"What Happens In Vegas..." Gets Reported Right Here!

Fitzpatrick-Las Vegas

The popular saying for Swingers and other import-beer-swilling-males-of-a-certain age-and-certain-proclivities is "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

That's why I'm reporting back to you live on the latest flooring products debuted at Surfaces, the largest flooring expo in North America. How big is it? So big, the convention office here is unwilling to release to yours truly the number of attendees checked in today, day two of the event, or how many square feet of vendor space was leased. National security issues, I'm sure. My guess is 30,000 to 50,000 folks are milling about, most by now with glazed eyes, a few blisters and too many free tote bags full of product literature.

Here's the skinnny, since I know you're on the edge of your seats:

• Wood-if soft surface floors (vinyl, carpet) have lost sales and sales booth square footage in the last decade to hard surface (wood, tile, stone), this year, tile and stone have lost to wood. It's everywhere; especially with clever ads featuring pairs of large bare feet, sole out, to reinforce what consumers are telling us design folk; wood is warmer and more comfortable than ceramic. It's winning. The new styles have more polish to them. Hate to break it to you all; from everything I saw, rustic is on the way out. BEST OF SHOW: Lauzon's herringbone maple and herringbone oak in Stone; a gorgeous grey, taupe glaze on one of the best-milled products in the industry-from Canada.
• Carpet-low, level, cut pile berbers with tons of texture and twist in totally neutral palettes of tobacco, hemp, sand (in all its hues) and sage.
• Vinyl-it's taken the vinyl folks nearly 50 years, but they finally seem to be retiring the synthetic aesthetic; the new patterns are organic. BEST OF SHOW: Tarkett, Seagrass; like a sisal mat--but your dog can throw up on it.
• Cork-more of it showing here, most still looking like Mrs. Brady's not far behind. According to the sales reps it comprises still less than 1% of flooring material sales.
• Ceramic tile-the usual suspects, a lot of stone-a-likes, but now with horizontal patterns and a mid-century as opposed to an olde worlde thrust.
• Stone-limestone and matte finishes are out; onyx and polish are in, see THE new look below.
• Area rugs-natural fibers abound, with wool shags so deep you'll lose your Manolos in them, and loads of leather-bound sisal. There is a surprise showing of refined 60's graphics; according to the totally hip-and-in-the-know-West Hollywood designer with whom I had the pleasure of viewing the show and developing blisters, this is THE new look (more on that in the next post). BEST OF SHOW: Merida, the Best of the Best wool floral graphics in faboo palettes, artE Espina (from Holland, and so new they don't even have a U.S. distributor-teases), Unique; the stiletto bog, with tendrils of wool mac'n'cheese tubes in two-tones (from our own Los Angeles).

Hope you've enjoyed this dispatch. I"m back to the Wynn hotel, to soak in the tub before tonight's revelries.