Floored by FLOR

By Lexi Green
January 11, 2012

FLOR Carpet

Lanyard Linen ($14.99); Lasting Grateness White ($12.99)

FLOR modular carpet tiles are revolutionizing the way we think about carpeting. The innovative fifty-centimeter carpet squares come in a variety of intricate and eye-catching patterns, colors, styles and textures. The dimensions and agility of the square tiles make it easy to create a carpet design that’s far from your standard wall-to-wall creation. Even better, no carpet installers or big, scary carpet-cutters are needed, and there’s nothing even remotely humdrum about the design potential with FLOR’s tiles; customers can arrange them however they want.

Wherever we seem to look, designers, home owners and bloggers alike are showing off the custom FLOR rugs they’ve made. From hallway runners to playful area creations and even wall-to-wall designs, suddenly it seems as if carpeting has become cool again.

FLOR Carpet

Fuzzy Button Raspberry ($57.49)

But, FLOR isn't only about creating innovating carpet system; it’s also about keeping the planet’s safety top of mind. At every stage of the game, FLOR makes sure that its products are environmentally sustainable.

For starters, each FLOR carpet tile is made from renewable or 100% recycled fiber. All of FLOR’s factories use geothermal, hydro, solar or even landfill gas. And, most importantly, when those pesky red wine stains become too much to bear, you can just replace a single tile (or five) instead of the whole carpet, keeping more trash out of landfills and more money in our pocket. Oh, and FLOR pays for return shipping of tiles, which it recycles into new FLOR products.

Chip DeGrace

FLOR's Senior Vice President of Product Design, Chip DeGrace, sat down with us.

The Inside Source: Hi, Chip! Could you tell us about your role as Senior V.P. of Product Design?

Chip DeGrace: Buying a FLOR rug is a design experience. My job is to make sure the experience is inspiring and easy. My team designs the FLOR styles and the rug compositions. We design the catalog and the packaging, produce web designs and merchandise our growing number of retail locations. I am a lucky guy having a lot of fun.

The Inside Source: What’s a typical day like at the FLOR design offices?

Chip DeGrace: Wild. FLOR is trying to constantly show the world that these carpet squares are the coolest thing going! It’s like we’re constantly planning a big dinner party. We’re trying to figure out the seating chart so that certain people will sit together and what to serve. We’re always trying to make certain that everyone has a good experience.

The Inside Source: Where does the FLOR team find its design inspiration?

Chip DeGrace: We’re students of the way people live and work. We love design in all of its dimensions. We find inspiration in everything from nature to the lines of an old outboard motor. At FLOR, the design team is not defined as the folks with “design” or “creative” in their titles. We are all focused on creating something new for your floor.

Flor Carpet

Flor Carpet "House Pet" Kitchen and Entryway

Flor Carpet

"House Pet" Seasonal Caroling

The Inside Source: What is the favorite part of your job?

Chip DeGrace: Working for a company that is a genuine original. We are not a better version of something else. We have invented and reinvented an idea into a square that captures people’s imaginations. We have reinvented the way we do business with a goal of a negative environmental impact by 2020, and influenced others to do the same. It doesn’t get better than that.

The Inside Source: Could you tell me a little bit about FLOR’s most recent collection?

Chip DeGrace: This season, it’s all about sisal for carpets. The natural fiber of sisal is a great neutral backdrop. But sisal is hard to the touch, and impossible to clean and repair. So, we created a new group of neutral textures inspired by sisal that we like to think of as more livable. Also, they’re made with 100% recycled fibers.

FLOR Carpet

Flor's Sisal Products: A Tisket, A Tisket Almond ($12.99); Family Tree Licorice ($13.99)

The Inside Source: How does the team at FLOR use eBay?

Chip DeGrace: We can’t help but pick up interesting tidbits that inspire us from eBay. Our office is brimming with furniture and accessories that we’ve snagged on eBay. A few years ago we even bought a 1954 International pickup on eBay that ended up on our catalog cover. It’s a good real-time source of the eclectic tastes.

If you want to check out more of FLOR design inspirations, behind-the-scenes activity and even musings from outside designers, bloggers, architects and more, you can check out their total eye-candy of a blog, fittingly called Musings. To set the mood, below are a few of FLOR’s recent patterns that inspired us to find matching items on eBay.

FLOR’s “More Rockin'” pattern was inspired by centuries-old middle-eastern artisan craft and culture. We think these items from eBay could serve as great inspiration for the pattern.

FLOR Carpet