What to Consider When Buying Hardwood Flooring

There are a lot of reasons to buy hardwood flooring: it's easy to take care of, it looks nice, and it can increase the value in your home. Hardwood floors are also better for people with allergies than carpet. So, if you are convinced that installing hardwood floors is right for you, here are some guidelines to help you choose the right kind.

Your Style

Think about your design style when choosing hardwood flooring. Are you contemporary or more traditional in your design? Some woods like maple lend themselves to a contemporary design while oak is seen as more traditional.

Part of your style is dependent on your home. Look at how much lighting you have and the other hardwood in your home. Don't forget the wall colors as well. Each of these is important when choosing a type and color of hardwood. If you have a bright, airy room with a lot of natural light coming in, you can go with dark hardwood on the floor and it will balance the space out. The same is true in the kitchen. White cabinets make a nice contrast with dark floors, but dark cabinets may look better with a lighter hardwood floor.

Consider Maintenance

While hardwood is seen as easier to care for than carpeting, it is not always maintenance free. Harder woods have more durability and don't show scuff marks and dents as much as a softer hardwood. Look at the sheen on the hardwood, which comes from the type of stain used. A high sheen floor will make any scratches more noticeable than one with a duller appearance.

Appearance

Of course, the most important aspect of choosing a type of hardwood for your floor is how it looks and appeals to you. If you really like dark hardwood, then go with it. Just remember to compensate in other areas. The width of the planks is another thing to consider. While the trend may be on wider planks, you may prefer more narrow ones. Be aware that your choices not only affect you, but the value of your home if you should decide to sell.

A popular hardwood choice is acacia. It is an exotic hardwood that originates from Asia and features a mixture of lighter and darker tones. This is ideal for many homes because it blends with a lot of colors and styles. It also hides scratches and dings better because of the varied pattern.

Types of Treatment

Certain types of treatments alter the look of hardwood. For instance, oil-based stains penetrate deeper into the hardwood than polyurethane. They cost more upfront, but maintenance is reduced because you don't have to re-stain very often. This type of finish does a better job of hiding marks and wear on a floor.

Some treatments give a new floor a worn look so that you can't tell when it gets scuffed. These include hand-scraped treatments and wire brushes. They make the hardwood look roughened as if it has been around for a long time. You may want this look if you live in an older home and want the floor to look like it is the original.

All of these options have different price tags associated with them, so you will want to check out cost before making a final decision. Don't be in a hurry to choose your floor. Instead, take your time and think about everything that goes into that decision so that you make the right one. After all, your floor is something you're going to look at and hopefully love for a very long time.

Canada's premier hardwood flooring store. Proudly selling Hardwood Flooring in Toronto since 1977. We have hardwood, laminates, engineered, and exotic flooring; we also provide hardwood flooring installation. 

The Wood Kitchen Countertop – Comparing the Different Types of Wood

I recently completed a renovation on my kitchen.  And by completed, I mean to the untrained eye, it looks complete, but for me, it will never truly be complete.  I’m always going to find something to modify or to make that much better.  But I digress and I’ll get to the point.  In my renovation, when I faced any decision related to counters and the floor, I found myself stuck.  I was overloaded with choices.  Since the renovation is, as I said, complete, I can tell you what my choices were.

It was mix.  The counters were both slate and hardwood, specifically black walnut, as I thought it paired nicely with the dark gray slate.  I didn’t go overboard, only installing wood on the kitchen island away from the more heavily used areas.  Arriving at walnut wasn’t an easy choice.  And in case you’re wondering, I went with a hardwood floor - oak.  Many people think wood in the kitchen is a bold choice.  Wood in the kitchen environment is going to be exposed to various temperatures, substances, and, of course, moisture.  That always concerns people.  But, it’s fine!

When faced with indecision, it’s good to have a breakdown of what’s available.  With wood, there are a number of options, with varying grains and colors, not to mention more ideal uses (some woods make better accents then counters, for instance).  Here’s what I looked at:

Ash

In most commercial grade products, the ash used is typically a lighter color, such as blond or light gold.  There are many other varieties, ranging from pale white to black, both those are less common.  It’s a resilient wood, but it can be bent and articulated when exposed to steam for a more diverse look beyond the squared edges or angles.

Birch

Birch has a similar blond color to ash.  It’s also known for having a sweeping or waving grain pattern, giving it a more unique and identifiable appearance.  If properly stained, birch wood can be made to resemble mahogany, which makes it a great alternative—if you’re a fan of mahogany and don’t want to pay the high mahogany price.

Cherry

Cherry is a kitchen favorite due to the pink hues present in the grain.  The pinkish color can range from very subtle and understated to a vibrant, almost eye-popping hue.  When aged, cherry wood takes on a very deep red color and it can prove pricey for some consumers due to the very appealing red coloring, since it’s always high in demand.  While it works great for cabinets, it’s not as ideal for an edge-grain countertop or cutting board as it is slightly more susceptible to scoring.  It’s recommended as an accent wood rather than a primary work surface.

Mahogany

Known for is rich, deep red or reddish-brown color when matured, it also has a sweeping grain similar to birch, as mentioned.  The reddish variety is similar to cherry wood, but mahogany is harder than cherry, making it more ideal for use as a working surface.  The downside to mahogany, as you may already be aware, is the cost.  True mahogany (yes, there are varieties of wood that are referred to as mahogany that aren’t really mahogany, so be aware) is expensive, but it’s beautiful!

Maple

Typically found in a yellow or light blond variety, maple is a very hard, very durable wood that is ideal for many projects and uses.  In short, it can take a beating, so in a busy kitchen it will hold up to years of abuse and still look good.  Plus, it’s quite affordable.

Oak

Hugely popular, oak is slightly darker than maple and often a more pale blond.  Oak has a rich history, respected in Europe for thousands of years (there are even some living specimens over 1000 years old).  Oak has distinct and well-defined graining, plus it’s highly resilient and ideal for any kitchen environment.

Walnut

Known for its deep and rich brown in color, walnut is similar to cherry wood in terms of its resilience.  While it’s a hardwood, it’s not nearly as hard as maple or oak, and because of that, it works better as an accent to harder woods, rather than being used independently.

Jonathon Ensor stays on top of the latest home design trends as a writer for Empire Today. He loves to search forunique furniture and decor from thrift stores and garage sales. If he can find something to put to good use, chances are he’s going to do just that!

Professional Lawn Care – Spring, TX Folks Love Their Yards and Gardens

Living in a town called Spring, the residents can’t help but uphold the essence of the moniker. Down in Harris County somewhere in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area is this charming slice of old Texas. Its humid subtropical climate means that it does experience the other seasons, but even in sultry summer or in cool winter, you can trust Springlawns and gardens to still exude the green beauty of, well, spring.

When it comes to lawn care, Spring, TX folks believe in making the investment. They feel blessed to have the luxury of spending the entire year outdoors. To thoroughly enjoy themselves, they should make sure that their outdoors is well taken care of. After all, those Texas barbecues and garden parties are going to be less enjoyable when people have to regard overgrown grass, bare patches on the lawn, and other unsightly imperfections.

Those who are serious about the upkeep of the outdoor portion of their home know that they need to hire the services of professionals to maintain the health and appearance of their lawns and gardens. Anybody can run a lawn mower, but it takes expert knowledge and skill to carry out excellent quality lawn care. Spring, TX property owners and managers certainly realize that there’s more to the deed than just keeping the grass short.

Lawn care is a technical undertaking. Services include mowing the grass, fertilizing the bed, annihilating thug weeds, mulching, planting, removing plants, cleaning up, and so much more. These may seem like a bunch of no-brainer tasks, but they all need the right know-how, skill, and tools to be executed properly and achieve the desired results.

Homeowners and grounds managers will probably be afraid to confront pests and diseases, but lawn care experts will certainly know common and uncommon problems that besiege local yards and gardens. They will definitely be well-versed when it comes to the appropriate preventive measures and remedies to properly address any possible lawn trouble they have to deal with.

Not everybody is up to the frequency that lawn care calls for, either. Doing the work with regularity is hard on the back and the knees. In the meantime, people can’t let their lawns go to seed while they wait for the fancy to strike or even prime physical condition to return; it’s very possible that neither will make an appearance. For stress-free yet beautiful lawns, the best recourse is really to call in the pros.

About the author: Kenneth Lawrence is fond of writing articles regarding home improvement. He strongly believes that this can help lots of readers and homeowners. Indeed, sometimes, he writes in behalf of http://www.archerservicesonline.com/. 

A Statue

This yellow tiger with black stripes located in the front of a guest house that usually used for military staff.  The tiger statue is a symbol of West Java Kodim (District Military Commando).

My husband and his high school friends held a reunion in this place last weekend.

Monday Mellow Yellows

Cafes in the Night

The spot has four places to eat and hangout. It's the front of two cafes.

Lighting highlights each place.

The Weekend in Black and White