HOME IMPROVEMENTS
What’s
New IsOld
Recycled and reclaimed
wood varieties are a few of
the new trends in flooring
BY SUSAN BURGESS PHOTOS BY ROB DOWNEY
What’s new in flooring is old wood – and the
older the better. Reclaimed and recycled
wood is prized by people who love the
look, the history, and the idea of saving
wood by reusing it.
John Cannon, who works for Bonded Floors in Vero
Beach, says logs that rested for a hundred years or more
on the bottoms of rivers and lakes are being rescued and
turned into floor boards. From years of being soaked
underwater the wood is a deep, rich color. Recycled and
reclaimed goes even further, with sturdy carpets made of
paper and sea grasses woven into floor coverings.
“They’re reusing the resources,” he says.
Susan Schuyler Smith, an interior designer in Vero
Beach, says old barn wood is a popular choice for floors
as well. People are now intrigued by the idea of the history
of the wood they are using, she said. “For instance,
you might have a floor made of the wood from a barn
used by the race horse Native Dancer.”
Fast-growing timber bamboo is in demand for floors
and is a quickly renewable resource – it grows a foot a
day. The bamboo shoots are sliced into strips and boiled
and then laminated to make boards. In Port St. Lucie,
Jennifer Mascetta, co-owner of As Wood As It Gets, a
flooring store, says the craze for bamboo began about
seven years ago. “People felt it looked more tropical, and
they liked it for that Florida atmosphere,” she says. It
comes in a light, natural wood color or in a golden sort
of caramel color.
“Bamboo flourishes,’’ Mascetta says. “It’s not like an
oak that takes years and years to grow and then if you cut
it down it doesn’t come back. It’s actually a grass, not a
tree.” As soon as bamboo became available, it became
popular almost immediately, with people seeking it out
for its color, grain, and because it is unique looking.
New flooring made to look old by various methods,
including swinging chains at it, is called distressed wood
and is frequently requested by homeowners. “Distressed
floors are all the rage,” says Mascetta. “Now people don’t
care if their wood gets scratched.”
Jon McCarthy at The Inside Story in Stuart said hand
scraped distressed wood is popular with his customers, as
is bamboo, hickory, birch and cherry.
Exotic Brazilian woods are hot items for homes these
days, as well. Brazilian cherry, Santos mahogany, a
Brazilian walnut called Ipay, Brazilian Koa or tigerwood,
and a Brazilian oak known as Amendoim offer deep, rich
colors, and some provide variation between light and
dark boards.
“Wood just makes the whole house look warm and
beautiful,” Mascetta says.
41
The Home Edition