Soho in New York City is famous for its many contemporary design and home décor stores. One of my favorite showrooms is FLOR with its modular system of sustainable floor coverings. What’s so great about modular design is that you can replace squares of a carpet without having to replace the entire piece. The carpet squares can be assembled into unique runners, rugs, or wall-to-wall carpets. It’s an easy and cost-effective way to replace parts that have stains or other damage. There’s a philosophy within the field of sustainable design where you create a product with its end-of-life in mind. In the case of FLOR it reduces its impact on the environment by sending fewer discarded carpets to landfills.
FLOR considers the eco-footprint of their carpet tiles every step of the way from design, manufacturing, use, and delivery to end-of-life. It has a reclaim and recycling policy that turns old carpet tiles into new ones made of post-consumer recycled fiber available for future purchases. Not only does this keep waste out of landfills but it also creates something useful for somebody else. No surprise since FLOR is a division of Interface that is committed to eliminate any negative impact on the environment of their companies by 2020.
All carpet tiles are made with renewable and recycled content. Most styles meet or exceed the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus standards for low VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). Sustainable benefits aside, the contemporary designs simply look great at eco-conscious offices and homes. What struck me the most while visiting the Soho location was a carpet display on the wall without the typical square design I expected. Instead it was a mix of stripes and squares that made up one big coherent image. That’s when I realized how much fun it is to create your own unique designs. The possibilities are endless and the sales person mentioned that there are even pieces with round corners. Sounds like a fun project for a rainy day!