We've just launched the new Architectural Remnants laminate collection – a striking, harmonious mix of vintage and rustic reclaimed wood looks that set a new standard for fine and fashionable living.
I spoke to Sara M. Babinski, Principal Designer for laminate flooring, about this new collection.
Q: What was your inspiration for this collection?
A: Armstrong creates laminates that aspire to look like high end hardwoods. It was important to capture the right color, texture, and species for the floor to look harmonious and create the look and feel of a vintage floor that stepped right out of the past.
These floors would likely have come from an old church or barn in the countryside, a shuttered city warehouse, or a 20th century antique salvage yard. If you're looking to be artistic in your decorating, these floors will allow you to be creative, yet practical, and help accentuate a room with depth, color, and texture.
For more from Sara Babinski on the texture design trend, check out an older post, "It's All About Texture."
Q: You talk about texture – why is that important?
A: Texture is the new color. Color has long been the first attraction for consumers. It's often the key factor when buying a floor. But recently texture has come to the forefront as a welcome design enhancement. For this collection, the texture is all about salvaging textural lumber and/or distressing it. The woods may be raw, may have remnants of paint, or they may be touched by hand with sanding effects, random chatter, or saw marks.
Q: How do these new laminate designs fit into current interior trends?
A: One of the trends I'm seeing is the decorator trend, which is about patterning. For me, that means non-traditional patterning opportunities – on the floor. For instance, floors are featuring wide width planks, random width planks, random length planks, cobblestone pavers, and modular stones. For Architectural Remnants, we're using random width planks in Woodland Reclaim and wider width planks for a number of other designs in the collection.
Visit your local flooring retailer or home center to see samples of this beautiful – and affordable – new collection!
Marcia Fortley is a category marketing manager at Armstrong with a focus on vinyl sheet and laminate. She loves design, particularly anything mid-century modern or retro, and is addicted to auctions, antique shops, and flea markets. She also enjoys spending time with her husband Brett and their three cats.
Sara Babinski, Principal Designer, has worked with practically every type of flooring, and is currently the lead designer for our hardwood and laminate flooring products. She received a BFA in Illustration and Design from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL. Born and raised in the beach community of Sagaponack, NY, she looks for inspiration in the textures and colors found in nature.
This entry was posted on Friday, May 31st, 2013 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Decorating Trends, Flooring Design, Flooring Trends, Laminate, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
