Showroom

BY RAEANNE MARSH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SANDLER

>>> UnderFoot, Scottsdale, Arizona

UnderFoot's selections and samples are displayed on the floor and in racks along a wall.

"To the industry" doesn't mean a designer's client can't come into the UnderFoot showroom and look around, but it does mean industry identification will be checked before any purchase is transacted. "We do everything to protect the designer," says showroom manager Deanna Mielke, who tells of thwarting homeowners trying a little sidestep around their interior designer. "We're in it for the long haul."

And that's why UnderFoot, a luxury flooring, carpet and rug showroom in Scottsdale, Arizona, puts its private label on almost everything, from Eurotex carpet tiles, made predominantly of goat hair, to Hagaman Carpet Industries carpets, with their exquisite design details executed in wool or silk. "It's so the client can't 'shop' you on the Internet," Mielke emphasizes.

Exceptions to the private label are custom flooring and, an Arizona exclusive, Stark Carpets. Although Stark usually offers its product through furniture showrooms, UnderFoot owner Gary Lester found his reputation and multiple-decade experience carried weight when he pointed out to the high-end carpet company, "We have salespeople who already know about carpet."

UnderFoot, which opened in 2006, fills what Lester perceived as a niche for luxury flooring options. "Nothing that you need, but everything that you want," he says with a laugh.

Almost-daily deliveries fill the showroom with samples from manufacturers such as Prince Street, Radici and J-Mish, enabling UnderFoot to offer product that varies from felted or woven carpeting to the tailored, European look of Louis de Poortere. "Our main focus is on the unique," says Mielke, who anticipates the deliveries with such eagerness that "Gary and I fight over who gets to open the boxes."

With Persian rugs neatly piled on the floor and other samples mounted on racks, hung on walls or collected into books, there's nothing randomly "underfoot" in the 5,000-square-foot showroom. The front of the facility features expansive windows with displays that are changed seasonally. A few steps back, the space opens into its full, well-stocked depth, with offices and a "custom room" along one wall.

UnderFoot works with many carpet and rug manufacturers to offer clients custom options in size and color. "For example, designers may want to match pillows they already have," says Mielke, noting that Christoval, the mohair carpet company, can provide — in addition to its own patterns — handwoven Navajo-style designs.

Traditional, contemporary or European, residential or commercial, UnderFoot caters to the upper-end market. However, Mielke points out, a customer "may not want to put $100-per-yard carpet in the [kids'] playroom." In that case, Mielke can find a suitable product that also works with the customer's other carpet.

UnderFoot's experts also will help with unusual installation constraints. Mielke recalls one stair runner that had to be installed as separate pieces in order to match the pattern. "When we finished, it looked like one [continuous] piece, although we'd installed it as separate steps."

Installation is an important part of UnderFoot's service to its customers, and Mielke brings the extensive experience of one whose family was also in the carpet business. "It's a team effort between designer and installer," she says. "You have to be on the same page to have it turn out just right." While she will go to the site and oversee the work, she notes that deciding on who would be best for a particular product is key. Carpets have their intrinsic idiosyncrasies. "Some carpets are easier to put down than others," she says.

To its carpeting and rug selection, UnderFoot has also recently added leather, available with a wide variety of stamps; along with glass tile, and baseboard and crown moldings.

With such an extensive selection, Mielke says, "It's nice when designers make an appointment, because we can be more prepared." Drop-ins, however, are always welcome.

UnderFoot, Scottsdale, AZ; (480) 222-1120 or www.underfootaz.com.