If you’ve been following along with “Educator” Dan’s home renovation adventures, you’ll know why I keep threatening to drag him out east here and put him to work at my house: This man knows his way around a sheet of drywall — and now, as it turns out, he’s got a bit of a decorating streak in him too! But we’ll let Dan tell the story. Enjoy! ~ Jen

Colour Coordination – Enter The Rug

How important is a rug on top of wood flooring? Does it really make a difference in the ambiance and aesthetics of the room? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

During the summer of 2007, we purchased a 20-year-old house with the intention of undergoing major renovations in every part of the home, family room included. We previously wrote an article entitled Home Renovation Tip – Color / Colour Coordination – Critical in which we described the renovation of our family room, as well as providing before and after pictures of the renovation.

The renovation saw the replacement of old light blue carpet with dark hardwood flooring, installation of recessed lighting in the ceiling, covering of the top portion of the floor to ceiling fireplace with fire-retardant drywall, the painting of the fireplace’s remaining brick with a medium beige to complement the cabinetry in the adjoining kitchen, and a complete repainting of the room in an earth forest green.

These colours brought the forest adjacent to the back of the home into the house, visually speaking of course, through the 5-foot-tall windows on the south wall of the family room.

Here is a picture of the renovated family room.

But, what about the flooring?

For some people’s tastes, so much dark hardwood is too much without a rug somewhere on the floor to break up and even enhance the look of the flooring.

For us, the issue was more about the television.

My wife goes to bed much earlier than I. During those times when I am not on the computer writing on our blog about our continuing home renovation experiences I am likely to be in the family room watching a comedy or action movie, both of which can get pretty loud. So, placing a rug somewhere on the hardwood floor would, in theory, act as a noise dampener.

But, what about the aesthetics? What type of rug would one acquire? Should it be complementary or contrasting to the existing colours in the room? And, what about the price?

Below is what the renovated family room now looks like with the rug.

We went with a complementary colour scheme for the rug. Notice how it appears to be the same or very similar shade to the paint used on the remaining brick of the fireplace with hints of darker brown to complement the hardwood flooring.

As well, it looks like the rug is centered in the room, right? Nope. Actually, it is placed 4 to 5 inches more to the left of the fireplace than to its right. However, by placing the run under the front of the couch and having the coffee table on top of the rug corner beside the couch, it gives the appearance that the rug is actually centered.

Which appearance to you prefer? Why? Would you have gone with the same or similar complementary colour or would you have gone with a contrasting colour?

As far as the price? Well, the rug’s dimensions approximate 10 feet by 6 ½ feet. Would you believe all of $89.99. From where? Would you believe….Costco! And, would you believe that it is an indoor / outdoor rug! Talk about bringing the outside into the house.

For more of Dan’s ongoing home renovation experiences, including the increasing efforts to reduce his home’s consumption of non-renewable resources as part of our home renovation efforts, simply visit Dan’s web site, Daily Home Renovation Tips.

If you hate the look of a bare concrete floor, no matter how practical it might be, here’s an idea — why not stencil the concrete to look like a luxurious carpet?

Perhaps not as comfy as a fine oriental rug, but certainly more durable, is this concrete “carpet” created by faux finisher Kim Longo. Inspired by an aged tile look she saw in villas and palazzos in Italy, Longo has used templates and trowels to create unique patterns in concrete surfaces.

Planning out the design and colour palette for a stencilled concrete faux carpet comes first, of course, as with any project.

After that, The Concrete Network (www.concretenetwork.com) lays out the basic how-to on stencilling concrete:

1. Scrub the concrete surface
2. Apply two coats of primer.
3. Measure off the area to be stencilled (Longo chose the Barcelona stencil from Modello).
4. Tape off an extra width all the way around to create a border, if desired.
5. Mark a centre line and place your stencil, sticking it down firmly.
6. Carefully lay your colours into the cut-out areas in the stencil.

   You might choose to stain the concrete substrate, or trowel on a coloured cement product like Skimstone — it might be tempting to use paint for an quick and easy fix, but paint on concrete is simply not durable and will inevitably flake off with time and foot traffic.

7. Remove the stencil and finish with two or three coats of sealer.

“What began as a blank concrete canvas had been transformed into an inviting room where my youngest does his homework and reads in the afternoon with his dogs and that becomes a spot to relax at night with the ocean breezes,” Longo says.

I don’t think I’m going to pour this much DIY creativity into my concrete basement floor — which is the only flat interior concrete surface in this old farmhouse — but what about stencilled concrete for jazzing up a patio, a 3-season sun room, or even the standard mid-century concrete front step?

Very uptown!

Bored with your floor?

Easier to put down than traditional hardwood plank flooring, they say, this unusual flooring comes in the shape of giant jigsaw puzzle pieces. What a terrific idea for a child’s bedroom, especially with games and toys as a decorating theme!

Puzzle Floor comes in a dozen different looks from Black Walnut to a striking wine-colored Cabernet to a fresh light Classic hardwood look — the bold decorator might even consider a little mix-and-match, setting in the occasional piece in a contrasting color. Hmmm, the possibilities…

Lace on the floor? It’s a fascinating idea…

Even if I haven’t figured out exactly how I’d use these lace carpet tiles spotted at Chiasso, I’m keeping them in mind for future projects.

They come in black or white, nylon with an adhesive backing, and are supposed to be easier to care for and clean than an ordinary carpet! The minimum order is six tiles, and 15 tiles will make the equivalent of one 5′ x 7′ area rug… maybe interesting in a guest bath or powder room?