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Before & After
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A basement gym gets a budget-friendly makeover
My client hired me to transform her drab basement gym into a bright and invigorating space; one that she would look forward to working out in. The catch: her budget for this transformation was limited. I like a good challenge, so here is what I did:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Paint is one of the least expensive ways to change the look of a room. Benjamin Moore's "Tricycle Red" paint immediately resonated with my client as an invigorating and empowering color. We chose this vibrant red for accents throughout the room. We had the window frames, the frame of an existing mirror, the baseboards, and the structural columns all painted in this color. The rest of the walls were painted in a neutral cream color.
We had the existing floor covering removed and replaced it with FLOR carpet tiles. We chose carpet tiles in the highly durable "Reverb" style and selected two colors: oatmeal as the base color and red as the accent color. These carpet tiles are durable and easy to replace, and they make it easy to create unique patterns: we randomly placed red tiles among the oatmeal tiles for unexpected pops of color. [See article below for additional information on FLOR carpet tiles].  Finally, we needed to find an inexpensive way to hide the wall of cabinets, yet still allow access to them. We opted for floor-to-ceiling curtains and hung them from a ceiling-mounted curtain track. The linen/rayon fabric in a colorful Ikat pattern, available through Fabric.com, brings additional pops of colors to the room. For the window treatments, we purchased basic white tie-up curtains at Target and customized them with remnants from the Ikat fabric.
Voila! My client loves the cheerfulness and brightness of her new basement gym (and the fact that I stayed within her budget as I had promised).
["After" Photography by Randy Gross]
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Article
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Sometimes a carpet consists of many small squares (that can easily be exchanged)...
Have you heard of FLOR carpet tiles? If you need carpeting for an area that is prone to spills or damage by kids or pets, you might want to give FLOR a closer look. If one of the carpet tiles gets spilled on and you cannot get rid of the stain through cleaning, you can simply switch out that one tile and your carpet will look like new again. They are great for spaces such as kids' rooms, kitchen and dining areas, mud rooms, and basements.
FLOR carpet tiles are 20" square carpet tiles that come in a wide array of colors and textures (both plain and patterned). Instead of gluing them to the floor, they are held together by adhesive dots that stick to the underside of each square at the corners. These carpet tiles provide an inexpensive way to add custom-sized carpeting to rooms, whether you use them to create an area rug, a runner, or wall-to-wall carpeting. As another bonus, FLOR carpet tiles are made in the USA and most of them are made from recycled fibers. They also offer a free return & recycle program, where you can send back your used carpet tiles for recycling. How great is that!
Next time you are strolling down Newbury Street in Back Bay, check out their one retail store in Massachusetts (located at 236 Clarendon Street).
Here are some of my favorite FLOR patterns:
 [Photos by FLOR]
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Wishing you a happy summer!
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I will be taking a break from writing my newsletter over the next two months to enjoy the summer and vacation time. Wishing you and your family a fabulous and relaxing summer. See you back in September!
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