👉 Other details: Adding a metal bar on the wall by the stove means you can hang your pots and pans there and free up precious cabinet space. Stacking your cutting boards on the counter (if they're nice) could be another way to free up cabinet space. This could be done in one of the corners which is deeper and tends to end up as "dead space" anyway. Adding a small plant with them makes it feel more like a design moment rather than just stuff sitting in the corner. We hung a cafe curtain in the window which does a few things for the space: get's a softer and more personalized look, gives privacy, and allows the light from the window to bounce off all the light surfaces in the room and makes it feel more spacious and inviting.

Non-Pasted means you need to put glue on the wall and then apply the paper. This is the only method I have not personally tried. It somehow seems more tricky to me, but the installers I have talked to actually prefer this method. They find it easier to work with. I will say, that this type of paper is most often found in the higher end of the price range. But when you feel it, you instantly know you have a really nice product in your hands. It’s thicker and the surface has more texture, so it feels much more luxurious. In comparison, the pre-pasted is smoother and not as thick. The peel and stick is a bit thinner again and feels less luxurious. -But the advantage of it being smooth is that it’s easy to wipe down.

Pre-Pasted means that it has a glue on the back which gets activated with water. Most instructions say to spray with a bottle, but if you attended our wallpaper event, you will remember that prairiegalwallpaper uses a paint roller with water instead. This method applies the water more evenly and gets the edges nice and wet. We really like this tip! Once the paper is wet, you book it and let it sit for a few minutes. Then apply to the wall. I have found this type a bit more tricky to work with. By the time I am done hanging the top half, going around doors and cabinets etc., the bottom is drying up. I’m far from pro at this point though! I have lots to learn still! But hey, we all start somewhere.

Peel and Stick is basically a big sticker you apply to the wall. You might think that makes it sound like an inferior product, but it is not! It still looks fabulous! It goes up really easily and is a great DIY. There is no water and therefore no mess. It smooths out very easily and if you need to adjust it you just peel it off and put back up. I didn’t find that it lost its stickiness at all when peeling back and re-applying.

Laminate has had a huge come back with their new waterproof line “Surge”. This has a coated HDF core, a higher content of glues and polymers, and has been pressed so hard, that it’s nearly impossible for water to get into the core and swell. Swelling has been the biggest downfall of the old school laminate, but the price point was so good that it was kinda accepted that this wasn’t going to last forever.

The surface of laminate is tougher than other types of flooring when it comes to scratches from furniture, shoes and pets. That is still true for these newer improved laminates, and for install you still need the underlay, same as before.

I personally have laminate floors in my home, and I love them! One of the downfalls of my lighter laminate is, that if you drop something on the floor, the surface chips off and reveals the darker core underneath (When I say “you” I mostly mean my four children who now all use the kitchen, cutting their apples, emptying the dish washer, setting the table, and doing all those chores that give plenty of opportunity for sharp objects to be dropped). My floors are the older version and do swell when it gets wet. I seal the chips with a colour matched nail polish, but in the kitchen area it has for sure taken a beating! Laminate can also be a bit slippery -the vinyl floors on the other hand are not at all!

Speaking of vinyl… this option is the new cool kid on the block -and for good reason; the water-proof feature has been a huge! You can now use consistent flooring on your main level and basement, and even in your entrance and bathrooms. When we were picking flooring for our new build, vinyl was new and very expensive, there were not many colours to chose from and they honestly looked so fake. Evokes “Unreal Flooring” looks very realistic and there are so many colours to chose from! Some are medium sized planks, some are wide plank. They have even come out with a few herringbone options that match the regular straight lay, which allows you to mix up how your flooring looks. Think old European apartments with an inlaid “area” in the floor almost like an area rug, but without the rug. If you follow us on Instagram and Facebook you know we loooooove herringbone and we really push for this option of mixing the two with some of our clients! It looks more custom and adds that craftmanship we all desire. They say it’s all in the details and we tend to agree.

Vinyl even though it’s waterproof, is not as scratch and dent resistant as the laminates. You can still scratch the surface moving furniture around -especially if you don’t use protective pads under the feet of your furniture. BUT you should ALWAYS protect your investment and add floor protectors under your furniture! If you don’t have any, come see us, we stock them.

If your children are the four-legged kind, you know that your furniture will eventually show wear and tear from their nails -it’s the same with vinyl floors. You’ll never wear through the surface but you can scratch the surface layer as you and your family live life in your home.

Showing wear and tear brings us to hardwood flooring. This is probably the biggest complaint people have when they come talk to us; their hardwood is scratched up so badly! It’s outdated and the shiny finish shows footmarks and all kinds of stuff, you have to clean it daily to keep it looking good. Yikes! Ain’t nobody got time for that!

The process of manufacturing hardwood floors improves all the time. Most of what you can purchase now is engineered, which means you have a thin top layer of wood attached to a base of fillets of cheaper wood or a crisscross plywood type. This makes the floor more stable in changes to humidity and temperature, and it’s also cheaper to manufacture. The way the surface is sealed also keeps improving, and we’ve gone completely away from shiny surfaces, not just in the flooring industry, but everywhere! We want natural looking products, and the hardwood samples we have in the showroom look exactly like that; natural and beautiful.

There is nothing like the feeling of hardwood under your feet. It feels softer and warmer somehow, but will show wear and tear over time. Some people hate this, while others see this as one of the features of hardwood; you can see that you have a family, that life goes on in your home, that you live with your beloved pet and you’re okay with these signs of life. Hardwood does require a bit more care, you have to keep your humidity level within a certain range (not a big deal considering it’s the same for human wellbeing). You’ll want different flooring in your bathrooms and entryway, and the price tag is higher. With hardwood though, you buy it once and with proper care, have it for life. Interestingly enough -as the price of plastic goes up, some of the vinyls have almost reached the same price range as a few of the hardwoods.

Often times I think it also depends on what we’ve lived with before. Did you hate your hardwood? You’ll likely want the new fancy vinyl option. You’ve had vinyl that separated in the seams and you’ll never buy vinyl again? Makes sense. Our rep always says “You get what you pay for” and that is very true. The cheaper deals we have all fallen for to save some money will not last as long or perform as well as a higher quality floor. It’s like garden peas versus store bought peas (or carrots!). They look the same, but they are not comparable at all!

How well your flooring performs, also comes down to proper care. You should never wet mop your floors, water dripping off a wet mop, leaving water behind as you clean is a clear no-no. Using cleaning solutions with bleach will actually break down the surface of your floors, making them more prone to damage from things that otherwise wouldn’t have been a problem. (So will pet urine, FYI)

Lastly, do you care about the environment? If so, this might also play into deciding which floor to chose. Our Surge laminate floors are 95% biodegradable, whereas vinyl floors take millions of years to break down -not a great footprint to leave behind on the earth.