The Latest Trend in Kitchen Design: Expressing Personal Style

(ARA) - Can’t buy a home with the kitchen of your dreams‚ then remodel your current home and express your personal style in every design element!

According to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, business is booming for contractors and others in home improvement businesses. In fact, a recent study conducted by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies estimates Americans will spend $160 billion on repairs and home improvements in 2007, a 3.2 percent increase over the previous year. The five most popular remodeling projects will be kitchens and bathrooms, additions, and changing the paint, floor and wall coverings.

If you’re planning to do one of the most involved remodels, a kitchen renovation, you’re in good company. The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) is predicting there will be more than 7 million remodels this year involving the room where people spend the majority of their time these days.

It wasn’t long ago that the majority of kitchen remodels featured static elements that made the room look fancy but not necessarily lived in. The stainless steel appliances and engineered stone countertops actually sparkled.

Nowadays, the latest trend in kitchen design is to embrace the home owner’s individuality. People are mixing and matching materials in the kitchen. They are choosing cherry and maple cabinets rather than the standard oak. Decorative tiles are being installed on countertops and backsplashes instead of engineered stone and granite. Antique brass handles, copper sinks and decorative fixtures are being put in; and instead of linoleum or tile, wood floors have become the hot design trend.

“Wood floors have traditionally been installed in bedrooms and living rooms. However, since they add so much warmth and comfort to a space and are so easy to take care of people want them in the room where they are spending the majority of their time as well,” says Chris Sy of Carlisle Wide Plank Floors.

Whether you’re going for a traditional, contemporary or retro look in your kitchen, Sy recommends a wide plank floor. They offer a more natural look and are easier to install, not to mention once down, they offer an overall sense of simplicity. Plank floors lend themselves to a variety of decorating styles, from elegant and formal to comfortable and casual, depending on the wood species, grade, and stain you choose.

The Eastern White Pine flooring offered by Carlisle retains the original character of wood floors seen in 18th and 19th century farmhouses. It works well whether you’re trying to create a traditional, formal, or contemporary looking kitchen. A more rustic feel can be achieved by using distressed barnwood - typically a mix of Eastern White Pine and Hemlock - reclaimed from old barns. “Another way to put your personal stamp on a kitchen redesign is to mix and match wood applications. You can really dress up the space by choosing a dark wood for your cabinets and applying tung oil to keep the pine floor light in color,” says Sy. “The possibilities are endless.”

Carlisle sells planks ranging in width from four to 20 inches. They offer floors made from pines like Eastern White and Southern Heart Pine; hardwoods including Ash, Birch, Cherry, Maple, Hickory, Red and White Oak and Walnut; hand-sculpted woods; and antique woods reclaimed from old barns and buildings. If you decide to go with a recycled wood floor, you can rest assured the it is the real deal. Carlisle floors carry the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certification for their entire line of Post-Consumer Reclaimed Antique Wood. The FSC certification ensures that the antique wood is processed through a continuous Carlisle chain-of-custody, from original structure to customer, and that the Carlisle product contains 100 percent FSC certified wood.

Recycled wood offers a rare and beautiful floor. It is also a great way to demonstrate your personal commitment to the environment while at the same time achieving a distinctive look for your kitchen. Every antique, recycled floor from Carlisle comes with information about its origin which can create an interesting dinner conversation.

So don’t be put off by the flat housing market, convert your existing kitchen into the one you’ve always dreamed of with a unique wide plank wood floor. For more information about Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, visit www.WidePlankFlooring.com or call (866) 595-9663.

Courtesy of ARAcontent