Real wood flooring could be just the ticket!

Real wood floors are a decorating element that coordinates with any decor, and a recent study conducted by the National Wood Flooring Association with interior designers across the nation confirms this. Of the designers surveyed, 96% agreed that wood floors work with many decorating styles, 94% agreed they add value to a home, 92% agreed they are warmer that other flooring options, and 88% agreed they are hypo-allergenic. In addition, more than three-fourths agreed that wood floors are environmentally friendly, easy to maintain, and easy to make look like new. When you add to this the fact that wood floors will last a lifetime, they become a real value as well.

There is no doubt that real wood floors have a lot to offer — beauty, style, durability — which is likely why more than half of the interior designers surveyed recommend hardwood floors, or a combination of hardwood and other flooring materials, such as stone, to their clients. With its versatility and eco-friendly attributes, wood floors offer real long-term value, no matter what your decorating style.

To find out more about the benefits of wood floors, visit the NWFA’s consumer web site at All About Wood Floors.

According to an independent consumer survey by Troy-Bilt(R), a leading manufacturer of outdoor power equipment, women are influencing 44 percent of all outdoor power equipment purchases - 21 percent of all outdoor power equipment is purchased by women and another 23 percent is purchased by men and women together. Outdoor power equipment ranges from trimmers to chain saws and blowers.

For some reason, women tend to view the backyard as an extension of the living room and feel it should be an ideal haven. We saw one case where the back yard improvements cost almost 1/2 what the home did. Women will take on projects to turn the space into their ideal outdoor haven.

Women’s purchasing power and decision-making authority have significantly increased over the last decade and manufacturers nationwide are responding with revamped products to fit their needs. This includes the home area of improvement and remodeling.

For power products there are a few product features on the market today with women in mind:

• Easy to start - Avoid the aggravation by purchasing products that offer an advanced starting system and take less muscle to get the engines roaring. For example, there are lawn mowers that start with a push of a button and trimmers that have spring-starting assistance that reduces pulling resistance by up to 55 percent.
• Lightweight - Whether you’re planting new flowers or treating the lawn for weeds, gardening can be an exhausting task. To ease the pain, manufacturers are introducing smaller or portable versions of their most popular products that are often less than half the weight of their counterparts. For example, this year, Troy-Bilt introduced an edger weighing less than 25 lbs., making it simple to maneuver and easy to store.
• Versatile - Research shows women today are multi-taskers and are seeking innovation plus convenience to meet their busy schedules. To meet this demand, many products have interchangeable parts that allow gardeners to tackle more than one task. For example, a full-line of Troy-Bilt’s string trimmers, including the TB575SS, has the ability to accept eight interchangeable attachments, making it a snap to edge, cut, trim and blow.
• Environmentally friendly - Most outdoor power equipment features a two-cycle engine that requires the hassle of mixing oil and gas. Many products are now offering a four-cycle engine. It eliminates the need to mix gas and oil, cuts emissions by 50 percent and offers 30 percent greater fuel efficiency.

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LLF has recently accepted the company’s first order for LED downlight products from this builder and is excited to participate in the high-end custom home market. High-end in this case is in a price range of $500,000 to $2,000,000, but look for this trend to filter down into more moderately priced homes as well.

The high cost of housing has forced consumers to start making trade-offs, and higher quality is trumping additional space. Recent sizes of 2,459 avg square-feet are up from the 1973 avg of 1,500 square feet in 1973 — but that trend is likely to change.

What they have been losing in square footage, however, home buyers have been getting back in volume — higher ceilings are here to stay. Much of this changes is also being driven by accessibility for the aging baby-boom population, technological advancement, green construction materials and environmental concerns.

The Demise of the Living Room

The prediction of the demise of the formal living room for the past several years appears to be correct — 40% of homes built in 2006 didn’t have one and of those that did it’s size shrank dramatically.

The room in the average house most likely to gain in its share of square footage is the family room — which in our opinion is just a renaming of the old living room!

Other Findings:

* Low-maintenance exteriors, improved home design, the location of the home, two-car garages, home office and better security systems.

* Getting steadily higher over the course of the past 10 years, ceilings on the first floor of the average home are expected to be mostly 9 feet and some may even be 10. For luxury homes, a 10-foot ceiling will be standard on the entry level, ranging up to 12, and a 9-foot ceiling will be standard on the second floor.

* For kitchens it’s more counter space, more cabinet space, hight tier flooring and better quality appliances.

* The average 2015 home is expected to have two full and one half to three full and one half bathrooms, and the upscale home will range from three full and one half to four full and two half bathrooms.

* Standard outdoor features will be a front porch, patio, deck and rear porch — back to the 40s.

* Sixty-six percent said that the average 2015 home would have a fiber optic network, and 87% said that this feature would be found in upscale homes.

* Among electronic features that will be standard in the average home by 2015, participants identified: programmable thermostats (78%), structured wiring systems (61%) and multi-line phone systems (59%). Upscale homes, by comparison, are expected to include just about every electronic feature that is available: multi-zone-controlled HVAC (88%); multi-room audio (87%); whole home control/automation system (86%); monitored burglar alarm system (81%); programmable thermostat, structured wiring system and instant hot water in bathrooms and kitchens (each 80%); a monitored burglar/fire/toxic gas alarm system (77%); a lighting control system (75%) and much more.

* Participants noted several trends in green building in the average home: an increased demand for energy-efficient appliances and mechanical equipment, greater use of water- or energy-conserving devises, much more energy-efficient windows, more green and sustainable products and builders seeking green certification.