A Home Saved by Flooring

The owner of this private residence in Queens realized he made a mistake in not hiring an interior designer to help renovate his home—somehow, his spiral staircase was plopped directly in the entryway, an odd focal point at any rate. But he saw an opportunity to save the space when it came time for his wood floors to be installed, and for that job he contacted Avedis Duvenjian, president of Archetypal Imaginary Remodeling Corp.

"We took a negative and turned it to a positive," Duvenjian says. For design duties, Duvenjian usually enlists the talents of Vartan Arutyunian, whom Duvenjian describes as an authentic and inspired artist, and by the looks of this floor, the description is spot-on.

The floor's hallmark is the wenge and aluminum ribbon, which was CNC-cut. After installing the solid 34-inch-thick, multi-directional hand-cut African mahogany field, the ribbon path was routed out 14-inch deep and the wenge and aluminum installed. Duvenjian strove to give the floor a natural appearance, so his crew hand-scraped the wood and applied a vegetable-oil-based finish.

Duvenjian believes a flooring company must set itself apart to succeed. "You've got to distinguish yourself. You have to do something that not everyone is willing to do," he says. With this floor, Duvenjian has proved his case. -D.D.