Let’s face facts: You are a hardwood floor aficionado.

You can abide by carpets in certain situations – under very carefully controlled circumstances. But you prefer the beautiful, clean, hardwood floor look. Whether you are remodeling your East Bay condominium, gutting and restoring a beautiful old San Francisco area mansion, or simply looking for fun and cool tips to make your floors “pet, child and teenager proof,” here are some 2012 flooring trends:

Engineered Flooring 

If you live in a high humidity area, you may worry about traditional wood floors. After all, wood is a natural substance, and it has a tendency to warp, bend and twist in high humidity conditions. Buffer yourself against the elements by installing engineered wood flooring made of plywood and sandwiched finished wood. This quality flooring looks pretty much identical to traditional wood flooring, but it’s often a lot easier to take care of.

Scraped Wood Flooring

If you have kids or pets, you can never quite achieve a state of Zen relaxation, because some part of you always worries about how and when your pets or kids will destroy your floors. On the other hand, you like the hardwood floor look, and you don’t want to morph your house or condo into one of those homes where there is nothing but Berber carpeting everywhere – not your style. Consider installing scraped wood flooring, which has a lot of character and a cool look. It can take a licking and still look pretty great.

Porcelain Tiling

Sure, you could install marble tiling. But that’s expensive, and in today’s raw economy, you probably want to pinch pennies somewhere (without sacrificing quality or luxury, of course). Porcelain tile might be a sophisticated, trendy, durable choice. Unless you get your geology hammer out and really examine the porcelain closely, you’ll have a very difficult time distinguishing it from genuine marble.

If you need help caring for or installing or finishing a floor, connect with the Bay Area Hardwood Floor Team at Elegant Floors.

Call us at 650-961-1339 for a free inspection or estimate, or learn more about your resources and options at www.elegant-floors.com.

Trends in Hardwood Flooring for 2012: Exciting (and Surprising!) Innovations…
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