Avant Garde | April ‘14 |
Engineered Hardwood…What Gives?
Your flooring is in many ways the hardest-working feature of your home. Not only must it look beautiful and complement your personal design style, but it must also withstand the demands you place upon it – whether children, pets, entertaining, or just day-to-day living. Today’s quality Engineered Hardwood offers an array of options to meet these demands with style and hard-working resilience – qualities making it a popular choice with today’s designers.
To learn more, I spoke with well known Interior Designer, Lana Lounsbury from Lana Lounsbury Interior Design in Victoria, to get the real scoop on Engineered Hardwood from a Designers Perspective.
1 | Lana, Tell us about your design business and the types of clients that you work with?
Our focus is residential and private office design and renovation. What both our residential and commercial clients have in common is that they want their spaces to reflect their personality. It’s not just about having a nice sofa, a new kitchen or an updated office, it’s creating an environment that feels just like you want it to feel and has the power to make others feel that way too. Design is a powerful tool!
2 | How do you remain current with the most cutting-edge products, services, and new design trends?
We keep up-to-date with design industry products and innovations in numerous ways, from something as simple as design blogs and magazine subscriptions to having trusted professionals in niche markets keep us updated about their unique fields.
We also attend continuing education seminars to keep our certifications and our knowledge up to date. It’s important to know not only what’s going on in each field, but to understand the impact for our climate, homes and market. What works in Dubai isn’t always going to work in BC!
Our clients appreciate our comprehensive knowledge of products, trends and services and our ability to cut through the nonsense for them. It’s a valuable service we offer to be able to say, “This, this and this are all available and we would use THIS for these three reasons.”
3 | What characteristics are most people are seeking in an Engineered Hardwood Floor?
A semi-casual look, natural oiled finish, easy care, wide width and mid-tone colour are the most popular floors right now.
4 | Are there myths out there about Engineered Hardwood you’ve been able to dispel for clients?
There can be a misconception that Engineered Hardwood doesn’t offer the same quality as traditional hardwood. In fact, much of the quality of an Engineered Hardwood is in the core as well as the top layer of wood. Those two factors combine to make a floor plank longer, more dent-resistant and wider than its solid counterpart could ever be without warping or twisting. The smoked oak engineered floor in our design studio has been installed for nearly seven years (glued down to concrete), and despite south-facing windows, two dogs and designers in stilettos it still looks brand new.
5 | What are you looking forward to seeing more of in Engineered Hardwood in 2014?
First, sustainable forest harvesting. People are becoming more aware of where cheap $5/sq. ft. wood products are coming from and don’t want that. Sustainable European forest products used to cost $20/sq. ft. or more but now the many North American co-operatives have brought the price way down and awareness way up.
Second, rustic and natural oiled finishes are fantastic. I love these types of finishes because they are so easy-care and lifestyle-friendly. No one wants to “dust” their floors or worry about dings and scratches.
“As the Architect and Design Expert for European Flooring Victoria, I enjoy working with talented Designer’s such as Lana Lounsbury. My clients range from Vancouver Island to Whistler and Beyond, and my new blog, “Avant Garde” will be featuring monthly design related features”- Vicky Marieacher.
Thank You to Lana Lounsbury Interiors for your contribution to European Flooring’s April 2014 Blog.
To learn more about European Flooring’s exclusive lines of Engineered Hardwood Flooring visit our Award Winning Showroom at:
European Flooring Group – Victoria
250-483-0301