One of the best things about staying in a posh hotel is the bathroom. The beautiful plush towels, the fancy tolieteries and the design that many of us would like to accomplish in our own homes. Hotels may have high end designers but here are some tips to help you make your own bathroom feel as though you were staying at the Ritz.

Use different sizes of the same colored tile go create a sense of infinite space.

Keep the floor and wall tiles the same.

Play with trim colors.

Continue with the same tile floor over the shower curb and into the shower pan to visually expand the bathroom floor.

Consider using three different color tiles to create a tonal variation. By combining different tiles in similar colors, you further emphasize the size of the space while creating a sense of visual texture.

Think about installing ceramic tiles vertically in order to emphasize the geometry of the space and give the illusion of height.

Our store is full of designers to help you make your own bathroom as beautiful as your favorite hotel. Please visit us so we can help you find the perfect tiles for your project.

Each of us has a style of our own. Whether you love black, white and sparkle, cool tones and unfussiness or warm and rustic it is imperative to understand your personal style before you begin a decorating project at home. Here a few rooms to help you determine which style you are.

If you choose this room you like urban chic. You hate clutter, or at least you want your countertops to look bare and clean. View other urban chic rooms here to get more decorating ideas.

If you choose this room you love stately elegance. Your style is orderly, conservative and formal. View other stately elegant rooms here.

If you choose this room you love Rustic Reflections. Based in the arts and crafts movement, sophisticated Southwestern influences and mountain living, this style demonstrates true craftsmanship, simple design and the loving, organic combination of home, hearth and nature.  View other Rustic rooms here.

If you choose this room you love Seaside Simplicity. Seaside Simplicity is a light, easy-going lifestyle, think Tommy Bahama. View other Seaside Simplicity rooms here.

If you choose this room you love Italian Impressions. You crave objects aged and worn, rooms of heavy woods and wrought iron. View other Italian Impressions rooms here.

At Pierce Flooring we can help you design any room in your house in your own personal style. Our design center will help you get started.

You’ve finally anted up and it’s time to make that cement basement a cozy inviting place for the kids and the adults to play. You’re envisioning a big screen TV, a pool table and space for all those toys.  You know your color scheme and your budget but you have no idea what type of carpet you should install. Realistically, you know you need something durable and easy to clean as you know that the kids and adults will be snacking and drinking down there. We’ve got you covered.

The bottom line is this: choosing the ideal carpet style is all about knowing the right combination of aesthetics, performance and budget that meets the needs of your lifestyle – emphasis on you.

So check out the following and let us help you learn all about the carpet styles that will be right at home in your home.

You have several options. You can either choose to install a less expensive carpet with the idea that your will replace it every few years. What a pain. Or you can choose a carpet with the Stain master advantage. They last 50% longer and stay 30% cleaner than other carpets. Watch this video of durability and spill repellency.

You can look at carpet colors, pad options and calculate how much carpet you will need.  You can decide what style of carpet will look best in your basement. Do you want frieze, loop, cable or Saxony? You can even use our room visualizer that you can get an idea without spending a dime about what your room will look like when it is finished.

Visit our showroom or contact us for more information. We are happy to help you pick the best carpet option so that you can get your rec room project underway.

Laundry is part of life, and most homes have a simple laundry room with limited space. Have you taken a look to make the most of your laundry room options? This small room works well because it’s well thought out for functionality.

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.

If you find your closet a source of frustration rather than pleasure, it’s time to make some changes. Just a few afternoons and a minimal outlay of cash can turn this closet into something worth hanging clothes in instead of a disaster.

This person tried to organize the closet, but shortly thereafter the attempt just added to the clutter. Having a closet that works is not about having enough storage solutions as much as it is about creating and sticking with a plan. Let’s see what can be done.

First, remove all the clothes and accessories from your closet. Drape them on your bed or chairs. If you find items that don’t belong in a bedroom closet such as holiday decorations, immediately find storage for them somewhere else if at all possible.

Sort your clothes into piles for giving and throwing away. If something is debatable, put it in another pile. What’s left is what will go back in that closet.

Now look at the empty closet itself. What can you do to add storage? Take a look at this woman’s closet. The space under her clothes is wasted. Shelves for shoes, drawers, open bins or other storage solutions could make that space useful.

Once your closet is ready to receive clothes again, don’t just hang things up and walk away. Instead, create a plan for organizing your wardrobe to suit your needs. Work clothes could occupy one area and exercise clothes may fit in one or two drawers. Out of season or formal wear may fit in another closet or in an area that is harder to reach.

When you’re done you will reap the benefits of your efforts for years to come. Just remember to stick to your plan and your closet can be a source of comfort and pleasure rather than frustration, just like it is for this man. Doesn’t he look content?

When you choose new flooring, furniture, paint, home accessories or any other design element for your home, the sheer number of choices can sometimes feel scary.

One trick that can help you find the right option for you is to wait and see which choice haunts you when you walk away.

You may have already made a choice subconsciously, but all the options in front of you make the decision confusing. By walking away and looking at something else, the right selection may just stay in your mind.

By stepping back and letting yourself recover from the confusion of choices you face, it’s much easier to select the one option that you want for your home.

Here are the steps to take to see if you find yourself haunted by the right choice.

• If you’ve narrowed down your search, review each option briefly before walking away.
• Spend some time looking at unrelated options. You may even want to go home and postpone the decision until tomorrow.
• As you think about and do other things, see if one choice seems to stay in your mind. This may mean that you visualize it, or that you find yourself worried that you choice may not be available when you get back.

The value to this approach is that you only have those things you love, that you can’t bear to leave behind, in your home. And as you look at your home and realize that you picked out just the right pumpkin, or home design element, you will not be haunted by the ghosts of bad decisions past.

Many homes that have an open floor plan end up feeling like a one-trick pony – a barnlike space with no clear functional definitions to outline the different uses of a space.

This home uses design elements to take full advantage of the open concept while still creating clear transitions from one functional space to another.

Flooring varies both in material and level. The living room in the foreground shines with large stone tile while the wood step up to the rest of the home provides a built-in transition point. Varying levels also appear in the three steps to the kitchen, allowing that space to stay separate while still having a connection to the rest of the home. Wood beams on the ceiling and various ceiling heights and soffits also provide transition lines.

The wall elements such as the pillars outlining the separations bring design elements together even as they define the corners of the different functional spaces. Other surprise architectural touches such as the stone wall to the right and the triangular skylight in the living area provide additional personality.

This room is beautifully decorated, but it would be inviting even with no furniture. The secret comes from an architectural approach that is integrated and adventurous. This home provides a good example of how good bones – the basic design and plan of a home – combined with a good eye for design on the fundamentals such as flooring and the use of varied materials – can make a space work

It may seem that this photo cannot be related to your home, but looking through the archway to the street beyond it is similar to looking through a doorway or opening to the next room. You can use what you learn from this photo to make your home just a little more special.

The eye is immediately drawn down the street. This is because the street itself pulls you through the photo. The rough stones and the sidewalks along the edges pull your eye all the way back to the large stone-surrounded doorway.

In the same way your flooring pulls people into your home. If you have tile or wood which contain natural lines, the eyes will be drawn along them until they end. With that in mind, make sure that what they see is what you want them to notice. Just as the doorway is the focal point of the photo, your room’s focal point should be positioned to draw the eye.

Light and dark mingle in this image, keeping your attention even though color is limited. Do you have enough contrast in your rooms? Stand at your doorway and decide.

Finally, there are simple touches for the eye to focus on as it moves to the focal point. The bicycle leaning on the right wall and the multiple posts in the background are interesting stops along your destination of the doorway. Do your rooms have places to catch the eye?

It’s time to stand in your own doorways and room openings and take a look at what all of your guests see. What can you do to improve their impressions?

This dining room is striking yet simple. The clean lines and limited color palette help you appreciate every element.

Let’s start with the flooring. Choosing a light neutral tile allows a great deal of flexibility for decorating. The white walls also open up the options.

The decision to go extremely modern works well in this room. The dark ebony wood table and chair frames bring the rich tone that’s needed to keep the room anchored. The white leather chairs are simple with just enough design to them to add interest. Then there’s the big finish – red.

By adding red to two chairs, some artwork and the three bowls sitting on the table, the room moves from bland to daring immediately. This choice tells you that the home’s owner doesn’t want to play it safe.

It might be tempting to carry more red into the room, but it would be gilding the lily. By choosing only a few pieces in the exact same shade of red, the statement is modern and clean without becoming boring.

Although the look is contemporary and fresh, the tile floor and wipe-down leather chairs make this room easy to maintain even after quite an elaborate dinner. It is also child-friendly. The simple look opens up a rich variety of possibilities for table linens and serving elements. It would also be really tempting to kick it up even further with a bouquet of red poppies to add to red’s pop in the room.

Ever had a bad hair day? If you allow yourself to be creative, there are small fixes that can make it look normal again. Decorating can be fixed in the same creative ways. If you find yourself in a bind, there are a few simple, quick fix-its that can help.

Paint your decorating woes away. That’s right! Paint is the cheapest and easiest solution to most decorating woes. Give your room a new look with a fresh coat of paint. Paint can be used to alter the feel and décor of practically any room. Make a small room feel larger, by painting it a light color. To make a large room more intimate, paint it a darker color.

Are your upholstered pieces looking worn and ragged? Spruce up your upholstered pieces with form fitting slipcovers. Good slipcovers cost a couple hundred dollars because they fit furniture well. The sloppy look can be endearing; however slipcovers that are baggy and slide look too sloppy. If you decide to take the slipcover route, do it right and look for the right fitted cover for your piece.

If you want to update your upholstery without recovering it in some way, consider brand new pillows and throws. New pillows can breath new life into upholstery. Accent pillows can become smashed and flat. New pillows can really give your sofa a face-lift!