Last week we visited the Shaw Floors Market Show here in Vancouver. As one of the world’s largest flooring manufacturers, Shaw Floors stays on top of the latest flooring trends. The market is an opportunity for us to peruse new samples and discover the next big things in flooring for 2015.

Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) Floorté

This innovative new product from Shaw has the potential to change the luxury vinyl plank marketplace. Why is the vinyl plank so revolutionary?

• It’s completely waterproof. Floorté is made from an EVP polymer plastic that can withstand being submerged in water. Most vinyl plank flooring on the market is just water-resistant.
• A new locking system similar to a Tupperware lid. Thanks to the locking system, it’s easy to install and keeps water out of the joints for up to 48 hours.
• Unmatched realism. Since Floorté is more rigid than glue-down LVP, it feels more like hardwood underfoot. The bevelled edges add to the realism.
• No underpad is needed for Floorté.
• Wear layer features durable Armourbead nano-ceramic particle finish.

Shaw Floors Floorté Classico LVP colour Colori

Grey tones taking over

Grey is the trendy neutral colour in interior design right now. Flooring colour palettes are changing to keep up with the trends. Colours with names like sand, honey and coffee are being replaced with new colours names like fog, silver and concrete. Expect to see even more grey options available in carpet, laminate and hardwood. Here’s a few of our favourite grey options from the show:

Castlewood Oak Hardwood
The Castlewood Oak collection exudes old world charm. The natural beauty of the wood shines through with knots, mineral streaks and natural splits. Four rich grey-toned options give the grey-lover plenty of options to choose from.

Shaw Castlewood Oak Hardwood colour Armory

Shaw Floors Castlewood Oak colour Hearth

Shaw Floors Castlewood Oak colour Drawbridge

Shaw Floors Castlewood Oak colour Tower

Truly Relaxed Carpet
This luxurious nylon loop carpet is the redesigned sibling to one of our best-selling carpets. With many grey options to choose from, you can find the perfect shade to compliment your decor.

Shaw Truly Relaxed loop carpet

When we received samples of the Synergy, a cork backed vinyl plank and tile collection, our reps were excited. When the team is so enthusiastic about a product, it’s worthy of a blog post.

Vinyl planks and tiles have exploded in popularity over the last few years. Our customers love having the wood or tile look without the drawbacks of each. As a relatively new product category, there are always many ways a good product can be improved to be made even better. The Synergy planks and tiles succeed at doing just that.

The Synergy planks and tiles combine beautiful visuals with a rating for heavy commercial use. The natural embossed finish adds tremendous realism to the wear layer. The vinyl planks and tiles are waterproof, easy-to-clean and stain resistant. But it’s the attached cork backing that makes Synergy a truly unique product. The cork provides added warmth and sound absorption once installed. No glue down installation is necessary either thanks to the click locking system.

With it’s heavy commercial rating, Synergy could be installed in residential or commercial applications. It would be especially great for areas in the home that traditionally have a lot of moisture – think kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms etc.

“Have you ever been to Safeway?”

Chances are, you’ve seen and walked on luxury vinyl flooring more often than you’d know. This resilient flooring is used in a variety of commercial settings such as your local grocery store, florist, or coffee shop. Photos from one of our suppliers, Karndean, show an example of settings you can see luxury vinyl flooring in. Homeowners looking for a more durable flooring option are choosing to install it in their homes.

There’s a lot of baggage that comes with the word vinyl. The mere mention of the word often brings up images of tacky colours and a surface that discolours before it wears out. But vinyl isn’t like that anymore. Today’s luxury vinyl flooring is designed to replicate the look and feel of associated products such as hardwood or tile but without the drawbacks of each. Luxury vinyl flooring comes in two forms, long rectangular planks or square tiles. Its often referred to as luxury vinyl plank or luxury vinyl tile.

Benefits of luxury vinyl flooring include:

Durability: LVT is scratch resistant and doesn’t crack.

Quiet and warm: It’s quiet, warm, and comfortable underfoot.

Low maintenance: No varnishing, sealing, or waxing is required. LVT looks great with minimal cleaning effort.

Moisture resistance: Spills can be removed easily without damaging the floor.

Realism: Products that look impossible to tell apart from the surface imitated. Printing technologies even allow our suppliers to create tiles with actual tactile texture.

Luxury vinyl tile adds the beauty of hardwood or tile but with more performance. It’s the perfect solution for areas with high traffic, kids, dogs or high moisture. Style does not have to be sacrificed to get durable flooring.