The complete guide to choosing and installing floors. Wall-to-wall carpet is no longer the only option for cost-conscious or do-it-yourself home decorators. The Flooring Handbook reveals the extensive variety of flooring options available today that can add function, beauty and comfort to any area of a home. Packed with practical information, The Flooring Handbook is a comprehensive reference that provides the latest in flooring materials and methods. This book describes the benefits of the basic flooring types in three broad categories: hard, semi-hard and soft, including: Hardwood Ceramic Tile Carpet Cork Linoleum (looking nothing like you remember it) Laminates Slate, stone and marble Leather, felt, rubber and steel Detailed step-by-step instructions and illustrations show how to lay different types of flooring under various circumstances. Color photographs of finished rooms demonstrate how various materials work to the best effect in a home. The Flooring Handbook is a comprehensive reference for designers, decorators and homeowners -- whether doing it themselves or hiring a professional.

In 1954, the French writer, politician, and publisher André Malraux posed at home for a photographer from the magazine Paris Match, surrounded by pages from his forthcoming book Le musée imaginaire de la sculpture mondiale. The enchanting metaphor of the musée imaginaire (imaginary museum) was built upon that illustrated art book, and Malraux was one of its greatest champions. Drawing on a range of contemporary publications, he adopted images and responded to ideas. Indeed, Malraux’s book on the floor is a variation of photographer André Vigneau’s spectacular Encyclopédie photographique de l’art, published in five volumes from 1935 on—years before Malraux would enter this field. Both authors were engaged in juxtaposing artworks via photographs and publishing these photographs by the hundreds, but Malraux was the better sloganeer. Starting from a close examination of the photograph of Malraux in his salon, art historian Walter Grasskamp takes the reader back to the dawn of this genre of illustrated art book. He shows how it catalyzed the practice of comparing works of art on a global scale. He retraces the metaphor to earlier reproduction practices and highlights its ubiquity in contemporary art, ending with an homage to the other pioneer of the “museum without walls,” the unjustly forgotten Vigneau.

A guide to selecting floor coverings which covers available materials, textures and finishes, as well as giving a practical, illustrated guide to the laying, safety, care and maintenance of each type of flooring.

A wide-ranging, handsomely illustrated guide to floor treatments and techniques, with an abundance of ideas and practical advice as well as ten step-by-step projects.