FLOR Me

When we finished installing the floor in the basement the last thing I wanted to do was cover the whole thing up with a giant rug.


While I would love not having to buy a rug or to sweep it, it's definitely a necessity down here where the temperatures are a lot cooler than upstairs.  It's also needed to break up the dark floors and dark couch.


During the planning process I knew I needed something that was inexpensive, very durable, (it's a basement after all), and also looked good.  I've been having major buyers remorse over the rug in our living room upstairs for some time now, (hating the swirls and color), and I wanted to take my time picking something for this new room that I would love. 

When we moved in, the basement was covered in carpet squares that were originally glued to the concrete, but had lost their adhesion years ago.  They were gross and shifted when you stepped on them.  As far as a dingy basement they were great, because we spilled things on them, Benelli marked a couple, and we wore our dirty boots all over them without care.  When they got too gross, (ahem, Benelli), we would throw them out.  They were nice for working down there so that we didn't hurt our backs walking on the hard concrete.

Even with the nightmare of the gross carpet squares that we inherited, I couldn't help but notice all the bloggers who were falling in love with FLOR capert tiles.  I liked the idea of being able to wash a square if there was a mess, and the fact that I could simply buy a new square if it was totally damaged was also a win.  With a kegerator not 10 feet away, I figured for my piece of mind, and against Mike's protests, I would add them to my potential rug options.

After pricing out a 13' x 9' rug, (ridiculous!), I turned to FLOR and decided to get some samples to see for myself if they could work.  I picked out 6 samples with free shipping for $10.



I was surprised by the quality of the samples and then did the slip proof test by removing the sticker from the back of one and stepped on it.  The backings aren't sticky, they just have a slight rubber feel, but when you put your weight on it, it doesn't move around.

While I like most of them, (Finer Things - Flaxen was too green, and Family Tree - Stone was not doing it for me at all), we narrowed down the 6 choices to 2:


Both Mike and I picked Twill Ride as our favorite, but I was worried about the white getting too dirty, and I also was worried that the white/silver was too similar to all the colors we already had going down there.  I liked the chevron pattern of the Suit Yourself, and the texture was a little more comfortable than the dense Twill Ride.  I hoped the subtle green and creams would add a nice texture layer. 

So, in the end I was going to sit on my decision for awhile, but when I saw a free shipping promo on the website I decided to bite the bullet and get 41 tiles to make a 8' x 13' rug, (5 tiles x 8 tiles with 1 for stock).  At $10 a piece it wasn't a small bill, but it was a reasonable price for the size.  The free shipping was also nice.

 Style Name and Color
Qty.
Price
Total


Suit Yourself - Linen
41*
$10.00
$410.00
Subtotal
Shipping
Tax
Order Total
$410.00
$0.00
$26.65
$436.65
*The following product(s) are currently backordered

Suit Yourself - Linen (41)

Backordered products will ship as soon as they arrive in our warehouse.


What wasn't nice was the backordered asterisk.  I ordered them on March 26th and after a phone call was told they wouldn't arrive to the warehouse until April 22nd :(  To my surprise I got an email last week notifying me that they shipped and would arrive on Monday!  So, Monday night I raced home to find 4 boxes on the porch.  And, like any good instagrammer, immediately took a photo.  


I shleped them downstairs myself, but waited for Mike to come home to help me move the couch around.  I love that darn sectional, but man, is it a bitch to move.

There are tons of tutorials, but essentially we moved half the couch, then laid out the tiles, then picked up the corners and added the stickers.  Once we got to the other half, we moved the couch around and finished it off.  It was really easy and was done in about 30 minutes, (including moving the beast of a couch around).  I had bought 41 tiles for a 8 x 5 tile grid, but as Mike pointed out, we didn't need them under the back part of the couch where it would never be seen, so instead of 1 extra, we have 7.  I suggested returning them, but Mike liked the idea of having all the extras for insurance down the road.

Mike is indifferent to things like rugs, but I love it.


I was hoping the color would be different than the wall color, but in mass it looks very similar.  It's okay though, after living with it so dark down here for so long, I don't care if everything is light.  I love the pattern and texture though.  We chose a parquet pattern and rotated every other 90 degrees.


We have to live with it for more than 72 hours for the real test, but so far so good.  We don't mind the unfinished edge, but Mike's a little wary about it showing abuse from walking.  We'll see how it holds up over time.

From a comfort level its great, even though it's been warmer here, it's still a lot cooler downstairs in the basement and standing on the floor vs the rug is a huge difference.  It's also the perfect layer to start adding more textures and patterns into the room.  Throws and pillows here I come!


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