Painting or Whitewashing Hardwood

If your hardwood floors are looking tired, you can get an entirely different aesthetic with a little paint or stain. Whitewashing can provide an airy, coastal effect that showcases the uniqueness of each plank. It involves bleaching your existing color out, sanding down the wood, and applying a mix of water and light paint over the top. Traditional painting is also a great option if you want a specific color. A black floor can bring in the moody vibe gaining popularity these days. You can even paint patterns over the top of the wood for more artsy or modern looks. Just be sure to seal your work at the end to keep it safe from foot traffic.

Covering Tile with Stencils or Stickers

Grouted tile floors cost a fortune to pull out, but they can easily be stenciled or covered with floor stickers for a similarly dramatic makeover. Your design is only limited by your imagination, after all, as motif and color choices are endless. These water-resistant tile stickers from Target are applied by peeling away the backing and placing them in the desired location. They instantly add glamor and contemporary flair. Plus, you can always switch them out for a new design down the road.

Stenciling is also a good DIY alternative. This large geometric stencil on Etsy boasts a small price tag and changes ordinary bath and kitchen tiles into something truly exciting.

Floor Art

You could also insert some artistic flair under your feet by creating your own personalized floor mat like this one from LetterFolk. The kit comes with a mat base and plenty of mini tiles to design your own mosaic of shapes or words

If you’re ready for more intense floor art, many companies are now producing ground wallpaper with mind-blowing graphics. You can choose from things like making your bathroom floor look like a solid slab of gorgeous marble to transforming your office into a forested paradise. The wallpaper is printed in large custom sheets that are then laid down to make amazing pictures and designs. For durability and shine, an epoxy goes over the top to lock it all in place.

Rugs

Yes, they may be the obvious way to decorate floors, but never underestimate the power of a good rug to give your room a full metamorphosis. Just look how this Turkish Kilim rug gives a shot of energy to this living space! And don’t be afraid to put rugs in unexpected places, either. Even the kitchen can benefit from some well-placed floor coverings for coziness and texture.

Nature

A glossy-leaf plant in an eye-catching pot can bring attention to your floor in all sorts of new ways. Look for easy-to-care-for greenery and pots that won’t leak.

Seating

Adding some low seating pieces also enhances the style of your floors. This blue leather pouf from Pottery Barn conveys a spirit of warmth and welcome in practically any room it’s in.

Lighting

A decorative lamp can highlight your flooring in just the perfect spot. This one from West Elm beautifully arcs up and over, directing your eyes back towards the ground.

So the next time you’re stuck staring at your floors, remember there are plenty of options for sprucing them up – all with minimal mess or wait.

The post Mastering the Art of Good Floor Decor first appeared on Dornob.

This organic-looking structure is the perfect place for kids (or adults) to get away from the world for a while. The Knit Fort got its name from the way it is constructed; the reclaimed wood pieces held together with rubber cord make it look almost like it has been knitted from fabric.

The walls of the little house are flexible thanks to their unique construction and can be moved and shaped into different configurations to suit the tastes of the inhabitants. Designed by Matt Gagnon, the Knit Fort is as much for adults as it is for kids.

The structure’s unique construction method allows for plenty of natural light to shine in. Spaces between each wooden block let in rays of sunshine, illuminating the entire interior space.

According to Gagnon, the structure can be used indoors or outdoors, as a fort, sunshade, conference room, or even a room within a room indoors. The construction method makes it easy to scale the structure up or down, depending on needs, by simply adding or subtracting columns to give the end user a completely customized place to play or work.

“An organic assembly of thousands of wood sticks hand stitched together using cues from knitting to create undulating forms that remain flexible creating a surprisingly soft enclosure from hard parts. We have made lights, screens and structures using the technique.”

About Matt Gagnon

“Matt Gagnon studied architecture at Cornell University then worked for Gaetano Pesce and Frank Gehry. In 2002 Matt started his own studio in Brooklyn NY to pursue design and making at all scales. Over the years Matt has taught design at Otis College of Art, Parsons School of Constructed Environments and has been invited to speak at Savannah College of Art and Design, Woodbury School of Architecture, City College of New York and University of Central Oklahoma. His work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Metropolis, Surface, Interior Design and Dwell and has been exhibited internationally. In 2010 Matt moved the studio to Los Angeles.”

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A simple twist on a classic dual-seat bench, this elegant variant lets you choose which way you face in a simple motion and without forcing your neighbor to do the same. The convertible bench design looks like ordinary seating at first glance, but the trick is customization at the flick of your wrist.

Pivoting on a central metal beam below, the backrests of this transforming bench provide sturdy support when you sit down but is easily swung when there is no weight on it. French designer and cabinetmaker Chloe de la Chaise created a limited-edition series of fifty of these benches, produced with options including chestnut, oak, robinia-acacia and moabi.

The bench is a contemporary version of the 18th century “conversation chair,” which were S-shaped seating inviting users to sit on the same piece of furniture to chat while giving them the option of looking at one another more directly.

“Original concept, subject of a patent, Double View allows to vary the configurations of its seat, side by side or opposite according to the desire or according to the sight … or even according to the sun …”

“The Double View collection consists of a rocking bench with double reversible backrests, a table and a single rocking chair whose backrest is also reversible. Manufactured by a cabinetmaker craftsman recognized by the Ateliers d’Art label of France, each piece is handmade jointly signed by the designer and the craftsman. The Double View benches are on sale in limited edition and numbered issued with a certificate of authenticity.”

“For two of the three species proposed for the Double View collection, the Robinia (of the Acacias family) and the Oak, these woods are French, from the Morvan forest, whose logging is PEFC certified. The third available petrol is an African wood, Moabi, FSC certified.”

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Hardwood floors are gorgeous, but quite expensive – Ruckstuhl splits the difference between the affordability of carpet and the beauty of hardwood with their Legno-Legno wooden carpet.

Designed to roll up just like an area rug, the elegant wooden carpet is much easier to maintain than traditional carpet but is just as versatile.

The simple lines and warm colors of the wooden carpets add a certain elegance to a room, particularly those in rented homes that suffer from bare concrete floors.

Ruckstuhl’s innovative wooden carpets are made of 90% real wood and 10% polyurethane and come in several colors to match and complement a variety of decors.

“A pure wooden carpet that can still be rolled up – resulting in completely new possibilities of floor design, extending the boundaries of the traditional rug. “

“While Ruckstuhl works with a lot of external designers, the Ruckstuhl Atelier designs a great deal of its products in-house. Over the years, the company has developed a distinctive design vision that is both timeless and surprising. The focus always lies on high quality natural materials that provide elegance, warmth and coziness, while being durable and long lasting.”

“The Ruckstuhl manufactory was founded in 1881 in the Swiss city of Langenthal. And for more than 136 years, we have been getting up every day to manufacture premium carpets and acoustic solutions of the highest quality – all made from natural materials. Our credo Nature Becomes Culture perfectly defines our commitment to sustainability, quality and design. We use natural fibers such as wool, linen, coir and sisal to skillfully create welcoming domestic atmospheres, contributing warmth and comfort. Be it in offices, stores, hotels or at home.”

“We process sustainable raw materials to manufacture products that are durable and retain their looks with age. Through this authentic approach, coupled with a refined and timeless design attitude, our company and our products have developed into instantly recognizable icons over the years. We invite you to touch and feel the surface of said icons and discover the naturally different world of Ruckstuhl.”

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Adaptability is at the heart of this idea – one could, after all, put a larger mattress on this frame – but so is completeness: it is a finely-crafted and fine-looking piece of finished furniture with ample space for lamps, books and other bedside materials.

Per the pair of architects from Manada, “from one side the precision that characterizes German design, and on the other side the handcrafting skills of Mexican artisans.” A desk is added to the back, using the weight of the main solid-wood structure to balance out its two simple legs.

From their website: The young Mexican-German Architectural and Interior Design studio Manadaº has been awarded with the Interior Innovation Award 2012 by the German Design Council at the imm Cologne. Manadaº received this prestigious award for their design of the Bed 42″

“The Bed 42 is a materialization of multiple explorations by Manadaº. By mixing a bed and a desk in one product, they explore the flexibility of use of everyday objects; keeping always as a priority the aspiration to create quality products that are both sustainable – in an economical, social and environmental way – and timeless in their design.”

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Some prefer the raw texture of hand-scraped hardwood floors, while others want the modern look (and low costs) of laminate wood flooring. These patterned wooden planks provide artistic relief somewhere in between – an honest contemporary take on classic material and installation approaches.

This decorative flooring series from Mafi provides a fresh take on manufactured floors, etching designs that range from abstract floral patterns to playfully embossed stick figures.

The pre-engraved slats are shallow enough not to collect dirt and dust (at least in theory), but deep enough to be felt underfoot by socked or bare feet – each features a darker ‘burned’ look or a consistent surface treatment where variation is seen only by reflection, light and shadow.

The problems with solid wood are many – cupping and warping due to winter cooling and summer warming, for starters, plus a natural limitation on width if one is trying to finish a project on the cheap.

Engineered flooring responds to temperature and humidity issues, but tends to feel a bit fake underfoot – it may look like the real deal, but to those in the know is really just a discounted alternative.

Also, laying wider board types is typically easier – it simply means fewer steps to install. Still, there are catches to getting this creative and departing from the classics (like solid oak, cherry, hickory or cheaper variants like bamboo). Refinishing these may be tricky down the line, but one could always sand them down and start from scratch with effectively-unfinished boards and without the patterns.

The post Etched Floor Decor: 5 Engineered Wood Flooring Patterns first appeared on Dornob.

What better way to finish off a piece of furniture than with a beautiful hard oak, walnut, cherry, cedar, dark maple, light birch or soft mahogany veneer? How about mixing and matching a series of hardwoods over the plywood parts instead – after all, the outside is what people see, touch (and bang or bump) anyway?

Though veneers cost less they sometimes get a bad reputation as cheap surface panel alternatives to building with real, solid softwoods and hardwoods. Rohol is a company aimed at changing that stereotype with what they (somewhat paradoxically) term “mass customization” – woodworking that can be mass-produced (with pricing to match) but that has the look and feel of something less cheap, more artistic and unique.

This new series of veneer panels takes the best features of the constituent lumber and makes wonderful works of wood art out of it, combining the best strengths of natural hardwood panels in creative ways. While they are shown in these examples as thin finish surfaces for cabinet furniture, they would be beautiful around a fireplace or used as siding or wall material for other furniture and interior projects.

Some of these combinations are unlikely: contrasting colorful rosewood and classic pine, cheap bamboo and super-strong teak. Whether the sheets come with stripes, boxes or other patterns, gluing these to an underlying board saves on cost but is still much cooler than many standard finishes.

Other strategies are obvious when you see them: cross-cutting the panels an unusual woodworking approach for boards due to strength issues, but just fine for veneer sheets so long as they are small enough to avoid issues of moistures expansion and contraction along the surface area to which they are applied.

About Rohol:

“With constantly new ideas, which sometimes arise purposefully and often by chance, we set new standards across the industry: Our love for the natural product wood tempts us to try out crazy things from time to time. We are happy when we use it to set trends, which often happens.”

“As the Austrian Wood Composer, we are the perfect partner for unique, individual natural products and tailor-made special solutions of the highest quality: for carpenters, architects and sauna builders as well as for well-known car brands and international door, kitchen and furniture manufacturers, to name just a few examples.”

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From wooden wall to wooden wall, floor to ceiling, door panels to window frames and everything else you could possibly imagine, all parts of this marvelous modern house that could be were constructed of solid wood. As overwhelming as this sounds, the repetitive use of this one material throughout the exterior and interior of this structure is surprisingly successful, mixing modernist design elements with a more comfortable and familiar material than, for example, steel or concrete

Designed by Peter Kostelov as a second home for its Russian residents, this house manages to blend clean modern forms, shapes and lines with a variegated material more often found in traditional log cabins and otherwise conventionally framed wooden retreats. The bottom story sits on the single and notable exception to the all-wood theme: a stone base that serves as a pedestal for the house and further emphasizes its solidity. Upper stories (reached, unsurprisingly, by a wooden staircase) afford framed views out on the adjacent river through modestly sized windows designed with wood slats for selective privacy and sunlight.

The various scales, shades, types and grain orientation of the wood used throughout the house and in various capacities helps break up what could be a visually monotonous experience. There is a visual hierarchy of wood elements, from small sets of slats to larger pieces of trim that tie them all together aesthetically.

The net effect of this unconventional completely-wooden home is a kind of context-free timelessness – one gets the sense that this curious riverside retreat home could have been built hundreds of years ago or just yesterday, with clean and unassuming crafted wood elements, accents and objects that defy simplistic categories of style.

The post Wholly Solid Wood Home! Totally Hardwood House Design first appeared on Dornob.