Design & Décor

06 Mar

Posted at 13:53h in Design & Décor, Featured Stories, Products & Certifications
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A growing number of flooring consumers know more about people-friendly products than mainstream flooring salespeople do When a consumer is intent on finding a specific product and spends hours researching it, she might be more knowledgeable than the salesperson when she gets to the store. Jennifer Lutz recalls how frustrated she was when she went to a mainstream flooring store, asking about natural carpet and hard-surface flooring that had third-party indoor-air quality certification. This drove her back to the computer and her Google searches, which put her in contact with Natural Interiors.® “I didn’t feel like the salespeople at the store knew what they were talking about or even understood my questions in regard to certifications and VOCs,” says Lutz of Lebanon, OH. “It is very important to me, and I do not want to spend money to buy a product that does not meet my standards.”

20 Feb

Posted at 12:08h in Design & Décor, Featured Stories, Home & Real Estate
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Amish Prefab, a lot of DIY -- and a surprising vinyl plank floor -- combine in a place to call home Rick Hicks was looking for a fixer upper to transform and call home when he decided it was time to downsize in 2015. A mechanical engineer, Rick’s ambition was to have enough land to build a 3-to-4-car garage, where he could work on cars – his hobby and passion. But the best properties listed and were sold quickly, and suitable opportunities were difficult to bid in time. Then, an open piece of land in West Chester, OH, caught his attention. The only building on it was a 30-foot by 40-foot metal garage – perfect for working on cars. “It was like being secluded out in the country but with all the convenience of being in the city,” Rick says. “The hardware store is only a few minutes down the road.”

02 Jul

Posted at 10:00h in Design & Décor, Products & Certifications
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Today’s natural interior design aesthetic includes many flooring products, from natural-fiber rugs to luxury vinyl tile. For this customer, natural means chemical-free wool. Page IMG_0253Elena Page, M.D., knew what she would do when it was time to replace her carpet. An occupational and environmental medicine physician in Cincinnati, OH., Page has a lot of experience in how chemicals can affect indoor-air quality. All carpets from major manufacturers these days have CRI Green Label Plus Indoor-Air Quality certification, ensuring that the products meet safety limits for Volatile Organic Compound (VOC ) emissions set by the state of California. But that wasn’t enough for Page. “I wanted to be sure that whatever I put in my home was not an emitter of VOCs,” she says. “I also care very much about what the workers are exposed to in making the carpet, and synthetic carpets expose them to a variety of harmful substances, some of which are carcinogens.”

28 Dec

Posted at 11:28h in Design & Décor, Products & Certifications
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Flooring restoration and replacement at The Transept was mindful of the historic character of St. John’s Church IMG_0434 Transept1There is a natural appeal to something that can be restored instead of replaced. So the second floor of The Transept building in downtown Cincinnati, where the original pine floor was patched with materials salvaged onsite, gets extra points. Formerly St. John’s Church, built in 1814, The Transept is now a grand venue for weddings, special gatherings, receptions and meetings – brought to Cincinnati by Funky’s Catering.

15 Dec

Posted at 14:18h in Design & Décor, Products & Certifications
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Zero-VOC hardwood floor finish proves to be unmistakably modern and virtually odor-free Cincinnati Architect Adam Fosnaugh and his wife, Margot, were clear on what their new hardwood floor would have to be: Warm, durable and honest to the material. Indoor-air quality also was key. They selected a palette of light colors and natural finishes, designed, Adam says, “to be minimal and modern with a sense of Scandinavian sensibility. … Living with a two-year-old and being keenly aware of the detrimental effects many building materials have on indoor-air-quality, we were also looking for environmentally-friendly solutions with low VOCs.” With their remodeling spanning weeks and nearing a conclusion, their new White Oak flooring has been installed throughout the first floor, and finished on-site with a zero-VOC, three-step white lye finish.

21 Sep

Posted at 13:21h in Design & Décor, Products & Certifications
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Low- and zero-VOC hardwood finishing program expands with architect’s vision OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACincinnati Architect Adam Fosnaugh was in awe of a wood floor made in Denmark. It was the look he wanted for the first floor of the Clifton home he and his wife are remodeling. Could we recreate this aesthetic?, he asked. It was White Oak plank, bleached in color, not too white, but no yellow tones that are typical with traditional hardwood finishes. Oh and yes, it had to be low- or zero-VOC. Adam is a LEED AP at MSA Architects. His wife, Margot, is a chemical engineer and air quality consultant, and they have a 1-1/2-year-old daughter. Indoor-air quality, in addition to the perfect color, also would be important for the cork flooring they would select for the second floor.

17 Sep

Posted at 10:08h in Design & Décor, Products & Certifications
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Indo Teak flooring is durable and planet-friendly, but also serves as a tribute to the travels of St. Xavier DSC_0297Don’t be misled by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification that comes with this Teak flooring. It does not mean the wood came from a sustainably managed forest. Instead, it comes from deconstructed structures in Indonesia – some up to 300 years old. And it has proven  to  be the perfect look for the northern foyer at St. Xavier Church in downtown Cincinnati.  Church administrators' desire for sustainable products and durability was a key reason Architects Paul Duffy and Adam Luginbill  at glaserworks selected it.

15 Jan

Posted at 11:21h in Design & Décor, Featured Stories
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Couple turns former Anderson Township barn into spectacular natural home [caption id="attachment_4423" align="alignleft" width="168"]After After[/caption] It started with a vision: Preserve the spacious serenity.  Restore and transform the barn into the grand centerpiece. Gaze out from any window and feel the tranquility of sprawling pastures, a winding creek and the natural acoustics of wildlife and waterfalls. Instead of a collective group of neighboring farmers ready to hoist the beams and hammer the nails, it took 18 months of intense focus by Karen and Jerry Whitney who, all the while, lived in a trailer on the property. [caption id="attachment_4438" align="alignleft" width="210"]Before Before[/caption] "It’s sustainable,” Karen says. “It was the natural thing to do, and it has paid off in the way the home looks and feels. Coming home from work is like entering a spa or a retreat.”

08 Jan

Posted at 10:04h in Design & Décor, Products & Certifications
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Custom design in cork gives light and warmth to dark kitchen Laura cork 2IMG_0037Laura wasn’t kidding when she said her new kitchen floor had to create a warmer, brighter space than the brown vinyl that once covered the floor in this room with very little natural light. Something natural that was indoor-air friendly would also be a plus, Laura thought as she began to research different floors.  Tile was her first choice. But the cement board  required as an underlayment would have raised the kitchen floor much higher than the adjoining rooms of carpet, hardwood and slate. She found a design – in cork flooring tiles – that she liked online, and selected colors for her own custom look.