Fashion Trends: Colors, Products, Designs

At various floor covering shows this winter, including Surfaces 2008, designers commented upon emerging fashion trends in flooring. With regard to carpeting and other soft surfaces, tones in mauve and gray appear to be making a come back. Last seen in force during the early 1980s, muted lavendars and related tones are emerging in a variety of goods, often accented with bold grays.

Various forces also are prompting an apparent resurgence of "old man oak" in the hardwood category. Though by no means dead in any event (hardwood oak flooring still accounts for roughly two-thirds of all hardwood flooring sales), oak has declined in popularity in recent years as compared to less commonly used species such as American Cherry, Beech, Birch, American Walnut, Maple, Hickory, and various South American, Asian, and African exotic species, such as the now ubiquitous Brazilian Cherry. In many instances, these flooring trends followed in the wake of movements within the cabinetry industry away from oak visuals. Flooring tracked these changes in cabinet design as, quite often, consumers select flooring to match cabinets rather than the other way around.

Recently, many new cabinetery offerings shown at design fairs are featuring oak, particularly white oak. Featuring a more even tonal range as compared to red oak, white oak often is selected in more formal applications. Indeed, its gray/green toning (as compared to the pinkish hue of red oak) complements the grays making a comeback in soft surfacing.

Another reason that may be prompting the resurgence of oak concerns the environment and a growing "green" focus within floor covering. Many of the so-called "exotic" species, such as Brazilian Cherry, Merbau, etc., are harvested from rain forest ecosystems often via illegal or unapproved means. Poachers deforest fragile habitats and fail to utilize proper forest management techniques. In contrast, oak is relatively plentiful, is more readily renewable, and is subject (generally speaking) to far superior approved forestry-management practices. Accordingly, many of the design trends in hardwood flooring are featuring not new or exotic species as much as new or exotic finishes, profiles, widths, and treatments. Wide widths, long planks, french bleeds or other distressing features, and a variety of new and interesting stain colors can provide a tremendous array of options in what many initially might consider "mere oak." In turn, these design elements offer discriminating consumers--even those seeking a truly custom look--an opportunity to achieve all of their design dreams while promoting a "greener" environment.