Tips from the NAFCO Design Team
Your choice of flooring makes the biggest impact on the style of each room because it represents the largest uninterrupted space. If you want to achieve a clean, contemporary look, combine patterns that incorporate different elements, say wood and stained concrete. When you work with the real products, installation is complicated because of different textures, widths, even sub-floor issues. Because there’s uniformity with Nafco’s luxury tiles and planks, installation is seamless and simple. Choose our Kyrah pattern that simulates stained concrete-in the Steel colorway—to coordinate with Urban Oak, a plank in Dark Havana. Use Urban Oak as an accent, much as a border on a rug. This elegant design will compliment any space while bringing in the latest trends to your home.
Check back with us for new, exciting design and installation tips from the professionals at NAFCO by Tarkett.
ASHLEY BAKER, PRODUCT MANAGER, NAFCO BY TARKETT
Ashley Baker, product manager, joined Nafco by Tarkett in 2007 from a position as buyer and manger of a fashion boutique where she researched fashion and design trends around the world. “I continue to study the close association between fashion and residential color and design trends,” says Baker. She is responsible for product development, product introductions, custom products, trade show displays, organizing plant tours, as well as support of the brand’s merchandising and promotion efforts. “I see the relationship most vividly when comparing runway shows with what I see at prominent trade shows such as Domotex, in Hanover, Germany, Surfaces in Las Vegas or Coverings in Chicago and Orlando.”
Baker is a member of the Color Marketing Group [CMG], and attends their regional and annual meetings for color trend updates in residential and contract design. In addition to visits to North American retailers to gauge the tastes of home decorators, she attends Tarkett’s International Design Committee meetings in Nanterre, France, where designers and product managers from around the world share and compare trend research.
Baker is an avid reader of decorating and fashion magazines and viewer of television decorating, remodeling and fashion coverage. Her travels—which have taken her to Australia, the Far East and beyond—provide innumerable vivid impressions. She’s a nature-lover, invigorated by outdoor sports such as hiking, kayaking, camping and running. “I’m fascinated by a culture’s impact on its design and color preferences,” she notes, “and nature inspires many of our product introductions.” Baker’s father is a songwriter, musician and producer. “I was surrounded by creativity as I grew up,” she adds, noting that theatre and photography are two additional passions. Baker graduated from the University of North Alabama, Florence, with a BS degree. She continues to live in Florence when she isn’t traveling the world for business and pleasure.