Floors with Benefits

Please help us further customize our offerings and customer service with this quick (single question) poll.  All answers are anonymous.



 
Thanks!

Thank You for your Votes!

The votes are in and we're honored to be named Carroll's Best Flooring Store for 12 years in a row, ever since the awards started in 1998.

I and the rest of the Mercer Team, would like to extend my sincerest thanks to everyone who voted for us.  We're proud to be considered Carroll's Best.

Here are some reasons that we think why we earned your votes:
  ~ our entire team receives the best training in the industry
  ~ our sales associates are highly trained in flooring and interior design
  ~ we have over half a century of experience
  ~ our installation warranties that back up our in-house, master installers
  ~ our Beautiful Guarantee (our customers deserve the right to one mistake)

"I LOVE MY NEW carpet and flooring (AND the paint color you helped me choose)! What a nice difference in our house. Thanks!! Kevin was very helpful and GREAT to work with and your two crews were fabulous! Efficient, courteous, and hard workers. I was very comfortable with them here."  ~  Terry T.

"I just want to let you know that I am totally happy with the carpet that was installed last Friday. From the sales to installation I felt that I was dealing with top-notch people and I really appreciated that. I know the difference as you know. I am going to do some painting and I will certainly entertain coming back to Mercer Carpet One when I need the carpet for downstairs. Thanks again."  ~  Carleen B. - Sykesvile, Maryland

Why did you vote for us?

2 Chances to Win at Mercer's Midnight Madness Celebration

Friday, September 24, 2010 - 6pm till Midnight - You could win an extra 10% off your entire purchase PLUS a Free Raven's Rug!

As apart of the annual kick off to Fall Fest in Historic Downtown Westminster of Carroll County, Maryland, Downtown businesses stay open till midnight and we're adding a special kick by giving you two chances to win!

Contest #1: Free Raven's Rug Drawing

As of Wednesday, September 1st, we have been accepting entries into our Free Drawing for 1 of 2 Raven's Rugs.

(Silver Prize - Milliken Rugs)

(Grand Prize - Milliken Rugs)

To enter, visit our Downtown Westminster Flooring Design Showroom now.  Entry is free.  Winners will be drawn during Midnight Madness.  You do not need to be present to win.  Winners will be notified by email.

Contest #2: Pop a Balloon for a Prize

Every purchase during Midnight Madness (6pm till Midnight on 9/24/10) earns a balloon with at least 1 prize inside.  Every balloon is a winner.  Prizes from Mercers & other Downtown Westminster Businesses.  Grand Prize: an EXTRA 10% off any purchase (yes, even on top of our 25% discount on Tigressa SoftStyle carpet, Armstrong hardwood, & Earthscapes flexfloor vinyl)!

For more details, call or email us today.  410-876-2026  or Contact@MercerCarpetOne.com

3 R's in Carpet - From The Carpet and Rug Institute

Just recently the Carpet and Rug Insitute posted the following article on their blog that talks about some of the strides that the carpet industry has made in their campaign for sustainability.  Saving green for both the world's environment, our home environments, & our wallets!

Werner Braun: Recycle, Recover, Reuse, or “Green is the New Black” for carpet.

Werner Braun continues his series of columns in Dalton’s Daily Citizen-News with an article on a subject about which the carpet industry has significant reason for pride: its accomplishments in environmental responsibility. The article, published June 18, 2010, is titled "Recycle, recover, reuse."

CRI’s most recent Sustainability Report showed that in the five years between 2003 and 2008, the carpet industry scaled back its energy use and incorporated sustainable manufacturing processes to a remarkable extent. Furthermore, the industry made great strides in finding ways to recycle materials throughout the manufacturing process. The article points out that:
“The industry has already found numerous creative uses for carpet by-products, such as carpet trim and yarn scraps, to avoid the use of local landfills. Fiber and yarn that cannot be reused in manufacturing is recovered for use in other products, including excess carpet which is cut into rugs and mats and sold for other uses.
"Waste carpet trimmings, backing and yarn are often sold to recycling plants and processed into such items as carpet cushion and furniture battings and cushions. Additional carpet waste is used for reinforcing filler for concrete, fence posts, road underlayment, plastic lumber and automotive parts.

"Then there is polyethylene packaging, which is used to wrap carpet yarn spools and other raw materials. It is recycled into plastic pellets and sold to extruders of film, plastic wrap or plastic trash bags, or it is used in molded items.
"Other materials used in the manufacturing process, such as cardboard, paper, aluminum, wooden pallets, yarn cones, roll cores, liquid containers, raw material packaging and scrap metal, are either reused or recycled.”

Material that is recycled during the manufacturing process is called “post-industrial”. Products and materials that are recovered from consumers and recycled is called, fittingly enough, “post-consumer”. The column mentions how today, more and more carpet is being collected after it has served its useful purpose, but before it goes to the landfill. Thus diverted, it is being put to good use in other products.
“Carpet manufacturers are voluntarily addressing this problem through a number of ways: recycling old carpet materials back into carpet production, recycling old carpet into alternative uses such as building materials and auto parts, or by refurbishing old carpet into new carpet tiles. Several businesses are even reclaiming their old carpet so it can be reused or recycled.

Many of our member companies also have programs to deal with post-consumer carpet. Because collecting, sorting and transporting used carpet is such a huge challenge, the tasks are being addressed by carpet and fiber companies and individual entrepreneurs. Several companies have collection sites in place and are developing means to separate carpet components and recover polymers.
The industry is working towards recycling fiber back into fiber and turning Nylon 6 into new fiber. Some companies are refurbishing used carpet modules. Currently, billions of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic beverage bottles each year are used to make polyester carpet fibers.”

Finally, the article notes that one CRI committee developed an identification system of carpet materials that makes the sorting of fiber and backing compounds easier and more efficient in the future. Many CRI member companies and entrepreneurs around the country are currently using this identification system, called the Carpet Component Identification Code (CCIC).
Thank you, Werner, for pointing out how, with leadership from the carpet industry, “We are taking action today so we can take comfort in tomorrow.”

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Blog post courtisy of the Carpet & Rug Insitute.

How to Choose Colors with help from High-Heeled Foot in the Door

My Mom is currently redoing the house (kids have started leaving the nest) one room at a time and I just moved into my first apartment. 

She always spends hours upon hours on which is the right paint choice while I chose my basic color scheme quickly with just a little imaginative visualizing and playing with color swatches. 

However, if I was actually going to paint my walls (why when I just have to paint them white again when I leave?), I'd probably spend forever on the perfect backdrop color for my vibrant color scheme (I love and need color!) as well.

It seems that both Mom and I have it easy in comparison to many of the people we bump into through Mercer's. 

It seems as many people are afraid of color and stick with basic beiges and plain neutrals.  People seem nervous about choosing a color that will clash or that they'll grow weary of it.

Completely understandable. Color is so talked up in the design industry.  Complimentary colors, Triads, Temperature, and other jargon terms are used. 

Yes, the colors you choose for your design impact the overall feel of a room greatly.  But thankfully there are other aspects of design that impact the atmosphere as well: textures, balance, focal points, and light for example.  And all the aspects of design work together.

To help you when choosing your color schemes, I've found a great blog post that can be used to the entire color scheme, not just paint.  Also, I have some tips that I've gathered through my work at Mercer's.

1) stick with natural colors - Mother Nature is the ultimate designer, have you ever seen a natural landscape that clashed?

2) collect fabric scraps, photos, ribbons, and other tidbits that pique your interest - usually that interest is piqued by color and they'll help you with your overall design - if you notice yourself gravitating to certain colors over and over again, you can be confident that it isn't some fad

3) keep in mind the purpose of the room to help narrow down the options by helping you decide between the temperatures of colors - cool colors tend to be more calming while warm colors are more invigorating

Now, with no further ado, How to Pick Paint by High-Heeled Foot in the Door.

What are some of the tricks you use when choosing colors?  Do you have any design projects you would like to share?