Q. Hi Jordan,
Love your blog (it’s on my Google Reader), dogs and even your parents’ cats. I had a question for you before I get lost in Google Search. I’m in a rental w/ hideous floors. Each area has a separate pattern/type of linoleum. One in the kitchen, one down the long L shaped hallway and a different one in each bedroom.
The room in question actually has two types of linoleum, I think the landlords ran out of one version of hideous and continued on w/ another kind of ugly. Well, I want to do something cheap and that will hold up for about a year to the floor. I love wall decals and am not entirely opposed to those carpet squares if it came down to it, if that helps. Do you have any groovy ideas???
Gracias mucho,
Vanessa
A. Hey Vanessa! I have a couple of suggestions for you, but to some extent they depend on whether we’re talking living room or bedroom:
For either:
When I was a sophomore in high school (yeah, we’re reaching back), I dated this guy whose dad was a famous artist, and their living room floor was covered with zillions of different throw rugs in different colors and patterns (a few interesting thrift store finds would do). Sounds weird; looked incredible. They made it work because it was all focused around a canoe sitting in the center of the room. While I assume you don’t have a canoe handy, this could be a neat look for you if you do have a large piece of furniture with a strong shape to provide a visual anchor.
For the living room:
More practically than rugs and canoes, I’d say go for cool self-stick vinyl floor tiles like the ones pictured above. Since these can easily veer into the realm of tacky, go for a retro look, and maybe top with a graphic throw in a contrasting color (think black-and-white tile with a lime green throw). Home Depot and Armstrong have lots of options.
For the bedroom:
My favorite idea: try Flor Modular Carpet Tiles (pictured below). They come in amazing colors and prints and are washable, and on the site you can sort by color and room type.
