Welcome to the new world of residential flooring, where evocative colour names like Noce, Sabbia and Verde combine with hot new installation systems and innovative materials to make flooring a snap.

Wood

Long appreciated for its warmth, versatility and durability, wood flooring is now better than ever. Choose from a wide array of colours and finishes, and domestic and imported wood species ranging in dimension from narrow strips and broad planks to parquet tiles.

Hardwoods like oak, maple, birch and cherry are still popular options, but exotics like bamboo are gaining ground-especially for installations in damp areas like bathrooms.

Bamboo comes in two constructions-vertical, in which small strips of bamboo are glued and pressed together; and horizontal-in which strips are turned on their side and glued in layers. The secret of bamboo's journey from matchstick blinds to matchless flooring lies in its beauty, durability and eco-friendly derivation from the stalks of fast-growing plants. Certification by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) ensures a product that leaves the lightest environmental footprint all the way from the living bamboo plant to the processing plant.

Kent carries a number of FSC-certified bamboo flooring products including a glueless floating system called Master's Choice Secret Click Bamboo. "It's a DIY installation that goes together like click laminate," says Ron MacDonald, a sales manager for Goodfellow's, an FSC-certified flooring distributor located in Halifax. Kent stocks a rich bronze colour at $3.99/sq ft and will ship other shades like espresso and copper within a week.

Another recent arrival on the wood flooring scene is engineered wood, a solid wood product that is pressed together like plywood and combined with a pre-finished surface laminate. Unlike regular wood flooring, engineered wood doesn't move and warp. "Each layer is a solid hardwood so it's very stable," says Ron MacDonald. "You can put it in the basement with no worries and it also performs well on a cement slab over radiant in-floor heat. Because it's an easier DIY option than regular wood, you save about $2.50/sq ft on installation."

Kent's Master's Choice Riverside Collection of engineered flooring has a 25-year guarantee. Popular colours of maple sell for $4.49 sq ft; oak and walnut are priced at $4.99 sq ft.

Laminates have a long-standing reputation as inexpensive alternatives to solid wood. Easy to install, easy to maintain, long-lasting and resistant to fading and staining, new laminate lines offer a dramatic departure from simple imitations of wood. Contemporary products do a much better job of mimicking not only wood grains, but also the natural patterns of ceramic and stone.

Tile

According to Jamie Taylor, sales manager for Burnside's Ceratec showroom, the big news in ceramic tiles these days is the large format tile, a super-sized product that compliments the urban sophistication of recent design trends and eliminates the usual grid work of grout lines. Ceratec supplies Kent with the Graniser Caldera series, a new line of 13" and 18" squares that come in five colours.

Eighteen-inch squares are also available for Potenza, a ceramic floor tile that comes in two eye-catching colours: classico and walnut. The 13" x 13" Potenza tiles are $2.79 sq ft; larger 13" x 20" rectangles and 20" x 20" squares sell for $4.29 sq ft. "Use all three together to create a pattern," suggests Kerry Byam, the Key Account Manager for flooring distributor G.E. Shnier, "or combine the 13" squares with the 13" x 20" inch rectangles for a sleek, modular effect."

Ironically, the other big tile these days is the 2" mosaic, a tile traditionally made of porcelain or ceramic and laid individually like puzzle pieces. Modern mosaics like Kent's dramatic new glass and stone ShimmerStone line are easier to install because they come pre-spaced on 12" X 12" mesh sheets. ShimmerStone mosaics co-ordinate well with larger tiles and come in three colours. A 12" x 12" sheet is priced at $17.99 and a 6" x 12" strip sells for $9.99.

Regular 12" square tiles are still top sellers, with new co-ordinates making it easy to create a custom design. The Bari line includes 12" x 12" floor tiles and 2" square mosaics that come in multi, autumn and rust colours. The 12" tiles sell for $1.99 sq ft. and the mosaics are sold in 12" square sheets for $4.99. The Cansano line is available in the same 12" x 12" and mosaic format as well as in a versatile 6" x 12" strip that makes a convenient edge or accent. Cansano comes in three colours that coordinate beautifully: noce, sabbia and verde. The 12" x 12" floor tiles sell for $2.29 sq ft; the mosaics are $4.99 for a 12" square sheet; and the 6" x 12" strips are $4.99 each. Porcelain tiles in the Florence series offer a similarly priced alternative to ceramic and come in comparable sizes.

Cork

While the majority of homeowners opt for traditional favourites like wood, laminates and ceramic, other materials like cork, vinyl and carpet tiles are becoming increasingly popular. "They're not new," says Kent's flooring merchant, Carolyn McLaughlin, "but they're being manufactured and marketed in new ways."

Customer requests have prompted Kent to stock more cork, although it remains a very small part of flooring sales, in part because it is relatively expensive and in part because it is not yet fully appreciated as one of the greenest products around.

Most of the cork sold in Atlantic Canada comes from the harvested bark of cork oak trees that grow in Portugal and Spain. Because the production process doesn't harm the trees and the bark is regenerated in nine years, cork is considered a renewable resource.

"It's a great alternative to ceramic for the kitchen floor," says Kerry Byam, "especially if you spend much time on your feet. Ceramic can be hard on your legs while cork is warm and comfortable under foot. It also limits the transfer of sound, which makes it especially well suited for apartments and condos."

Kent stocks two colours of a new, floating cork product called Scandia that's made in Portugal by the same company that makes the more expensive Wicander brand. Unlike Wicander and other wide plank cork flooring, Scandia boards are an easy-to-manage 36" by 5". "We consider this a DIY product," says Byam, "although you will need to cut it with a chop saw or a skill saw." Scandia sells by the carton for $4.99 per square foot and has a 10-year warrantee for residential use.

Vinyl

It goes in and out of style, although it never disappears completely because it's durable, comfortable, water resistant and easy to maintain with a mop. Kent carries the regular sheet vinyl typically used in kitchens as well as the newer 'loose lay' products that don't require glue. Armstrong's new CushionStep has the comfortable feel and easy application of a floating floor and comes in three refreshingly honest quality lines: Good, Better and Best. The Good retails for $1.59 sq ft; the Better is $1.89 sq ft; and the Best sells for $2.49 sq ft.

An Armstrong luxury vinyl tile called Luxe demonstrates the ability of digital technology to create vinyl patterns that bear a striking similarity to wood. Luxe is a floating system of 6" x 36" planks that are coated with a hard urethane. It sits on the floor in the same way a laminate does and comes in five wood grain selections that are priced at $2.49 sq ft. Install them anywhere in the house above or below grade. "It's a perfect DIY installation," says Kerry Byam. "Not only is it mistake proof, but there are no special tools required. All you really need is a straight edge and a box cutter."

Carpet

The only thing easier in DIY flooring options is a carpet tile. "They've been around in European homes for some time now," says Carolyn McLaughlin, "but here in Canada we've been slow to discover them." Kent is presently testing a 19¾" (50 cm) square carpet tile product called I-Tiles for residential use and will begin by introducing it to the Dartmouth store in August. "They're great for condos and apartments," says McLaughlin, "or for high traffic areas that might see wear in specific spots. You can replace a few tiles instead of the entire carpet."

The Dartmouth store will stock the I-Tiles in four colours - two shades of grey and two shades of brown/beige. A carton of 10 covers 27 sq ft and retails for $79.92.