Mohawk Builder Multifamily welcomed designers from across the country to its inaugural design summit in Alpharetta, Georgia, to build relationships, garner feedback on flooring products in development, and share insights about the company's investments in innovation and sustainability.
"We brought in 11 designers from across the country to show them our 2025 and 2026 product offerings and go over sustainability and what makes Mohawk different—and really just take time to gather and get to know each other better," said Jessica White, senior director of design strategy and channel, Mohawk.
"Mohawk's been a valued trade partner with us, and love to see what's coming before it comes so that we have an idea of how it's going to affect our offering—if it's going to improve it or just be status quo," said Dawn Saladino, director of design centers for Minto Communities in Sun City Center, Florida.
David Moore, senior product developer of wood and laminate at Mohawk, shared that the company is investing over $900 million in domestic manufacturing, including tile, laminate, resilient, carpet and rugs and mats.
"Mohawk is a company that is wanting to drive product differentiation through domestic manufacturing and has a checkbook to back it up," Moore said.
Much of this innovation is related to advances in sustainable manufacturing, and Moore said consumer insights on sustainability and product preferences are shifting. Historically, consumers have purchased on emotions, seeking beauty, style, design and color. Today, ethics are playing a larger role with 86% of consumers concerned about plastic waste in oceans and 75% of consumers concerned about the environmental impact of the products they buy.
Mohawk continues to invest in sustainability. For example, Everstrand carpet uses the continuum process which recycles six billion plastic bottles annually.
"That's enough bottles to go to the moon and back twice every year," White said.
PureTech is a PVC-free alternative to traditional LVT that features a core made from over 70% plant-based fiber. SolidTech features a stone recycled core (SRC) made from three parts natural stone and one part recycled plastic, 100% PVC-free.
At the product review, designers selected their favorite and least favorite hard- and soft-surface flooring and provided insights on their selections.
With wood looks taking over 70% of most homes today, hard surfaces are selected by performance, color and undertone. Most designers suggested they wanted floors with undertones that were less red or yellow so that they could coordinate with the maximum number of kitchen cabinet options possible.
"We have seen the trend towards less gray that has been seen more walnut-type tones," said Amber Shay, national VP of design centers at Meritage Homes in Scottsdale, Arizona. "We are selling spec homes, so we are much more trying to appeal to the masses. Greige is still something that has universal appeal and that just doesn't seem to be going away."
That said, designers still wanted floors that showcased interest and variation. Some also wanted "wow" options that would make an impact in model homes.
Mohawk presented some tile-look resilient flooring options for bathrooms to answer a need for markets with labor shortages. "Consumers don't want wood visuals in the bathroom, so we came up with tile visuals to break it up," White said.
The work of these builder design professionals tees up anticipated growth for home builders. This week, the Federal Reserve's cut on interest rates should help builders get building again to fill a much-needed housing supply. Supply has not kept pace with demand, especially as the millennial generation is forming households and trying to buy homes.
Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was up two points August, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. This breaks a string of four consecutive monthly declines.
“Thanks to lower interest rates, builders now have a positive view for future new home sales for the first time since May 2024,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom home builder from Wichita, Kansas, “However, the cost of construction remains elevated relative to household budgets, holding back some enthusiasm for current housing market conditions. Moreover, builders will face competition from rising existing home inventory in many markets as the mortgage rate lock-in effect softens with lower mortgage rates.”