Adding little bits of nice to our house
When we bought our house 6 years ago, it was pretty much move in ready. We’ve made a couple improvements here and there, but for the most part, we have a lived in house that is well-loved. Yeah, that means that we have kids and things aren’t in perfect shape.
One thing that I’ve always wanted to do is to add a runner down our long from our living room, passing our bathroom and to the garage. We use the walkway everyday (we park in the garage) and it was just blah!
When FLOR contacted me to come into their Atlanta store and check out their carpet squares I was very excited. I had seen them before, carpet squares that you literally can put down in an infinite number of patterns and then just affix them to each other with FLOR dots (basically, a clear round sticker). And boom, done. You’ve got a rug!
FLOR is a modern home décor solution whose products are homegrown and manufactured in Atlanta, Georgia! Yep, made in the US of A, and of recycled materials with other sustainability efforts in place! Woot!
FLOR believes in a closed-loop product life cycle, which means they carefully consider our environmental-footprint in every step along the way: design, manufacturing, use, delivery and reclaiming old FLOR.
- Design: FLOR is designed with the end in mind. The 19.7-inch squares are beautiful, functional and recyclable.
- Manufacturing: The manufacturing processes are as energy-efficient as possible. They use renewable energy sources and technologies which help reduce our emissions and waste.
- Use: FLOR’s modular, square format means that it is a flexible, practical and scalable design system.
- Delivery: FLOR is efficiently packaged in easy-to-manage boxes delivered direct to your door.
- Reclaiming: FLOR is designed to be taken apart so face fibers and backing materials can be recycled into new product through their Return & Recycle Program.
Known as the unique carpet design squares company, FLOR transforms any room in the home from dull and lifeless to modern and trendy. From trendy geometric chevron patterns to local cravings for animal prints, FLOR satisfies all style personalities.
When I arrived at the store, I immediately thought, this is way too trendy and chic for me, but I was greeted by three wonderful ladies who quickly made me feel right at home. We discussed what my space was like (and quickly texted the husband to get dimensions…whoops. Make sure you know how big your space is.) and what colors and styles I liked, we got to work. I worked directly with a designer and tried out the FLOR Possibility Studio. This is what helped us decide to turn the squares on the diagonal.
I’m a neutral and earth tone, so at first we pulled these carpet square samples out and arranged them. I thought, hey, that was way too easy.
Of course, then I walked around the store a bit more and found some squares with a little more color and in the “Better Than Wool” and knew that was it. After I decided on what I liked, they quickly whipped up a sample of the tiles in the arrangement that we thought would look best in my hallway.
We went with the one on the right. Just a little more contrast and personality. Then, the order was placed, the squares were cut to size at the factory and it arrived at my house less than a week later with dots and directions.
Once the squares arrived, in a very sleekly packed box, we got to work. I thought it would be best to place to the middle full-sized squares down the middle of the hallway. Turns out it wasn’t the best plan because you put them down a little crooked, but fortunately, at this point, they are just sitting on the floor.
We then went back in and filled in the squares and half squares (that were precut) to complete the pattern. At this point, they still weren’t stuck together as we continued the entire pattern. Then, starting at one end, we peeled the dot off the paper, placed it sticky side up (towards the carpet squares) where they met, and pushed the squares onto the dot. Once we completed all of the squares with their dots, we walked up and down the carpet a couple times to make sure they were properly affixed to each other.
I think it took us about an hour to get the entire rug put together, and attached each square to each other. Mr. Serious was really worried it would slip all over the place. I tried to make it move, and wasn’t successful. It won’t budge at all. The girls have given it their fair-share of testing, too. It really and truly hugs the wood floor and won’t move at all. We are very happy with the final look of the rug (this was right after I installed in, so there are still a little fuzzies, but once we vacuumed those up, there haven’t been any more!)
See that FLOR box at the end of the hallway? That’s what the squares and dots arrived in. Two very slim boxes…very easy to reuse (my girls LOVE to draw on cardboard) and then recycle when done.
The coolest feature? If you stain one, your kid (or cat pukes on it), you just cut the sticky dot, remove the soiled square or squares, wash in the sink with a mild wash, let dry and then stick it right back to the other squares. I wish all carpet was this easy to clean!
(Sidenote: FLOR can only be used on solid wood floors. So, you can’t put it over carpet. The back surface of the squares basically “hugs” the floor and doesn’t slip or move at all! It’s crazy! But, won’t work on carpet).
What do you think is the best feature of the FLOR carpet squares?
We received these carpet squares to facilitate my review. All thoughts are my own.
Cool design.
High traffic areas need something like this.
Soon the new baby will be crawling down the hall behind her sisters!
Don’t I know it. She’ll be running in no time!
Oh that’s cool! I wish we had hardwood. I’m so sick on my yummy carpet. These piece (I’ve heard are super easy to clean too)
I like that this is a balance between hardwood (which scratches and shows every little flaw) and an easy to clean carpet. The best of both worlds.
So pretty! You’ve now reminded me that I need to seriously replace all of my carpet.
Well, I definitely need to replace all of mine, too. At least all of the downstairs stuff. Our dining room is a play room. I just gave up. There is paint stuck to the carpet. And marker. And probably playdough!
I am seriously in love with this idea. We are in the middle of a home remodel right now and this is a perfect way to finish up our new room. Thanks so much for sharing.
It’s really such a great idea…I love the way you can clean it, or in the worst case, completely replace a square and you are good to go!
It seems that Flor has really thought things through with their closed-loop product life cycle for the carpet squares. The patterns are so chic too, really beautiful. I have kids and cats as well and they will puke on your carpet. Its great that you can swap the carpet squares out.
Seriously, the cat puked on it like the day we put it down…what’s with that? Fortunately, we were able to clean it and didn’t have to toss it.
I really love this idea, it’s so unique! I want to put a new carpet down in the living room and hallway because our poor Malamute has such a hard time getting any traction on the hardwood floors. LOL
This would definitely help. And it’s surprisingly pet friendly. My cat has yet to put a visible scratch mark on it. They said at the store that each piece of carpet is individually attached instead of in rows like a traditional carpet.
Wow.. that’s a pretty neat idea! I may do this for my hallway!
This is one of the nicest reviews I’ve seen. Like the fact that they are made from recycled materials.
Me, too. So, no nasty “new carpet” smell either! I was so impressed!
By far I think the best feature is the you can place them in the pattern of YOUR choice and you can change it up later on if the mood strikes you
You know, I didn’t even think rearranging them! I looked at the picture and made sure I did it just right. But, now I want to play with them!
now that looks awesome 🙂
i wish we had somewhere to put something like that..
I see this is a fairly old post, and I was just curious. I’m looking at buying some tiles for my new apartment and was curious how these have held up for you – if you still have them.
My main concerns stem from all the comments about 1) the dots leaving a bit of a sticky residue on the floors below when removing – which would not be a good thing for a rented apartment when I’d prefer my deposits back, and 2) the tiles coming apart under higher traffic. I’ll be wanting the tiles in my living room and bedroom, so they would be walked on a decent amount, or at least the areas not covered by furniture. My cat doesn’t really leave me many other flooring options other than the tiles so I’m probably going to be ordering them anyway, but I was just curious for another opinion from somebody who’s had these in their own home.
Thanks in advance!
Happy to answer your questions, Krystal.
1. The dots only stick onto the squares and are one-sided, so they don’t leave any residue on the floors. However, if you have a dot, remove it and don’t cover the dot when readhering the carpet squares, then some stickiness will be left on the carpet, but I haven’t had issues with it sticking…and it’s easy enough to cover them with another sticky dot.
2. The dots only came apart for us if we didn’t use enough dots. Once we added two per side, we were good.
b. Keep in mind, these squares are only good for hard floors. You can’t put them on carpet.
3. Our cat liked these as well, but we never had any accidents from her on them. It is nice that you can easily pull one up and clean it if needed.
Thanks for getting back to me!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody mention using two dots per side. I’ll have to remember that if I have trouble with them migrating apart.
Thanks again!
3 years later. How has your Flor stood up? Do those dots really work?
The carpet has stood up very well. They do give you extra dots and over the years, we sometimes had to reapply, but I found when I did, I just put two at each side of the touching carpet squares instead of one and they stayed put. It was where the pieces were corner to corner that needed the extra dots.
Hi I was wondering do they have an odor?
I am very sensitive to smells and love the idea of this flooring.
It’s been a while since we put them in, so I’m not 100% sure I remember, but I don’t recall an odor at all and I was pregnant when we put them down. If you check, you might find a local store near you where you could check them out, too.
Thinking of getting rugs for our newly remodeled home. This looks like a great option since we just installed new hardwood floors throughout the first floor. Can the carpet tiles be picked up to clean under the carpet if necessary? Don’t want a lot of dust to gather under the carpet. Thanks!
Yes. You can definitely lift them up to clean under them. You use the dots to attach them to each other so it becomes A bigger rug (however big you make it) so I’d imagine after a certain size, I’d be heavy to flip or move, but doable.
Thank you! Will be looking for an 8’ by 11’ rug. Would it make more sense to get a regular rug or carpet tiles ? It sounds like, this would definitely be a larger rug to attach & reattach the dots for cleaning purposes. Can it be rolled like any other rug without messing with the dots ? Thank you & appreciate your insight,
The dots are very sticky. I would think they would totally hold with rolling and unrolling a larger rug like that. I can’t imagine you having to redo them every time.
Are you close to a store? I really appreciated being able to touch and feel the different fabrics, too.
My parents bathroom is tiled, and I need to toss their throw rugs because they are becoming a tripping hazard for my Mom’s walker. My Dad needs carpeting due to some foot pain. Do you think the Flor tiles/dots would work and stay in place well over the tile? Do the tiles curve up at all to cause a tripping hazard?
Hi Charlie-
These stayed in place really well for us on wood and linoleum. So much so that I couldn’t even move them with my foot if I wanted to rearrange them. It’s like they stuck to the floor. I don’t have a tile space I could test it on, but I would imagine they would stay well.
In the almost 5 years of having them, not once have I had one curl up at all.
I will say, it’s not carpeting like you would think in your living room as it doesn’t have padding underneath, but it’s definitely more than getting out of the shower onto tile flooring.
I am thinking about using FlOR in our kids room to replace their current carpet. Do you think it texture is playable? Do your girls mind crawling around on their bare knees?
I love the concept, thanks for your post and trial test!
Hi Sarah! Yes, I think it’s a playable texture.
Also, they have a couple different types of carpet square materials/thicknesses, so you could find one that you think is super soft, or one that is more durable. My girls definitely crawled on our squares!
Hi Krystyn, Wow. that’s a pretty good idea! I may do this for my hallway! Keep updating, thanks.
Hi! I’ve been looking into purchasing these – how have your held up? Can you provide an update, please?
They are still in great shape. We moved them around in the house and they still look good!
Thank you for the update!
Can u use them over a carpet?
No, they need to be used on a solid surface is what they told me. I wanted to try them over carpet, too and it was strongly advised against.
Hi, what do you think with babies crawling on these when they are recycled plastic I believe?
Our kiddos crawled on them….no issues!
Hi Krystyn,
Have you ever shampooed your Flor tiles while they were in place? I’ve been trying to figure out if I can do that without damaging our hardwood floors. I have an 8 x 10 “rug” made of the Flor tiles in our living room. I love the look and it’s great being able to pull up a single tile when one of our dogs has an issue, but I’d like to be able to clean the whole thing regularly without pulling it apart and I don’t know if I can.
Thanks for the info!
Joan
Hi Joan- I haven’t shampooed them all together. I think I’d feel okay doing it, but I’d worry about missing the rug on the edges and water running off and onto the wood floor. Can you move it outside or to the garage to shampoo it?
Here’s the link to FLOR CARPET TILE CLEANING & MAINTENANCE
https://www.flor.com/general-product-care.html
You can download the comprehensive Maintenance Guide at this web page.