Today’s high-end homeowners are paying more attention to what’s under foot.
“If you look at design over the decades, there have been times of growing interest, peak interest, and waning interest in the various design details,” says Joseph Robbins, a designer for Sawhorse Designers and Builders in Robbinsdale. “Right now, floors are definitely a major design component. They’re not just something to walk on.”
In fact, homeowners more commonly crave floors capable of with-standing wear and tear and generating visual impact. The good news is that those shopping for durable, dynamic floors have significant access to an increasingly vast array of options—from all parts of the globe.
“The world keeps getting smaller,” says Andrew Flesher, a principal at Minneapolis-based GunkelmanFlesher Interior Design. “Couple that with the fact that, in general, people are more savvy about design and looking at their homes in a more detailed way. As a result, we’re seeing more unique and special building materials—not only on the floor but everywhere.”
Flesher, for example, recently designed a Minneapolis penthouse that featured a hand-pounded German silver floor. Flesher purchased the material, which came in the form of roughly 1⁄8-inch thick tiles, in London. “You install it just like a regular ceramic tile floor, but you don’t use a grout line—you just butt the next tile right up to the last one,” he explains. “It’s unbelievably beautiful.”
Sawhorse, meanwhile, helped a client secure bricks from an 18th-century French farmhouse. The builder installed the centuries-old brick in the floors of the client’s kitchen and great room.
“With a little time and powerful search tools like the
Internet—where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Robbins says. “There are just so
many options in so many directions. And this great range of options only spins
more and more opportunities.”
Exotics Emerge
Perhaps no other flooring material offers as many options as wood, an enduringly popular choice that suits most styles, from clean and contemporary to rough and rustic. But whereas wood floors once were confined to a relatively small group of American varieties, a wave of imports has injected new flair into a familiar favorite.
“Traditionally, hardwood was basically oak and maple, along with some birch,” says Steve Schmid, owner of Floors By Steve in Roseville. “In the last 10 years or so, however, the exotic woods have become very popular.”
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