Note: Our decorative border started about 8-1/2 inches from each side wall and was 11-1/2 inches wide (close to a full-size tile), including the 2-in. special-order dark cork strips. Avoid placing ...

The cork flooring was in his kitchen, of all rooms. It was plank flooring about 8 inches wide. The color was a rich medium brown and the pattern or grain was mesmerizing.

This flooring is "floated" in that it is not glued or nailed directly to the subfloor, but laid on an underlayment -- in our example, cork, although 1/8-inch foam is also used.

Most residential cork flooring uses 1-foot-square tiles with natural earth-tone colors. These can range from almost white, such as a wine bottle cork color, to deep brown or almost black.

To make the tiles, Jelinek Cork takes old wine corks which “ are cut into circular discs about 6mm (1/4″) thick and glued on a special paper backing to form interesting and unique mosaic patterns.