and had been previously stained dark. I have to admit, I kind of loved the way they looked natural. Yet, when the sealant was applied they turned a bit too yellow for me.
To counter the gold tones a series of European oils were used which added a grey hue. This is the first of four washes that he applied. According to Ari, “We are using a lot (of European oils) to achieve gray colors, light creamy, or Earth tones yielding a natural look with low sheen”. In terms of maintenance, the floors need only be mopped with the same brand of soap and, bonus, it is a green product!
I just love the transition between the old stone floors in the hallway from Chateau Domingue to the white Carrera marble in the bathroom from Materials Marketing! The cleaners came yesterday to do the final clean on the bathroom! Yayyy!! We are getting close to moving back in! Thank you, Ari, and all of your great guys that worked on my project! I love my floors!!!
I can not tell you how thrilled I am to share such exciting news!! My dear friend and fellow design blogger, Kristy Woodson Harvey of Design Chic, has just released her much anticipated novel, Dear Carolina!!! Such a talented story teller, Kristy writes of the defining moments and difficult decsisions that make a family.
One baby girl.
Two strong Southern women.
And the most difficult decision they’ll ever make.
Frances “Khaki” Mason has it all: a thriving interior design career, a loving husband and son, homes in North Carolina and Manhattan—everything except the second child she has always wanted. Jodi, her husband’s nineteen-year-old cousin, is fresh out of rehab, pregnant, and alone. Although the two women couldn’t seem more different, they forge a lifelong connection as Khaki reaches out to Jodi, encouraging her to have her baby. But as Jodi struggles to be the mother she knows her daughter deserves, she will ask Khaki the ultimate favor…
Written to baby Carolina, by both her birth mother and her adoptive one, this is a story that proves that life circumstances shape us but don’t define us—and that families aren’t born, they’re made…
“Kristy Woodson Harvey weaves a story around characters with rich, complicated lives we all identify with…beautifully shows how a family comes to be. Not only by blood, but also by choice.” --New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas
And because we know you'd like to get your hands on it too, we're doing a giveaway! Not just any old giveaway, either - simply by sharing the cover of this book you will be entered to win a collection of 10 amazing, new novels from a bevy of talented authors! Participants simply need to share the Dear Carolina cover by clicking the contest link below.
Best of luck and I hope you enjoy Kristy Woodson Harvey's new novel, Dear Carolina - I know I will!!! Please check out her blog Design Chic too for a real design treat!!! Until next week!
To pre-order our new design guide, Segreto Style, please contact books@segretofinishes.com !!!
To purchase "Segreto: Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors" on our website click here or to purchase through Amazon click here.
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