Earth-tones are back

In the search for new trends, designers often turn to the past for inspiration. In searching for new materials to use in “green buildings”, builders, renovators and home owners are looking to the past as well. Products incorporating natural materials can be found in furniture, wall coverings and flooring. Now it’s possible to incorporate what may have been the original floor covering, dirt.
Now certainly there are parts of the world where earthen floors aren’t a design option as much as the only option and granted, the floor treatments offered by companies like From These Hands, LLC have little in common with a bare earth floor. Still, there’s no question that the materials used are natural and sustainable. The mud is compacted with straw and other fibers and finished with a drying agent such as linseed oil. Any waste from the project can be reused in another earthen project. And if properly sealed, the floor can last as long as other conventional floors, according to From These Hands owner Sukita Crimmel.

And while the installation process is time and labor intensive, at $7 a square foot—especially compared to other green flooring materials—the cost for an earthen floor is, well… dirt cheap.