Aug. 19, 2006
 
INTERIOR DESIGN: Creative Floor Coverings Need Not be Expensive
 
By Rosemary Sadez Friedmann
Scripps Howard News Service
 

Floor coverings can be creative without being expensive. Vinyl squares, for example, are easy to install and allow an almost unlimited realm of possibilities for interesting patterns and designs. (SHNS photo courtesy photos.com)

Floor coverings can be creative without being expensive. So a tight budget needn't be a preventive for the unusual.
 
Vinyl squares, for example, are inexpensive, easy to install and allow an almost unlimited realm of possibilities for interesting patterns and designs for the floor.
 
Let's take a foyer. Use solid-colored vinyl squares on the majority of the entrance. Then take vinyl strips, which are available by the yard, and make stripes either vertical, horizontal, diagonal or create large square patterns. The strips can be a contrasting color, a complimentary color or a combination of colors.
 
Let's color the above scenario to see what develops:
 
The vinyl squares are dark forest green. The strips are a crisp white. The foyer is four feet wide and 10 feet long. Since the foyer is long and narrow, an illusion of width would enhance it. So we lay the green tiles first, then add the white strips in a horizontal pattern so the lines span the width of the hallway. There can be either three or five strips of white lines, depending on how 'busy' the desired finished should be. Now, there's an attractive entrance where once was only a utilitarian passageway. It used to be that a stenciled floor was the poor man's answer to area rugs.
 
Well, though it is still an inexpensive alternative, the stenciled floor has greater worth than just financial. A stenciled floor adds charm and beauty to a room. There are pre-cut stencils at art stores for the do-it-yourselfers or there are talented artists that can be hired to do the job.
 
Stenciling a wood floor gives a unique look and is quite apropos for period settings such as colonial and early American. Stenciling also is a great solution to a worn floor. Since the wood needs refurbishing anyway, rather than replacing or just paying for buffing and polishing, a decorative paint job will give greater viewing pleasure and will add a decorator's touch to the room.
 
Shall we flesh out the above wood floor scene? Let's do a living room. Paint the wood floor a colonial blue. Design an 'area rug' with acrylic floor paint under the cocktail table. The 'rug' can be a rectangular border of white and the design in it can be pink, yellow and white flowers. Border the perimeters of the room in the same white as the 'rug' border and repeat the flowers in the four corners of the room.
 
Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color," available at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Amazon.com