Prior to 2008, if you were asked to describe the style of Beaulieu of America carpets, you might have chosen words like conservative or classic. Then along came the Bliss brand at Surfaces and Beaulieu started to, well, let its hair down. This definitely isn’t your mom’s Beaulieu anymore.

Accepting the Styling Excellence award, from left are: Jeff Meadows, executive vp; Patricia Flavin, senior vp, marketing; Danny Wade, executive vp, product development; Hans Bakker, product management director; and Ralph Boe, president and ceo, all with Beaulieu of America.

After showing off its new female-friendly brand, Beaulieu designers decided to take it out for a spin. Danny Wade, evp of product development and his crew pulled out all the stops. Lead designers Alan Pickard and Tiffany Thornton worked until the wee hours for months to get the looks just right. They employed variable twist technology for the first time and dressed their new creation up in Beaulieu’s best PermaSoft and PermaSoft Plus nylon. The result was a sexy, exciting, drop-dead gorgeous pattern collection named, appropriately enough, Flirtation. It was the perfect encore for Bliss at Surfaces 2009 and was quickly the talk of the show.

“The great thing about Flirtation,” observed Wade, “is that it makes a strong fashion statement but doesn’t overpower the space.”

Flirtation comes in 10 styles and 288 SKU’s with names like Attraction, Daring, Diva, Envy, Fantasia, Making Waves, Savvy, Secrets, To Die For and Wild Side and represent a variety of popular textures, weights and colors; as well as dramatically different patterns.

With Making Waves and Wild Side, Bliss invites homeowners to become inspired and yield to their desire for something different. Unique, sensual, provocative, and wildly exotic have been used to describe the carpet patterns by dealers. Crafted of 100% PermaSoft Plus solution dyed nylon, they are impervious to staining because the color is in the fiber. And there’s no need to worry about those exotic patterns fading as well.

Attraction, Daring and Diva are friezes offered in three weights to create a casual, playful look for family rooms, dens and bedrooms.

Savvy, Secrets and Envy are three new texture styles and are the ultimate solution for elegant styling in any room. They are available in three weights and are made with 100% PermaSoft nylon.

Fantasia and To Die For bring a new level of styling in home décor. With weights of 56 oz for Fantasia and 55 oz for To Die For, Fantasia features a sophisticated striated texture and To Die For has the same striated texture but is enhanced with a floral loop over-tuft, called an LCL (level cut and loop).-Patricia Flavin