Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Kitchen: More Flooring Options

It would appear that what I'm really trying to do with this post is find out how many more times my blog readers will tolerate being asked to look at little brown squares of flooring samples before quietly going away out of boredom or irritation.

So.

How many more times can you look at little brown squares, m'dear? Four times?

There's four today. Then I promise to go away until I come up with something more entertaining. And colorful. Though I make no apologies for brown. It's a lovely color.

As I mentioned in a post last week, I'm on the hunt for some product after I realized that all I have left to do in the kitchen is paint, flooring, and curtains.




In another, even earlier post, I thanked my mom for literally weeks of cleaning, stripping, staining, and varnishing these cabinets, which I was able to date in another post to no later than 1972, when they were discontinued. Note the swell cabinet label, on the sink apron:


We also installed new countertops of Sand Crystall, by Formica

note: this has much less pinkish/reddish tones than are showing on a computer monitor
We didn't try to imitate a past era with the counter edges. I had to move quickly to get the house habitable, and there was no time for what my family might have termed "showin' off." I did try to pick a pattern that at least loosely imitated those speckled laminates from the 60s and 70s. 

Now more recently in this post, I got down to perusing some floor ideas, initially disheartened finding my first, favorite choice had been discontinued. 

Now on further searching, I've come up with these possibilities: 
1. Vivendi Collection, Blockprint in Ginseng
2. 
Natural Creations Mystix, Casablanca Cardamom3. Rejuvenations Ambigu4. Rejuvenations Stone Run
1. Vivendi Collection, Blockprint in Ginseng, from Mannington's commercial line
2. Natural Creations Mystix, Casablanca Cardamom, from Armstrong's commercial line.
3. Rejuvenations Ambigu, from Armstrong's commercial line.
4. Rejuvenations Stone Run, from Armstrong's commercial line.

The source links to these images are in the collage caption. 

My comments:
I like #3 the least of the four. I think because the pattern seems too similar in intensity to the countertop.
#4 has some similarities to the discontinued pattern I love, but it isn't a truly "arabesque" shape Mediterranean style. It reminds me of Girl Scout trefoils! Putting aside the troop associations, it's probably more french provincial style. 
I'm probably most attracted to #2. It's an 18-inch tile, which is whopping huge, but the floor space in my kitchen is quite expansive, so it would probably be okay. 

I think that my choice of flooring has to be either a solid or a something that "reads" like a solid, like #1, or something with a large, prominent pattern, like #2. It seems like these two extremes are the only two things that provide enough contrast to the medium range busy-ness or "peppery" look of the countertop. I realize too, that I'm going to have to drag home samples to see what really "works" with the countertop colors and the wood tones. It's that test that really counts, because computer monitor colors are terribly deceiving. 

If readers are wondering why a woman who loves color seems to be spreading brown up and down (slight apologies to Dr. Seuss), it's coming. It's going to go on the walls in the form of bright avocado green, and some very colorful and large-patterned curtains made of vintage fabric--gold, avocado, russet, orange, curry, blue, and lime green. Oh, and the tchotchkes. I'm all about the tchotchkes. 

There. No more little brown squares. I promise. 



8 comments:

  1. Even before I read the rest of your post, I was going to say that I like #2 best, and that all I could think of when I saw #4 was the GS symbol, LOL. Number 2 is pretty! It's hard for me to try and imagine a whole floor of it, but it seems like it would go well with the cupboards and countertop. Good luck! :)

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    1. Isn't it funny about the Girl Scouts thing? I kept looking at that sample thinking, "there's something vaguely familiar about this pattern......and then I went "OH!" LOL. I like #2 a lot as well!

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  2. I think all of your flooring options are great, but for some reason I am REALLY loving #1 - the linen looking one. Definitely bring home samples though - you just never know until you see it in person!

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    1. I've been leaning toward a solid, and I've found a BUNCH of these sort of linen-y looking patterns. If I go this direction, it's only a matter of finding the right shade!

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  3. I actually like number 3, but I agree, it looks an awful lot like your countertops. I like 2, but how busy is a whole floor of it going to be, especially when I know your curtains are definitely very busy? I don't like 4. Number one would work. I think you are right...a choice between a bold pattern and a solid. Time for those samples.

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    1. I think #2 is going to depend on the color/design in person. If it comes off as a sort of color-on-color, subtle tone, it might not read as busy/loud/too much. But it could totally go the other way too. It all depends.

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  4. Love the neutrality of look #1 . I think its your best option with a traditional style kitchen.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Jackson! I really like #1 and it's a very strong contender, considering how bright and patterned some of my other elements will be.

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