Is It Time To Update Your Flooring?

It’s sometimes easy to forget what’s right under your feet. The truth is even with proper care, your home’s flooring will begin to show wear over time and that can make even new furniture appear dull. A new shade of carpet, hardwood floor, or area rug can help accent your furniture and bring a fresh sense of style to your home.

There are many different types of flooring available for every style and budget. If you’re ready for a change, take a look at these different flooring options and imagine the possibilities.

Carpet

Traditional wall-to-wall carpet is the tried and true preferred choice for many homeowners. Carpet is easy to care for and feels cozy under bare feet. With endless colors and patterns to choose from, carpet looks great in any home and with any style of furniture.

For homeowners looking for a good neutral carpet color, consider choosing gray or taupe. Both of these colors come in a variety of shades and are currently trending along with blues and greens. Carpets with geometric or textured patterns are also very popular.  

Hardwood

From dark woods to white wash, the classic look of hardwood never goes out of style. Hardwood floors are durable, easy to keep clean and are a beautiful addition to most any room in your home. To keep your hardwood floors looking their best, floors should be kept dry and care taken to avoid scratches. Real wood floors are not suitable for bathrooms.

Vintage hardwood, as well as distressed or reclaimed wood floors, gives your home a rustic feel. When choosing your wood floor, consider the width of the planks as well as the color or type of wood. Wide plank wood floors are growing in popularity and can add drama to your decor.

Tile

Tile always looks great in the bathroom, but why stop there? Glazed tile is durable, stain resistant and can be a gorgeous upgrade to other rooms in your home.

Choose from a variety of color and pattern options for your kitchen, entryway, or even your dining or living room. And, speaking of bathrooms, consider bright or bold tile designs to add a pop of color to small bathrooms without overwhelming your guests.

Vinyl

Like carpet, vinyl is also a first choice for many homeowners looking to add style and color to their home. Vinyl flooring is scratch and stain resistant and can offer the look of wood or tile without the added expense.  

Area Rugs

Area rugs make a great focal point for any room. When searching for an area rug, think large loop, soft, or even fluffy for the perfect balance to your hardwood or tile floors.

Central Minnesota’s Best Flooring Selection

At Hennen’s Furniture in St. Cloud, our huge flooring showroom offers the area’s best selection of carpet, wood, vinyl, tile, laminate and area rugs with many colors and styles to choose from.

Our experienced design experts can answer your questions and help you select from our many top quality brands. We offer Armstrong, Shaw Floors, Mohawk Flooring, Florida Tile and many other popular brands. And with Hennen’s superb customer service, you can rest assured we’ll stay with you right on through your installation.

At Hennen’s, we make updating your home affordable with special financing, so you can get the look you love. Come see us today!

An Inside Out Look at Patio Furniture

Last month we talked about the importance of style when choosing outdoor patio furniture, Casual Outdoor Dining or Relaxing Retreat. Now, let’s take a closer look at the individual materials used to make quality outdoor furniture. Knowing the pros and cons of specific manufacturing materials can help you choose the best patio furniture for your home.

Fabrics

Part of the fun in choosing new patio furniture is browsing new color palettes and fresh summer designs. Understanding a few common fabric industry terms can make a difference in the long-term appearance of your outdoor cushions and throw pillows.

• 100% acrylic fabrics are water resistant, making them ideal for outdoor use. Each strand is individually dyed before woven into a bolt of cloth. This process allows the colors to stay truer for longer periods of time – even in direct sunlight. However, this process also means that you may not see as many bright and intricate patterns with these types of fabrics.
• Spun polyester fabrics often use a screen-printing process. The colors and patterns are printed directly onto the fabric after it has already been woven into large bolts. This process offers you brighter colors and more designs, but spun polyester tends to fade faster in the sun than acrylic fabric. Spun polyester fabrics are still an excellent option if you plan to use your patio furniture in shadier areas such as on a covered porch.

Cushions and pillows made from acrylic or spun polyester fabrics should be properly stored during the winter months to ensure longer wear. Since they are both synthetic fabrics, they should also never be dry-cleaned or tumbled dry – even on a low setting. Always remember to follow manufacturers cleaning instructions for your outdoor fabrics.

Foam

You may not see it or even pay much attention to it, but the quality of the foam that fills your outdoor cushions and pillows is the next item you should consider when choosing your patio furniture.

• Regular foam is the same type found in your indoor furniture. It can be used for your outdoor furniture as well, but only if you take certain precautions when it comes to water. Regular foam, even when paired with waterproofed fabric, can and will get wet if left outside. Over time, water trapped inside the foam can mold your fabrics. Regular foam is best used for outdoor furniture that will be well protected from unexpected summer showers.
• Foam made for outdoor use is specifically designed to dry quickly and resist mold. Special air holes inside the foam allow water to run out and not pool inside the cushion. This type of foam can be more expensive, but may be a better option if you plan to leave your outside cushions unattended.  

Chairs, Tables and Lounges

Quality outdoor furniture can be made out of most any type of natural or manmade material. Plastic, wood, wicker and metal are the most common. For many homeowners, budget and personal style play more of a role when making final buying decisions.

• Plastic is an excellent choice if you are shopping on a budget. Plastic is highly portable and a snap to clean. The only downside is plastic may not maintain its appearance, or last as long as other more expensive options.
• Wood gives outdoor furniture a classic, warm feeling. Teak, pine, cedar, eucalyptus, or redwood are all excellent choices when shopping for quality outdoor furniture. Hardwoods such as teak tend to last longer than other types of wood furniture. Treating your wood outdoor furniture with oils or sealants can help increase its lifespan, so you can enjoy your furniture for years to come.
• Wicker is always a beautiful option when choosing outdoor furniture and can be made from natural or synthetic materials. When choosing natural wicker, look for cane, rattan, or bamboo. Wicker gives your outdoor entertaining a cozy or rustic look.
• Metal furniture is often made from wrought iron or aluminum. Wrought iron is best for formal or classic settings, and is a great choice if durability is important. Like wrought iron, aluminum is also very durable. Aluminum furniture is more expensive than wrought iron, but requires less maintenance and will not rust.

Built to last

At Hennen Furniture, our sales representatives are outdoor furniture experts. Our sales reps are here to help you with your questions and concerns and can offer suggestions based on where and how you want to use your new outdoor furniture. At Hennen’s, we carry all your favorite patio furniture brands including Woodward, Homecrest, Tropitone, Breezesta, and Seaside Casual. Come see our huge patio store! You’ll be glad you did!

The Dangers of Humidity in Your Home

Humidity is constant during Minnesota summers - 83% on average! Besides making the outdoors a little unpleasant, humidity actually has dangerous implications for your home. In fact, the Smithsonian Institute cites changes in relative humidity as the number one cause of furniture damage! So what does humidity actually do that is so bad?

Wood Furniture: Unfortunately, your beautiful wood furniture likes to absorb and desorb water from the air when humidity fluctuates. This absorption causes problems because the wood expands and contracts with the fluctuations. Depending on the direction of the wood grain, the furniture will expand and contract differently, leaving things like drawers and doors warped.

Walls: Humidity is not a wall’s friend. Moisture in the air can be dangerous for walls because it can condense on the wall’s surface and cause stains, paint bubbling and mold - Yuck! Mold can be very dangerous causing problems from itching eyes, allergic reactions, coughing, sneezing and even be as serious as causing permanent lung damage.

Wallpapered walls are especially at risk for this kind of damage. Many wallpapers are made of vinyl which creates what is called a vapor layer that makes it basically impermeable to water. Because of this, water gets trapped between the wallpaper and the wall allowing mold to grow and the paper to bubble and peel.

Floors: Like all wood, wood floors can warp with changes in humidity, but carpet is also affected by excess moisture. Have you ever walked into a house and been hit with that damp musty smell? As with walls, the moisture in the air gets into your carpet and other fabrics and allows a great environment for mold to grow. Damp carpet is also perfect for humidity-loving dust mites.

While you can’t avoid humidity, you can protect your home from damage. One of the best ways to avoid this issue is simply limiting the fluctuation in relative humidity inside. When the temperature is lower, humidity is generally lower so using an air conditioner is the first defense against humidity damage.

If you have an air conditioner and the air in your home still feels damp, you can use a simple dehumidifier during the most humid months. A more high-tech option is using a humidistat which actually adjusts temperature to maintain a consistent relative humidity. After dehumidifying, if there is still that damp musty smell, consider sprinkling baking soda over the carpets and vacuuming it up. Baking soda is a deodorizer and can help eliminate the musty funk.

Good luck battling the humidity this summer and if you have an idea about protecting your home from humidity, leave us a comment!