High-Style Floors

Forty years ago, Rick Johnson began working in his grandfather’s furniture business in suburban Chicago. He’s had his fingers on the pulse of the trade ever since. He and his wife Sue opened Pelican Bay Floors to cater to new home endeavors and home remodeling projects that require first-class service.

Over the past four decades, the flooring business has evolved along with the home market. People are building and living in larger homes where no detail is overlooked. While laminates have improved dramatically and are available in every conceivable pattern and color, and made to emulate all natural surfaces, homeowners crave wood and stone. Where wall-to-wall carpeting was a given in many homes 20 years ago, these gorgeous fashions are now more often delegated to bedrooms and walk-in closets where bare feet enjoy a soft cushion.

“Carpeting only accounts for 13 percent of our business,” Johnson explains. “Sales in wood are growing, but the strongest demand is still tile. It’s easy to clean and user-friendly.”

Pelican Bay Floors has a professional staff ready to help homeowners, interior designers and builders with product selection and installation. The store caters to medium to high-end installations, and a good deal of business comes from referrals.

When it comes to the ever-popular tile, porcelain is the hands-down favorite. Porcelain tile is much harder than ceramic tile. Unlike ceramic, which has a layer of surface color, porcelain’s hue is tile deep. It costs more than ceramic tile, but it takes a beating.

“With tile, your real cost will be with the labor to install,” Johnson advises. “It’s just not practical to spend good money to install some of the ceramics when porcelain is available in so many colors and patterns and will outlast anything out there.”

More than any other surface in the home, the kitchen takes takes all the abuse from floor traffic to spills. The quality of wood flooring available today will survive extraordinary wear in this high-traffic setting. While today’s choices of finishes and species can be overwhelming, Johnson reports that dark finishes and hardwoods such as oak, maple and cherry are extremely popular. At the same time, colorful and richly patterned exotic woods are in demand.

“The trends we’re seeing are the use of wood to warm a contemporary home design and also the use of wood in certain rooms like the library to add character to a home’s style,” he says. “Wood floors can work especially well in an open design, blending a family room and dining space in with the kitchen.”

Stone in focal areas is another strong trend. Often a polished travertine is used in the more public and formal entrance rooms and a similar style in a porcelain tile is used in the more casual family rooms.

“In a condominium or an estate home, stone is a beautiful surface,” he says. “We are seeing so many home projects where one-of-a-kind flooring designs are done by mixing media in floor medallions and borders. The use of marble or tile to unify flooring in different rooms, acts as a transition to the outdoors it can also complement a view and adds drama and appeal.”

At Pelican Bay Floors, possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

PELICAN BAY FLOORS
239 598-3954


Written by Casey McCabe