Many options in home flooring are available, but it is important to pick flooring that matches your lifestyle.
Carpet
Carpet (like Empire Carpet) warms up a room and helps keep the noise down in a room. It is great for bedrooms and formal spaces where there isn’t a lot of food and drink, especially with small children and pets.
Spills on carpet need to be cleaned up immediately to avoid permanent staining. Pets can leave odors and hair in carpets. Choosing a carpet without loops is a must with pets.
Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring is easy to clean and maintain. It is also moisture resistant, and it is a quiet flooring option. Vinyl works well with little children. It is susceptible to rips, tears, and gouges, and pets’ claws can nick and damage the surface. Continue reading →
A dated or worn floor can instantly bring down any room. However, just as a bad floor can spell disaster for a room’s look, a fresh, updated floor can instantly add interest and pizzazz.
Take a walk through your local home improvement center and you will begin to see that flooring options for today’s homes are virtually endless. If new flooring is in your home’s future, the best way to begin the process of selecting flooring is to decide which type of flooring works best in your particular room.
Carpeting
Pros: Carpeting still remains the most popular floor covering in America. Warm, soft and comfortable underfoot, carpeting is usually a wonderful way to update your home. Carpeting can be quickly installed (by professionals, of course) and features a wide array of price points to suit virtually any budget. Many different carpet options, such as plush, frieze and Berber, allow homeowners to find the ideal color, texture and appearance for their needs.
Cons: Carpeting is not meant for every room in the home. Damp or wet areas, such as the front entry or the bathroom, are not ideal places for carpeting, neither is the kitchen, as food and carpeting don’t mix well together. Carpeting can also become stained, damaged, pulled or torn and may be costly to repair or replace. High-traffic areas often see the most carpet wear, thus purchasing higher grade carpeting for these areas is a must. Continue reading →
Empire Today, or also known quite well as Empire Carpet, is one of the most recognized home improvement brands in the United States. Empire Today was founded in 1959 in the Chicago area as a next day flooring and carpeting company which specializes in in-home sales and demonstrations, then sends out their installation crew the next day to install : swift, efficient and with competitive pricing.
Empire Today is also incredibly well known for their commericals and jingle. The tune “588-2300 … Empire!” has been on the lips of myself, kids, friends and even the family pets for years. If anything, the Empire Jingle, along with their impeccable service record, has grown the company into what it has become today; the #1 Specialty Flooring Retailer in the U.S. and one of the Nation’s Top 200 Brand Names.
Empire Today Brand
In fact, according to AdAge, the Empire Today brand is more popular than Office Depot, Dunkin’ Donuts, H&R Block, Intel, and PlayStation.
As an example, a simple search on YouTube for the Empire Today company name serves not only Empire Today commercials but also many happy customers and YouTube users uploading videos of the Empire Today song and even kids dancing to the jingle.
Empire Carpet Man
Besides the jingle, Empire Carpet is also know for the Empire Man, who’s story is available via the Wikipedia Empire Today entry :
The Empire Man was introduced in 1977 as a live action character and later adapted into a popular animated persona that has grown to become a cultural icon. The Empire Man has been seen internationally in commercials and other media, has spawned a line of collectible bobblehead dolls, is featured each year in the annual McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade , and inspired the Chicago Cubs to declare an official “Empire Day” at Wrigley Field in 2007.
The Empire Man was originally portrayed on television by Lynn Hauldren, who continues to provide the voice of the animated character
Empire Today Commercials
Here are some commercials featuring the famous Empire Man of Empire Carpet and Empire Today:
And here’s a version of an Empire Today Window Treatments commercial in Spanish :
So, Empire Today is famous for not only its specialty flooring prices, but also next day installation, quality products, in-home demonstrations, in-home sales and friendly service, but also branding, commercials and creating a strong character.
Whether a national business or a contractor serving the local community, there is much to be learned from the Empire Today story.
Flooring can make a dramatic difference in the appearance of your home. It will also contribute to the resale value, and it enhances the ambiance of a home. There are a great many choices to consider when deciding on the flooring for your home. Let’s take a look at ten of the most popular flooring styles from which to choose for your home.
1. Hardwood Flooring
Solid hardwood floors are one of the staples within the flooring industry. Because of the natural beauty and durability of solid hardwood floors, they have been around for centuries. Solid wood floors are a timeless investment that can produce a lifetime of beauty and add value to the home. Wood floors come in Maple, Pecan, Beech, Cherry, Oak, Pine, Birch, Walnut, Hickory and more.
2. Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo flooring is one of the newcomers in the flooring industry. Bamboo is more environmentally friendly than hardwood floors, and it is actually not wood – it is a grass. Bamboo is very durable, elegant and versatile. The natural variations of color that is unique to bamboo come from carbonization and are usually a honey brown color or light tan.
3. Laminate Flooring
Laminate floors are the fastest growing choice in flooring in America today. The laminate flooring received its fame from Europe and now it is increasingly popular here in the United States. Laminate floors are cheaper than hardwood and they are easy to maintain. The laminate flooring is virtually resistant to burns, scratches, chipping and is great for high traffic areas. Continue reading →
As environmental pollution and global warming become a daily reality, people are becoming more concerned about their impact on the environment. Beginning with the home, people are seeking new ways to beautify their house without damaging the environment. The first great place to begin is with your floors. Bamboo flooring can be a great option for flooring, and it offers many of the qualities of hardwood at a fraction of the cost.
Sustainable for the Environment
For those who want to protect the environment, one of the best advantages to bamboo is that it has a very low impact on the ecosystem. A parent bamboo plant grows new stalks each year, and in approximately six years, the stalks are ready to harvest. The manufacturers of bamboo flooring can then continually grow and harvest bamboo with no lasting impact on the bamboo forest. With other hardwoods, the trees take much longer to grow; even with reforestation techniques, it can take decades for a forest to grow back to its original state.
To make bamboo flooring, the bamboo is harvested, split, flattened, processed, and dried. These thin planks are then glued together to create the boards that can be used for flooring. Other types of bamboo flooring involve the bamboo being crushed, with the strands glued together to form boards. Once the glue is dried, the boards are prepared, milled to have proper tongue and groove edges needed when being installed, coated to protect their durability and finish, and then shipped to the store or directly to you. You can even choose to have your bamboo flooring stained to match your décor and tastes. Continue reading →
