First it’s light and appealing in a simple way. The window adds so much appeal both because of the view and the abundance of natural light. As a room that you walk into and out of constantly, the window reduces your need to turn a light off and on all the time.

The floor is so smart. The small tile mirrors bathroom tile and is neutral enough to provide for almost any color approach in the room. Tile can also handle the potential water issues if your washing machine floods. The second smart decision is the drain in the floor. This will protect the rest of your home’s floors from any machine mishaps.

The simple decision to hang a rod over the machines provides a place for finished ironing or hanging dry any clothes that can’t take the dryer’s heat. A second circular hanging clothes rack over the ironing board handles smaller items. One option offered in this room comes from the window – opening it on nice days can add fresh air when drying clothes.

If you have the room, take advantage of your utility space to add both additional functionality and some design touches to make the room more than just for laundry. If the space is small, look for opportunities to create additional storage for clothes drying and folding. With a little effort, you can make this weekly task both easier and more enjoyable.

Question: I need some new flooring but don’t know anything about selecting or buying it. How much help can I expect from the store and what should I do before I visit?

Answer: Our salespeople are an excellent resource for information and insights on your flooring options. Their goal, and ours, is to create a customer for life, so we want you to walk out the door happy with your experience and flooring choice.

To make your experience easier, it helps to have certain information in hand when you visit our showroom. This includes a list of rooms you want to renovate with approximate sizes (we will do the final measuring to ensure that installation goes smoothly), a budget estimate, and any specific design goals. You also may want to glance through some home design magazines and bring in photos of rooms you like to help your salesperson understand your personal design preferences.

If you haven’t visited a flooring showroom in a while, you will probably benefit from taking some time to check out the newer flooring options. Carpeting has evolved in recent years to include more patterns and textures. Laminate measures up to wood floors much better than a decade ago. Wood and tile have opened up with a rich selection of options to fit any taste. Visit our website to get some ideas about the products available, and you might want to take advantage of some of our web tools to help define your goals.

Bring your thoughts, taste and imagination to our showroom and it will be our pleasure to help you create a flooring look that meets or even exceeds your dreams.

Before planning a tile or stone installation pattern, you should always consider the size and shape of the room in relation to the size and shape of the tile or stone. If you are going to use a pattern for your tile installation, you always want to make sure that there is enough space in the room for the pattern to repeat. Your Pierce flooring sales consultant can help you with this.

Some commonly used tile and stone installation options:

• Turn the tile on the diagonal or on a 45 degree angle
• In addition to turning the tile on the diagonal or 45 degree angle, add a smaller tile such as a 2×2 or 4×4 in the intersections of the joints to create a “dot” (shown above)
• Set the grout lines with an offset or brick joint
• Use multiple sizes of tile (if available – not all tiles are available in multiple sizes) to create a modular pattern
• Use a border tile or decorative listello piece to create an area rug look
• Alternate multiple colored tiles to create a checkerboard effect
• Combine a larger tile and a smaller tile together to create a pinwheel pattern (for example: a 12×12 and a 4×4 tile)

For more tile and stone installation patterns, ask your Pierce flooring sales consultant.

These are just some of the options you can choose from to set your tile installation apart from a standard straight installation. Keep in mind that if you choose a pattern for your tile or stone installation that you may be required to purchase more tile and there may be  additional installation charges to install the pattern. The more complicated the pattern, the more tile it can take and the more the installation cost can be.

To get some pattern and design ideas, click here to view our gallery of floors. To try different tiles in different room scenes, use our Virtual Design Tool. These tools can be very helpful  in determining if a pattern is right for you as well as which type of pattern is right for you!

Have fun! Be creative! Put your signature on your tile floor installation today!