Around my house if there is a problem to be tackled the response always somehow has an element of FLOR in it. I’m not just talking about home decorating problems either. Take for example the backyard production of “The Wizard of Oz” that my three young sons participated in a few weeks ago. It was fund raiser for Relay For Life; an annual American Cancer Society event. The production had lots of talented kids, handmade costumes, a backyard stage and the obligatory inflatable flying monkeys.

The kids needed to leave the stage several times during the show and walk out into the crowd to traverse the yellow brick road on their trek to the Emerald City. The road was, as with most municipal projects, given to the lowest bidder. Although it looked good it was a bit unstable in a stiff breeze.

You know where this is going. We used FLOR carpet tiles to secure the yellow brick road. We laid down a few tiles of House Pet in Canary at each intersection, cut them in half (to look like pavers), and FLORdotted them together to anchor the path. Just like that FLOR became a supporting cast member. 

It was amusing to watch my sons, who played the scarecrow, the lion and the wizard, bragging to all of their friends, their respective parents and elementary school teachers the that road was paved in FLOR. Further proving that if your purchasing flooring listening to your heart, your brain or your big ol’ green head FLOR is the answer.

Alexander Girard was an artist, an architect and a nonconformist. He devised his own design vocabulary, being dissatisfied with the status quo, and created products for the times. His influences were widely diverse and his work reflected it. It was expressive, modern and unabashedly decorative. 

Girard’s work with the furniture company Herman Miller was groundbreaking and his relationships with the Eames’ and George Nelson are thought to be some of the 20^th century’s richest collaborations. Hugh DuPree, of Herman Miller, wrote of Girard “Alexander Girard taught us that business ought to be fun, that part of the quality of life was joy, excitement and celebration”.

If he were alive today I’d like to think Alexander Girard would have enjoyed participating with a kindred spirit like FLOR. Ironically, a copy of a letter written by Girard to D. J. DuPree in 1953 was forwarded to me. In it he describes his desire to design a carpet program “similar to a tile floor in system”.  Girard also references that George Nelson shared in this vision of “carpet tiles.”

The letter goes on to describe how he envisions the system should be designed and structured. It describes modules of “background types” and “accent types” that could be combined to create a variety of rug sizes and variations. That is exactly the premise behind the modular design of the FLOR carpet tile system.

I think Alexander Girard would be happy to see his La Fonda Del Sol patterns in the FLOR collection and might ask “What the heck took us so long?”

On Sunday, I took my three young sons to the college campus near our house to shoot some baskets. I had the dog tethered to me so I sat in the shade and scratched her belly while the boys alternately shot the ball and complained that each other was cheating. At some point I tuned them out and was daydreaming when I was jolted to reality by a shocking quiet that is always followed by the need for Band-Aids.

They were no longer on the court but were perched on the side of a large dumpster loudly announcing all of the “good stuff “ that someone had thrown out.  I was yelling for them to get away from all of that evidence of bad decorating for fear it might rub off on them. Of note were the rolls of carpet remnants and carcasses of plaid sofas which had captured my sons attention.

My son Elliott, a precocious eight year old, calls over to me, “Hey Daddy there are FLOR tiles in here! ………….Don’t these people know you should recycle these when they’re done?!” He and his brothers pulled the tiles out and we took them home. My guys understand the stress the environment is under and the importance of taking personal responsibility for change. They are very curious global citizens and are regular visitors to sites like TheStoryofStuff.com, Jane Goodalls’ site RootsandShoots.org and Heiferinternational.org.

I couldn’t have been prouder on Sunday; not only of my sons but of the company I work for. FLOR is part of the Interface family of companies that are committed to being carbon neutral by 2020. We have these amazing technologies that allow us to recycle carpet tiles into new carpet tiles so we are serious about doing our part to recycle and repurpose our products.  Check it out the Interface video above.