Have you noticed these round floor cushions on design blogs and in magazines? They’re popping up everywhere. Seen in living rooms, bedrooms, family rooms and even in outdoor living spaces, these cushions are called poufs.  The poufs can soften hard tile floors and can do the same in your home for hardwood floors, too.

The pouf is a versatile piece in that it can be used as an ottoman to put your feet up, extra seating, or a place to lounge.  Traditionally made of leather, the pouf comes in a rainbow of colors including metallics. The bright colors and simple patterns on the pouf mean they can work in a number of rooms and décor styles.  Poufs can be right at home in more traditional rooms and contemporary rooms. Their soft shape makes them great for children’s play areas and bedrooms.

Because of the popularity of the pouf, you’ll now find poufs made from different materials. You can find non-traditional poufs that are multicolored and made of patterned fabrics. Knitted and crocheted poufs add great texture to a room.  The knitted poufs have the look and softness of a beloved sweater—great for snuggly winter decorating.

Poufs can be easily moved and stored under tables or consoles, making them even more versatile.  Their portability means you can move them from room to room and even outdoors as you need them.

Don’t Miss Our Free Labor Carpet Event this Saturday, Sunday & Monday only! Incredible Savings!

• Get Free Labor & Pad on any carpet purchase*
• Special Savings on Mohawk Purlieu hardwood flooring and Mohawk Acclaim laminate flooring.
• Hardwood flooring now $2.99 sq.ft.
• All Century stocked marble and stone products – take an additional 10% off.
• Amazing 10% off on all Dal-Tile products – stocked or special order!
• Incredible Savings on Quality Ceramic Tile and Laminate Flooring.
• Durable High Performance Vinyl on sale.
• Wood Look Gerflor Vinyl Plank flooring….Now 20% off
• Special 18 month financing available!

Don’t delay – these offers are only good for this Saturday, Sunday & Monday (4/27 – 4/29) at all of our 12 Century Tile locations!

*Offer includes basic labor only.  Excludes Manager’s Specials, remnants, commercial grade carpet.  Minimum carpet installation of 275 sq. ft.  Offer good only during sale dates.  Requires purchase at

Handcrafted objects that show the mark of their maker seem to have more soul to them than mass produced furniture, objects and rugs.  Knowing that an individual’s time and effort went into creating a wood table or a hand loomed rug imbues the object with a history and a story.  Decorating with handcrafted furniture and rugs can also give your room character. One or two pieces of handcrafted furniture or a few handcrafted accents will bring charm to any room.

Handcrafted wood furniture is an art form. Whether you purchase custom crafted furniture locally or from an import store, these pieces have a unique quality. Each piece of furniture, each object or each rug is slightly different from any other furniture, object or rug made by the same craftsperson.  These idiosyncrasies are what make handcrafted furniture beautiful.  Some may call them flaws, but perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

When working with a local craftsman or craftswoman, design a piece of custom handcrafted furniture is a collaborative effort.  This is one of the joys of custom furniture: getting to create exactly what you need and want.  Even if you are working with a craftsperson online half a world away, you will still be able to give input and feedback on the design, size, color and patterns of the handcrafted furniture or rug.

Next time you are making a furniture, rug or accessory purchase, consider something handcrafted.  You’ll get a unique piece and support a traditional master craftsman. It’s a win-win situation.

Fresh flowers are a wonderful touch in any room in the home.  They can add a beautiful fragrance to a room as well as color and pattern.  A small bunch of flowers in the powder room or next to the bed in the guest room is a wonderful way to welcome guests.  Little touches like fresh flowers can add a lovely accent for not a lot of money. Here are some of our other favorite little touches:

• For the bathroom, put lotions, q-tips, cotton balls, and extra bars of soap in glass jars.  Display these on a shelf or on the counter. It will make your bathroom feel less cluttered to have a uniform look to the storage.
• For the kitchen, organize flours and pastas into glass or ceramic storage containers. You can keep these on the counter or shelf, if you have room, or in the pantry cupboard.  Use fruits and fresh vegetables in a bowl on the counter to add a pop of color to the room.
• By the front door, or kitchen door, place a tray for boots and wet umbrellas. This will save your floors from moisture and dirt.  This way guests will know to remove their wet shoes and boots rather than track mud and water through the house.
• If you are having guests over, place a few snacks on the kitchen island or coffee table for them to munch on when they arrive. A pitcher of ice water and glasses on the counter invites them to serve themselves if they are thirsty.

Creating a play and creative space for your kids in your home is important for both the kids and you. Having a space to play and be creative helps little minds grow and keeps your kids occupied. If you have a designated playroom, you are ahead of the game. If you have to carve out a play area in the family room or kids’ bedrooms, you face a little more of a challenge.

Having a play and creative zone that is not in the kids’ rooms can contain the clutter and chaos that comes with crafts and toys.  Depending on the size of your family room or living room, you may be able to set aside part of the room as the play zone.  The key to designing and creating a play zone is storage. Storage, storage and more storage will keep the toys and craft supplies from taking over your room.

If you have little crawlers and toddlers, you’ll want to have a soft surface underfoot for falls and tumbles. This can be colorful rubber mats, carpet squares, or even a few layers of area rugs.  Creating a safe place to play is important.  Poufs are great for the play area since they are easily portable and can be used as seating.

For crafting, a floor cover to protect your carpet or hardwood from glue and paint is a must. This can be a simple drop cloth, tarp or plastic sheet.  You’ll want something that is easy to fold up and wash after the crafts are over.

Upholstered headboards are a big trend in design right now. A variation on the upholstered headboard is the wall-mounted headboard as seen here. The wall-mounted headboard can make a big design statement as well as save space in a bedroom.

This wall-mounted headboard is upholstered and tufted with buttons. The headboard has a clean modern look with its neutral color and clean lines.  If you are using wood on a wall-mounted headboard, you may want to coordinate it with other wood furniture and the wood on the floor. Having a dark, ebonized wood headboard with light wood floors would not look as polished as having both woods be in the same tone.

Wall-mounted headboards can be done in a number of upholstery types and sizes. If you don’t want the permanence of a wall-mounted headboard but you like the look, you can hang fabric from a rod behind the bed.  Another less permanent option would be to stretch fabric on a canvas stretcher and hang that above the bed for a similar effect.

When choosing an upholstery and finish for a wall-mounted headboard or any upholstered headboard, select a fabric that you can live with for a number of years. Solid colors may stand the test of time more than the latest pattern. Choose classic colors and neutrals and update your bed linens to follow the trends to make the most of your investment.

“Lions and tigers and bears… oh my.” In the design world this quote is more aptly put “leopards and zebras and cows.”  Animal prints have been longstanding design elements that have become classic patterns. As with any pattern or design, these patterns come in and out of fashion.  Cowhide, zebra and leopard seem to take turns being the “it” pattern when it comes to both fashion and design.

What makes these patterns real classics is that when used in small doses, they can work in both traditional and contemporary spaces. A zebra skin rug, the darling of shelter magazines a few years ago, is a much stronger design statement than a needlepoint pillow in a zebra pattern. Playing with size and scale can make these animal prints feel bold or refined. Where they are used also affects the power of their impact.  A pillow or rug in animal print becomes an accent. A sofa or wall covered in animal print is more of a statement. When working with animal prints it is all a matter of scale.

This black and white living room is centered by a classic zebra skin rug. Unlike many other African animals, zebras are not endangered. The rug’s bold pattern is the only pattern in the room so the eye is drawn to it. Using only black and white furniture creates a strong graphic look to the room that feels very contemporary. If you paired a zebra rug or cowhide rug with more traditional furnishings you would achieve a very different result.

Kick plates are one of those overlooked design elements that you don’t really notice until you think about them. Set between the cabinets and the floor, the kick plate is the transitional piece of molding that covers the gap between the bottom of the cabinets and the floor. Because most floors are not even, but counters and cabinets should be, shims are used to level the cabinets. To hide the shims, kick plates are used to give the cabinets a finished look.

Kick plates are most often matched to the cabinet fronts. Sometimes you will see kick plates that continue the stone or wood floor, making them blend in more with the flooring. Keeping the kick plates the same color and material as the cabinets makes them blend in more and grounds the cabinets. Having a lighter kick plate can give the illusion that the cabinets are floating.  Deciding on the kick plate color and material should be done at the time the cabinets are ordered. Most non-custom cabinetry comes with a matching kick plate.

In the kitchen picture here, the kick plate is a great combination to match the lighter cabinets and the grey flooring.  The shadow from the cabinets helps blend the kick plate into the cabinets, as well as the floor. This look works because the cabinets and kitchen design is more contemporary. In a more traditional kitchen more likely than not the kick plate would be the same color and wood as the cabinets.

Some kitchens even have vacuums set into the kick plate. This is a nice feature for sweeping the floors as no dust pan is needed. Just sweep the dust and dirt towards the vacuum panel and it will be sucked away.

Cottage style is great for creating a warm and inviting bedroom. The bedroom pictured here has a lovely winter white painted bed and shabby chic bed linens that create a lovely, light bed that suits the space. The walls covered in this patterned wallpaper add tons of cottage charm to the room.

Cottage style combines vintage and feminine accents with comfortable furniture.  The winter white painted bed and desk used as a nightstand are not matching pieces but the color of the paint unites them. Keeping the bedding simple, but layering it with different textures and patterns makes for a beautifully made bed.  A pair of small table lamps would provide bedside lighting for both sides of the bed when the curtains aren’t drawn back. Despite being made up of vintage and mismatched pieces, the furniture in this bedroom feels like a suite because of the similar color.

One cottage element lacking in this space is something soft on the floor. Two small runners flanking the bed would provide a soft place to land your feet in the morning. Area rugs and runners are a great place to add another layer of texture or a spot of color. They could be similar in color to the floor or pick up the white from the furniture and bedding.

Traditional kitchen design for years has featured both upper and lower cabinets. These cabinets come in a myriad of wood tones, styles and finishes, including glass front cabinet doors.  Today we are seeing a break from traditional kitchen cabinets.  Upper cabinets are sometimes being replaced with open shelves while lower cabinets are giving way to deep drawers.

Having lower cabinets can mean pots and pans get lost in the back of the cabinet unless you have slide out shelves. Slide out shelves mimic drawers and keep the unified look of cabinet doors throughout the kitchen.  However, these shelves are a premium and can add additional money to the kitchen cabinet budget.

This kitchen has upper cabinets above the counters and drawers below.  As seen in the island, drawers can vary in heights, including deep drawers to accommodate larger pots and pans. The drawers slide completely out so there is no more crawling on the floor and reaching to the back of the bottom cabinet to find the missing pan.

Along with using drawers instead of lower cabinets, some newer kitchen designs feature open shelving instead of upper cabinets. This can be a nice addition to cabinets but requires you to be very organized if all of your plates and glassware are on display.

Kitchen design is continually evolving and trends come and go.  Stainless steel appliances, stone floors, engineered hardwood floors, glass tile backsplashes, kitchen islands are all some of the most recent trends that seem to be lasting.