About two years ago, we spent a considerable chunk of money on a FLOR tile system for our living room. And we were very happy with the results…for a while.

One thing we noticed, after about six months, was how much the low-pile carpet picked up dirt and stains. Now, we understood that buying a carpet with large areas of light color was a gamble, given that we were planning to have children at that point; what we didn’t figure on was how difficult it would be to get the stains out. They seem to sit in there forever, even after repeated steam cleanings. (One of the benefits of the FLOR system is that each tile can be popped out and hand-washed/steam cleaned, instead of moving all the furniture and humping the entire carpet outside). Our cats, while not the most scratchtacular of felines, still like to sharpen the claws every now and again, and when they do, they pull up small patches of dark fibers from the bottom of the carpet which look like stains but don’t ever come out.

In preparation for the holiday season, and to take advantage of a sale at FLOR, we decided to buy a bunch of replacement tiles to clean up the appearance of the room. Through my own stupidity, I ordered only the lighter blue of the two styles we’d chosen, but after we laid them out on the floor last night, I think it was a pretty fortuitous mistake, because the majority of tiles that need replacement are lighter.

My advice to anyone considering the FLOR system for themselves: pay close attention to the traffic recommendations and find a pattern that matches those requirements.