If you’re looking for flooring inspiration for your next home renovation or new build, scrolling through social media boards and manufacturers’ sites are good places to start. However, there are other important flooring considerations beyond aesthetics.

To help you find the right floor that balances beauty and substance, consider these questions from the experts at Beautifully Responsible.

Are the claims standing on sure footing?

Whether it’s sustainable flooring or flooring that promotes good indoor air quality, it’s difficult to know for sure which flooring really meets the criteria they claim. Third-party certifications can provide the dose of truth you need. They are independently verified, meaning the flooring manufacturer needs to prove it’s meeting the strict guidelines of the certifications to use the badge. For instance, third-party certifications — such as FloorScore (for indoor air quality) and ASSURE Certified (for multiple attributes in rigid core flooring) — are quick ways to make sure the flooring you’re considering can back up its claims.

While these floors look stunning in photos, how will they look after a few bouts of tug-of-war with your dog?

Life is full of unexpected moments, whether it’s your new puppy having an accident or spilling coffee in your rush to leave home. Make sure you understand how much effort is required to maintain your flooring choice. Look for durable, scratch-resistant and water-resistant options. Your floors need to withstand your everyday life.

Flooring is also a financial and time investment. While it can be easy to get carried away with the variety of beautiful flooring options out there, it’s important to match your floors with your family’s stage of life.

How can I find good looking floors I can feel good about?

You deserve to feel good about every aspect of your floors — whether it’s stopping your guests in their tracks in amazement when they enter a room or the environmental impacts made by a company working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, finding flooring that matches your home’s aesthetics and what’s important to you requires a little research.

1.  Check the sustainability section on the manufacturer’s website. Most suppliers of Beautifully Responsible resilient flooring go to great lengths to engage sustainability in their business models. Many also publish detailed sustainability reports.
2. Look for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which detail product ingredients, carbon footprint and overall environmental impacts.

What about economics?

Aside from durability, scratch resistance, moisture resistance, third-party certifications and manufacturer commitments to sustainability, affordability is a major factor when choosing a floor. Resilient products have an enormous bandwidth of affordable products that address first homes to dream homes. Also, look for innovations created by resilient flooring manufacturers to make installation more efficient and less costly than many other flooring categories.

Where can I find a floor that meets all these criteria?
Resilient flooring, including varieties from Beautifully Responsible member brands, offers hundreds of options with style and substance.

Resilient flooring offers many scratch-resistant and water-resistant options, making them both pet-friendly and a breeze to clean up with neutral cleansers. You can also find industry-wide EPDs for various types of resilient flooring and many manufacturers regularly publish sustainability reports, sharing their progress toward environmental goals. Walk on peace of mind knowing you’re protected from many common mishaps, all while creating a stunning, sustainable home environment.

Find your floor and answers to more common questions by visiting beautifullyresponsible.com.

Don’t wait for smoke on the horizon to prepare for a wildfire. While hot temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds increase wildfire threat, taking small manageable steps – like creating a noncombustible 5-foot buffer around your home – can significantly reduce its risk of ember ignition.

As fiery bits of debris, embers can travel miles ahead of the main fire front and often find vulnerable areas, including roofs; vegetation; landscaping; wood, wicker or plastic furniture; dried leaves; and other yard debris, making them the No. 1 reason homes ignite during wildfires.

To help homeowners take the guesswork out of wildfire prep and protect what matters most, experts at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) developed science-based guidance to reduce your home’s vulnerability and risk of ignition.

Check and Maintain Your Roof

More than 90% of U.S. homes already have a Class A fire-resistant-rated roof. However, if your roof is made of wood or other non-rated materials, replace it with a Class A roof to reduce fire risk. Also, regularly clear the roof of leaves, needles and other debris.

In addition, replace plastic or PVC gutters with noncombustible metal options, such as aluminum or steel, and regularly clear gutters and downspouts of all vegetative debris, which can provide fuel for embers to land on and ignite. When ignited, this debris could expose the fascia, roof and attic to flames.

Establish a Critical 0-5-Foot Noncombustible Zone

From the curb to just a few steps from the front door, lush lawn, native plants and healthy trees are part of a wildfire-prepared yard. However, the area closest to your home, a 5-foot buffer, often called “Zone Zero,” is key to keeping embers at bay without any material in this area to ignite.

In fact, a study from IBHS and ZestyAI found property owners who clear vegetation from the perimeter of their home can nearly double the likelihood of it surviving a wildfire.
This doesn’t mean you need to leave this area barren; in fact, a wildfire-prepared landscape is beautiful, green and safe.

Design your yard with healthy trees, plants and grass up to the last few steps to your home. In the last 5 feet, top landscape pavers or river rocks with ceramic flowerpots or noncombustible planters that can easily be moved on Red Flag days – which indicate weather conditions are optimal for wildfire spread – for a beautiful setting that also acts as a fire-resistant buffer. Trees overhanging the zone can serve as a connective path for fire to travel from the yard to the house. Trim them to prevent this risk as well as reduce debris accumulation on the roof, gutters and at the base of exterior walls.

Don’t forget to give the same care to your backyard. Just like looking in from the front curb, native landscaping, including trees and plants, as well as privacy fences, can extend all the way up to just a few steps from the back of your home. In the 5-foot area nearest your home, create an outdoor living space with hardscaping and add patio furniture, planters and other decor – choosing materials like ceramics and wrought iron that won’t burn.

Protect Exterior Features

Vents are weak points where embers can enter your home or build up and ignite materials inside. Install flame- and ember-resistant vents or retrofit existing vents – including attic, soffits, wall and crawlspace vents as well as roof openings – with 1/8-inch, corrosion-resistant metal mesh. Also ensure dryer vents have functional louvers or a self-closing flap to block embers.

Looking around your yard where blowing leaves gather is a good way to visualize the places embers can collect like at the base of a home’s exterior walls. Ensure at least 6 inches of vertical, noncombustible material at ground level (and above decks or patios) below your siding to prevent ember ignition. Materials can include exposed concrete foundation, fiber-cement siding, brick, stone, stucco or metal flashing.

No longer just a threat for western states, these mitigations can reduce wildfire risk in communities across the country. Homeowners in certain states can use this system of mitigation actions to receive a Wildfire Prepared Home designation.

Find more wildfire mitigation guidance by visiting wildfireprepared.org.

It’s a fact that the kitchen is the most dangerous room in the house, especially during the holidays. In addition to kitchen fires and burns, knife and broken glass accidents affecting the hand and fingers are among the most common kitchen injuries. Each year, an estimated 350,000 people head to the ER with knife injuries alone.

“We see an increase in injuries from kitchen accidents over the holidays,” says Nitin Goyal, MD, hand, wrist and elbow surgeon, Midwest Orthopaedics at RUSH (MOR). “Most often they are from people cutting themselves while carving turkeys or on broken holiday glasses.”

Hand and finger injuries can be very serious and potentially cause someone to lose function or feeling. “People who experience a laceration or deep cut should seek treatment right away,” explains Dr. Goyal. “If a tendon is cut, it should be reattached in a timely manner to maximize the chances for healing and mobility. Severing a nerve can cause feeling to be lost, and this should be treated expeditiously to maximize the potential outcome.”

Before you take a stab at carving or cooking, make sure you are using the right technique. Dr. Goyal has these tips:

• Make sure your knife is sharp. This will help keep the food or knife from slipping.
  
• Keep your cutting area well-lit and dry. Good lighting will help prevent accidental finger cuts and a dry surface will prevent food from slipping while chopping.
  
• Always slice away from your hand and keep your fingers clear of the blade.
  
• Never cut something on the palm of your hand. That’s what cutting boards are for.
  
• Make round objects easier to cut by slicing them in half first and then placing the flat side on a cutting board.
  
• Don’t let your dirty knives soak in the sink – wash them right away to prevent accidentally grabbing a blade.
  
• Never multi-task while cooking and focus on what you are doing. Turn off the TV and save the chatting until you are finished.
  
• NEVER put your hand or finger in a blender that is on or even plugged in.
  
• Avoid alcohol until you are done carving, cutting, or handling glass.
  
• If glass should break, let it fall and don’t try to catch it mid-air. Wear gloves when picking up shards – and clean and vacuum all surfaces carefully.