(PRWEB) July 1, 2006 -- “According to The Freedonia Group, a business research organization,” says Stephen Roberts, owner of Luv-A-Rug Services, “The U.S. demand for hard flooring is projected to climb higher every year, right straight through to 2009. It’s powerful trends like this that allows us to dominate and influence an entire industry.”
“ According to The Freedonia Group, a business research organization ”
As an oriental rug expert, Roberts likes to stay on top of the trends that have a direct impact on his business and hard flooring is arguably the most powerful. He has found, even with his own clients, people are no longer happy with wall-to-wall carpets. Instead, today’s sophisticated homeowner prefers to showcase their home, and flooring seems to be number one on their list.
With a staggering amount of choices available in hard surface flooring for the consumer, Roberts has uncovered five unique trends in flooring:
1) Floor Design
Since hard surface flooring one of the fastest growing market segments today, floors are no longer treated as an after thought. Instead, they’ve become one of the most prominent features of a home and now designers don’t just add a floor to their design, but rather create a design around their floor.
2) Natural looking materials
Today’s technology has created an opportunity for many people to give their homes an expensive look but an affordable price. While most people would love to have floors of exotic woods, stone or other natural materials, the high cost and maintenance is beyond the average homeowner. Fortunately, a wide number of flooring options are available and virtually indistinguishable from real plank-wood, cork, marble and even exotic woods like bamboo. These engineered options are not only less expensive, but easier to maintain, safer and can even be longer-lasting than the real thing.
3) Reaching out worldwide for new designs
The desire for new and exotic patterns is now part of the mainstream. They represent a fresh alternative the same old wood and stone seen here for decades. Designers now have access to patterns they’ve never had before such as Anigre woods, African slates and Brazilian marbles. Even the laminate and vinyl flooring industry recognize the importance of these new ideas and are creating products that look identical at only a fraction of the cost.
4) Textured flooring
The unexciting and ordinary flat floor is on the way out. As technology increases, manufacturers are now creating products with a variety of textures. Textures can create a striking visual punch with the added benefit of being low maintenance. Some of the textures currently leading this trend are tumbled marbles, rustic woods and slate vinyls.
5) The return of area rug popularity
Sixty years ago the population of the U.S. was less than half of what it is today (130 million). The majority of homes back then had hard floors and area rugs were a popular method of bringing warmth to a home. In the 60’s, technology improved and new synthetic fibers made it possible to have wall-to-wall carpets at a very affordable price. Carpets have dominated home floors until the early 2000’s when hard surfaces became the dominant trend. But this new trend has brought along with it an explosion in the popularity of oriental and area rugs.
“It’s this huge popularity of area rugs that’s really driving our U.S. business,” says Roberts. “Carpet cleaners from all over the States are ordering our new RugBadger. It’s the only portable machine in the world that can shake dirt out of an area rug and dramatically reduce the amount of time a cleaner has to work on it.”
For more information on the Canadian designed product that has dominated the U.S. area rug cleaning market, visit www.rugbadger.com.
