Our Wish List!

Check out our wish list on our profile.

It will provide you with more information about the products we offer.

:)

24 Days.

To ensure our customers and other consumers seeking interior design that the "economic recession" will not hinder their flooring, draperies, and eco-friendly design needs,
Marina Flooring will be announcing supplier holiday sales
exclusively on our blog!
Looking for bamboo any time soon?
Our first sale is an offering from Nikzad Imports!
Nikzad is an industry leader in bamboo and imported floors.
Although they do not sell directly to customers,
Nikzad is available through dealers in the industry,
including Marina Flooring!
Besides the introduction of their new flooring lines:
The Signature Collection- Available in American Cherry, White Oak, American Walnut, Santos Mahogany, and Red Oak.
The Distressed Collection- [so exclusive that our company needs to call for details]
Stained Bamboo- Available in White Wash, Black, Brown and Cherry
They are offering a Holiday Clearance Sale for Micro- Beveled floors, which include:
The Signature Collection and
The Castle Collection.
They are also offering a clearance sale for square-edged floors which include:
Almost all of the Bamboo Collections!
So don't feel down about the recession!
Holiday Savings are still to come.
Stay tuned and enjoy the first week of December!

Some Added Eco-Friendly Options

There are several other no VOC paints to choose from besides the infamous Yolo Colorhouse Brand.

In 2006 several other eco-friendly paint options were introduced to the public.

Eco-Spec, which can be purchased through Benjamin Moore retailers (http://www.benjaminmoore.com/), provides an efficient, eco-friendly paint.

It's durability and washable qualities make it an ideal paint for young childrens' rooms.

The only down-side is, Eco-Spec's color spectrum is limited due to the high VOC content in darker paints.

Horizon is another green option for your painting needs.

It's texture allows for easy brush techniques and the ability to cover more wall with less paint.

These are available at the following address: http://www.roddapaint.com/

Last, but most certainly not least, is SafeCoat. It's a great paint if you're looking for consistency and ability to maintain even coverage, but needs to be mixed often because of the weaker binding agents in eco-friendly paint. You can check these out at: http://www.sampledepartment.com/

Jumping On the Bandwagon

As you may already know,

marketing is the center of product inception.

Companies wouldn't know what to produce without knowledge of the current market demand.

Beaulieu/Coronet, one of our long-time partnerships in the carpet manufacturing business, decided it was about time they did the same.

While conducting research pertaining to their specific market share,

Beaulieu realized that 94% of consumers feel overwhelmed when confronted by too much diversity in flooring.

Multiple samples, colors, grades, etc. causes a longer buying-decision process.

Their results also showed that there was a high demand for carpet, but manufacturers were not meeting the demands of the consumers.

In 2007, Beaulieu/Coronet released Bliss Carpets.

Bliss is the first eco-friendly carpet line that Beaulieu/Coronet has ever released.

To simplify the buying-decision process, Bliss sample racks come with easy to follow instructions.

Step 1 is to pick one of their 50 colors.

Step 2 is to pick one the grade and style.

There are 2 grades: Premium and Best.

The styles are essentially the same, but named differently due to the difference in grade.

For example, Breathe Easy is a Premium.

You can get the same style in Best, but it is called Live Fresh.

The 3 style names in Premium are Breathe Easy, Fresh Air, and Relax.

The 3 style names in Best are Live Free, Clean Living, and Restore.

Bliss carpets also contain silver release technology.

This fiber technology prevents fungi/mildew/germs.

Providing your home with fresh and clean carpeting year round.

It is made from 100% recycled polyester.

It also contains Magic Fresh, a self-renewable odor prevention treatment.

Bliss comes with a 60 day "No Questions Asked" warranty.

Besides being a very useful type of carpeting, Bliss also claims it's share of popularity.

Upon its release in winter of 2007, it won the Floor Covering Weekly's Dealer's Choice Award.

Bliss also received the National Floor Trends Styling Excellence Award in 2008.

A Natural Palette

Photo Courtesy of http://www.yolocolorhouse.com/colors_earth.php

As mentioned in an earlier blog,

Marina Flooring has decided to include Yolo Paint in their product selection.

What is Yolo Paint?

Yolo Paint is a no VOC paint that comes in a variety of bases that can be mixed into various

hues.

They became an eco-friendly company in 2005.

Yolo is focused on environmentally-friendly practices and the enrichment of the arts in their

community.

This attitude is displayed in their mission statement:

"We are connected to our community as artists, teachers, environmentalists and a woman-owned business.
Our products are designed to inspire confidence and creativity.
We bring environmental and social values to the workplace.
We are passionate about and committed to what we do every day."

Yolo's eco-conscious approach inspired them to entitle their recent collection:

"Earth's Colors"

The colors that can be mixed our put into several categories

Air

Grain

Water

Leaf

Stone

Petal

Clay

Yolo provides paints for indoor and outdoor needs.

They also provide poster size swatches of the featured colors.

Their recent experiments include Little Yolo.

A non-toxic, washable, interior paint.

These colors come in one group: Sprout

But contain pastel pink, light blue, beige, and yellow.

For more information check out their website:

http://www.yolocolorhouse.com/littleyolo/colors.php

Or come visit our showroom.

Our warehouse contains the color books, various bases and paints, as well as the paint mixer

that creates the hues of your choice.

We also have the sample books for this paint, as well as the sample swatches.

Defining Green [[Terms to Remember]]

Many consumers who have just jumped onto the eco-friendly bandwagon,

have very little knowledge or don't quite comprehend the "green lingo".

I found an interesting article in "Floor Coverings Weekly" that outlines some of the major terms you should know while exploring eco-friendly interior design.

I chose a few that pertain to our particular industry.

Certified Wood- Wood or wood based materials that comply with sustainable forestry practices.

Closed-Loop Process- A manufacturing process that recycles 100% of raw materials and wastes back into the production cycle.

Composite Wood- A product consisting of wood or plant particles or fibers bonded together by a synthetic resin or a binder.

Greenwashing- The practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology, or company practice.

Post-Consumer Recycled Content- Material used and then recycled by consumers.

Pre-Consumer Content- Material diverted from the waste stream during manufacturing process. It is also knowns as post-industrial material.

Reclaimed Material- Building components that have been recovered from a demolition site and are reused in their original state.

Recycled Content- The weight of recycled material in a product--including post-consumer and pre-consumer material-- divided by the overall weight of the product.

Recycling- The collection, reprocessing, marketing and use of materials that were diverted or recovered from a solid waste stream.

Reuse- The return of salvaged materials to use in the same or related capacity.

Solvent- a component in many adhesive and sealant formulations. Many solvents are identified chemically as volatile organic compounds.

Sustainable- A way of life in which the use of natural resources does not destroy them for future use.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) - A carbon compound that vaporizes at normal room temperature. They contribute to air pollution directly and through atmospheric photochemical reaction.

[[Reminder: Our Yolo Paint contains no VOCs (See Above Definition)]]

Marmoleum Mania

Marmoleum.

Probably one of the wierdest words in the flooring industry.

(Besides Bullnose and Baseshoe).

Despite it's awkward name,

it is actually quite popular among recent customers.

The most important factors of it's popularity are it's composition, texture, and convenience.

Marmoleum is considered an eco-friendly product.

So, unlike regular linoleum,

Marmoleum is comprised of a variety of ingredients from around the globe:

Linseed oil from Canadian flax

Wood flour from European trees

Rosin from Portuguese pine trees

Jute from India and Bangladesh

As well as finely ground limestone.

Besides increasing global trade (I mean, look at all the ingredients! Forbo must do more global trading than half the country just for the Marmoleum line!),

It is fully biodegradable when you are done with it

The average life expectancy of Marmoleum is 25-40 years

Not only is it a green product,

it is hypoallergenic and comes in over 35 different colors.

Marmoleum also contains a cork backing, allowing for a firm and confident floor.

Oh, the wonders of technology.