Surface Blog

Welcome to Surface, a blog by Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. Join us in discussion about hardwood flooring wood grains & styles, home decor, green building products, trends and more.

True Hardwood Story: Walnut Surprise!

Posted by Megan Sprague

Hannah Greeley of our Georgetown, DC design center sent me this note and photos!!

So, I had a customer that wanted me to meet him at a new house because he LOVED the walnut floors they had and he wanted to match them... so I took a drive out and as soon as I walked in the door, I KNEW they were our floors, absolutely gorgeous!! Turns out after some digging, these ARE our floors and even sweetened the deal to my customer after knowing that!

Thanks to the mill for these gorgeous floors and to Glen for selling these particular floors that the customer can’t stop raving about, we got the sale!

I wanted to share the pictures I shot with everyone (sorry, not the best lighting) but I can’t stop staring at these pictures, absolute beauty!

Thanks to all! Enjoy!
-Hannah

Posted on October 8, 2008 at 02:51 PM in Hardwood Flooring • Home Decor • (0) Comments
Customer Photos: Eastern White Pine, Long Island

Posted by Megan Sprague

Crystal Knowles of our sales staff received these photos from her clients on Long Island. They own a 100-year old waterfront home and chose our wide plank Eastern White pine with Handscraped Edges and dark brown stain. Also, the floor is installed over radiant heat!

Enjoy!

Posted on October 2, 2008 at 10:52 AM in Customer Stories • Home Decor • (0) Comments
Carlisle Pairs with Jewett Farms & Co.

Posted by Megan Sprague

We've recently partnered with Jewett Farms & Co where they have used our floors throughout their Newburyport, MA studio. We're happy to be working with them and wanted to share this letter and photos with you from Elena at Jewett Farms Studio.

Dear Mark,

Jewett Farms & Co. headquartered in York, Maine was founded in 1999 with the vision of establishing a cabinet shop that would celebrate the traditional woodworking art and craft of New England. Our focus is on furniture-grade period cabinetry and furniture custom-designed and built for each client and the unique homes they live in. Jewett Farms Studio, our second design studio and showroom, recently opened in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Jewett Farms & Co’s partnership with Carlisle Wide Plank Floors is a natural and organic fit. The synergy that is created between the two companies produces an unrivaled value to our clients and partners. We exclusively work with Carlisle and the reason is simple, our clients expect and deserve the best from Jewett Farms & Co.

Elena

Posted on October 2, 2008 at 09:44 AM in Home Decor • (0) Comments
Interior Design and Hardwood Flooring: Spotlight on designer Krista Stokes - Part II

Posted by GuestBlogger

By Albert Waitt

Krista Stokes is one of Maine's hippest designers and the proprietor of Favela Chic Salvage Boutique and Design. She was of 14 professionals chosen to work at the exclusive Hidden Pond Resort in Kennebunkport, ME, where she created the "Lazy Days" cottage. Her work there was pictured in the Boston Globe and chronicled throughout New England.

The Floor

No Knock on Wood

Krista: Go for the hardwood, wide plank floor because of "the feel" of it. And the way it sounds. The feeling of wood is what I go for-everything else is secondary. You can do anything you want with it.   It's a really versatile tool. You're not pigeon-holed into anything.

Taking Wide Planks One Step Beyond

Krista: I love going into a place that has a floor laid in an unexpected way.    It gives people a chance to make the statement: "You know, I actually thought about my floor."   Anytime you can say that in your home in a nice and easy way, it's great design.

For example, you can always take what one would expect a hardwood floor to be and change it. This ranch I'm doing now is really long.   It already goes on forever. So instead of doing the floors lengthwise, we said let's cut the room in half and lay the planks short-wise. You enter through the French doors and on the other side of the room is York Harbor. The floor takes the distance of your eye and shortens it. Now you walk in the door and the wood takes your eye outside to the harbor because the floor is pointing you that way.

If I were a Carpenter:

Krista: Carpenters can lay your planks at an angle, do an original design, a compass rose, or parquet your floor. You can do anything you want. The sky's the limit if you can find somebody who likes to work with wood for wood's sake or craft's sake.
The Décor

Come Together:

Krista: Hardwood flooring is the most versatile thing in your house. It will do whatever you want it to. It's all about the décor.

You can take the same heart pine wide plank floor and:

Put a chrome table, with chrome and black leather seats, on that floor. Paint the wall bright red and hang motorcycle parts on it. Place a juke box in the corner. If you like that sort of thing, you'll be thinking, "Sweet." You've got a floor that is perfect for the room.

Then take all that away, and hang ship wheels on the wall. Place an old farmer's table in the center of the room, and put up a fireplace mantle with a boat on it. And wow, the floor's perfect for that room.

Clear those pieces out and bring in some Angela Adams elements like an area rug or print, an espresso nut dark wood table with white leather chairs, and a bowl of fruit and a side board. Now you're contemporary and funky, yet traditional. And the floor is still perfect.

As long as you are following other rules that balance out your design and balance out the objective of what you want the room to feel like, you're going to be successful with a wide plank floor. Everything adds up to create the atmosphere you want.

Posted on August 12, 2008 at 02:05 PM in Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • Home Decor • (0) Comments
Interior Design and Wide Plank Flooring: Spotlight on Krista Stokes - Part I

Posted by GuestBlogger

By Albert Waitt

Krista Stokes is one of Maine's hippest designers and the proprietor of Favela Chic Salvage Boutique and Design. She was of 14 professionals chosen to work at the exclusive Hidden Pond Resort in Kennebunkport, ME, where she created the "Lazy Days" cottage. Her work there was pictured in the Boston Globe and chronicled throughout the region.

The Surface sat down with Krista to discuss aspects of decorating for spaces with wide plank flooring. For the record, the interview was conducted in a public place. It was also repeatedly (and pleasantly) interrupted by a number of Krista's clients who couldn't pass by without saying hello and talking about their homes. It's clear that Krista has the makings of a fan club on the Maine coast. And she has a philosophy when choosing flooring materials:

It's the Wood:

Krista: For me, it's the wood. It's part of the earth. When you walk into a room and see beautiful hardwood floor, it's a feeling that you get. I love the light reflection of it. I love the sound of hardwood. It's a great way to give a space energy. The wood has traveled long and hard. Regardless of its history, whether it came out of an old farm in Ohio or a forest in Brazil, it's traveled. Just to bring that into the home means a great deal.

Floors Tell Stories.

Krista: I recently went through a big debate with some clients. The wife really wanted a wide plank floor. The husband wasn't thrilled. They have a dog and he didn't want the dog's nails to scratch the floor. I said, "Listen guys, it's life. Let life screw up your floors. Don't get your floors and then want them to stay the way they are."

Floors all tell stories. It's getting harder and harder for us to instill history with the next generation. A lot of people want to leave a history for their children, but don't want to relinquish the control of modernity.

But, it's okay. Don't sweat it. It's a floor. It's supposed to be walked on. Kids are going to run across it. It's supposed to have dogs' paws on it. The wood has survived this long and it will survive much longer than us humans. The first thing you notice when you walk into a room with a wide plank floor is, "Wow, what a great floor." If you see where a child's toy car left a skid mark, then you might think, "Hey, what happened?" It's family history.

Posted on August 11, 2008 at 02:00 PM in Hardwood Flooring • Home Building & Contracting • Home Decor • (0) Comments