Straight Lines, Stunning Beauty

The Touchstone Project is a spacious, contemporary West Coast home on British Columbia's Vancouver Island that sits on a bluff overlooking a wide bay with distant, snow-topped mountains. Reflecting the spectacular landscape in the design palette for the home was a given.

This was a perfect project for interior designer Sandy Nygaard who says her palette is very natural. "I tend to use materials and colors that are inherent, versus taking something and coloring it." The materials chosen for the project were specified to blend with the natural surroundings. The flooring is a response to what Nygaard wanted to achieve throughout the home.

Vancouver Island is noted for, among other things, very big trees including Douglas fir, Sitka spruce and Western red cedar. For the Touchstone Project, the clients wanted a west coast look, natural and earthy.

"We have natural, vertical grained fir inside," Nygaard says. "The cabinets were quarter-cut cherry. However, when we looked at cherry as a flooring material, the quarter-cut was hard to find, and we wanted a linear grain."

Nygaard wanted to achieve a light, airy feel to the space. This led her to African doussie (Afzelia spp.). "Doussie has a very linear type of grain to it with a lot of depth and shimmer. It has a beautiful reflective quality."

The pre-finished 3-1/2" flooring features a top layer of select grade doussie hardwood backed with nine layers of marine birch support, which helps maintain great stability against cupping and warping over the radiant heat system. The multi-layered floor allows for three to four sandings.

Nygaard said this was her first project using doussie. She saw a sample board from the supplier and became intrigued by the product. Following the Touchstone Project, Nygaard says that she continues to specify it in other designs. "I like the linear quality of the doussie wood grain and I love the color." It is truly beautiful enough to reflect the natural splendor that lies right outside the door.