Independence Day is coming up in just a few months and you may want to start planning those parties and celebrations.  Besides the usual decorations and food, invitations and such, take a quick look at the floors in your home that may need renewal, refurbishing, or renovation.  Family rooms, certainly kitchens, patios and dens, basements and great rooms — all could be involved in the big July bash.  A site that can help you plan, or just learn about new innovations in flooring, is at floormall.com.  They also, besides the free advice, have a lot of information on ordering flooring materials and getting hold of a professional flooring installer, if you need one of those to help you out.

Because July is a big barbecue month, how does your patio look?  Are the stone or ceramic tiles chipped or cracked or faded?  Natural flagstones and other stone flooring, or even patterned or colored concrete, looks great as the decking for a patio.  It does need some maintenance and often, a few repairs are all that’s needed.  Perhaps the carpeting in your family room is past the point of no return and your kids can see themselves in the shiny linoleum underneath it.  Maybe a good flooring of real hardwood, engineered hardwood or a high quality laminate would serve you well in that area.  At floormall.com they have so many types of wood planks and also bamboo (a great flooring that can be easy to install) that the only choice could be what color and when can I get it installed?

Your kitchen may be in good shape or poor, but there are lots of things you can do to either refresh, or replace it.  If the real wood is scarred or dull, then stripping, buffing and then re-staining would make it look wonderful again.  Perhaps a new piece of the modern and eco-friendly linoleum would be a simple and durable solution?  Have you considered ceramic tiles or even porcelain tiles in there?  If you go to floormall.com and see what they have for your kitchen, then check out the handy info on their floormall.com university.  It’s free, and extremely informative.

Finally, don’t forget the guest bathroom!  It may be a small area, but all of the people at your party will be taking a look at the floor at one time or another.  Natural stone tiles look great in a bathroom and using larger ones, usually 18 inches by 18 inches, and laying them diagonally, will increase the space visually.  Take a quick look at floormall.com and perhaps a manufacturer has a small run of tiles which can be bought a little cheaper.  You won’t need many for a normal-sized bathroom.  Subway (ceramic) tiles can be used, plus even vinyl tiles (some look like real stone tiles).  Vinyl tiles could be a quick and easy fix and along with a vase of fresh floors, and some new towels and a shower curtain, the bathroom will be spa-like and ready for all of your guests. 

Hardwood Flooring