Last month we got the opportunity to check out a brand new showroom in Santa Monica. Flor, purveyors of the modern modular carpet tile, launched their only showroom on the west coast and with it, we got to check out their Fall Collection first hand.
For those unfamiliar with Flor Carpet Tiles, the idea is simple. Using modular pieces of carpet tile you can choose of dozens and dozens of styles to create your own rug to a custom size. Whether you're looking to create a wall to wall look or just need something soft under foot beside your bed, Flor is adapatable. And if you happen to have a pet or kids (or are clumsy) the tiles are interchangeable so you don't have to throw the whole thing out of one part gets damaged (plus a lot of their tiles are great for high traffic areas and can be cleaned easily).
The showroom in Santa Monica offers customers a chance to see the entire collection and to try out the tiles in person. Located pretty centrally to the promenade and newly renovated Santa Monica Place, the showroom is a large converted work space with high ceilings and a huge table in the center to spread out your design/floor plans (if you're a designer) or inspirational images. You're encouraged to take off your shoes and take the tiles for a test drive under foot and there's ample space to lay out different designs and 'play' with the tiles. You can see how well the tiles stand up to high traffic as they're used throughout the store.
We love that Flor has recently expanded their lines of tiles to include new contemporary designs like the ikat inspired sophistikat and Mag Neat-O along with more classic options like the warm welcome.
We also appreciate Flor's commitment to being sustainable. Their tiles are fully recyclable and Flor will even pay to have your old tiles shipped back to their factory where they're recycled into new tiles (it's called their recycle and return program). And although you cannot purchase your whole order directly at the store your order is shipped to your home.
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Has anyone used FLOR wall-to-wall over a subfloor instead of regular wall-to-wall carpeting?
We're halfway through a wall-to-wall FLOR project in our basement. We had a sump pump failure during the historic central Iowa flooding this summer. Our basement is never wet otherwise.
We are sealing the concrete (as FLOR recommends) and putting the tiles in a media room and guest "suite" (if you can call a basement bedroom/sitting room a "suite"). They are easy to lay down, and with some careful forethought about geometry, we're not ending up with too many odd slivers to fill in edges (to give you an idea, it took over 60 different pieces of baseboard molding to handle all the angles in this weird space). They stay very flat on concrete. We're impressed so far.
Oh, and we're using "Feelin' Groovy" in desert and eggnog, in a checkerboard pattern. I think you can see the lines between tiles no matter what, so rather than using one color and being annoyed by that "grid" look, we decided to go with a checkerboard. It's a very informal space, and the colors look fantastic with tan walls (in the media room) and a lovely muted green-blue in the bedroom.
Despite my successful experience, the insane shipping charge is one of the reasons that I haven't purchased Flor again. Even if the store doesn't carry stock, they should still allow you to ship your order for free directly to the store for pick up, thus avoiding hundreds of dollars in shipping.
The shipping costs turn a pricey diy carpet job into something outrageously expensive. You might as well pay someone to install real wool because diy synthetic from Flor costs the same once shipping is accounted for.
@1stnest: I installed wall to wall over wood floors in the bedroom - don't know if that is the same thing but the Flor ("Toy Poodle") has worked as advertised and I haven't had any complications.
I like flor tiles. I've ordered from them several times. However, they have not responded at all to multiple telephone and e-mail requests for the packaging to return old, used flor tiles as part of their Recycling Program.
Regarding the shipping charge...I called the order line and asked about shipping discounts. Because we were ordering a large quantity, the normal shipping calculation did not apply, and we got a freight rate. I also mentioned having seen coupons for discounts on the carpet tiles themselves, and the order person gave us a percentage off as well...so the total cost was less than the cost I had calculated just for the carpet tiles. It's worth asking....