Move over bamboo! There's a new building material that's slowly creeping its way into homes all around the world - coconut! Made from recycled coconut shells, these floors are usually created in tiled patterns and are designed for interior use. Home and business owners are using them for walls, furniture, and even flooring (low- to medium-traffic only).

Coconut flooring comes in a variety of patterns, shapes, and colors and are perfect for that tropical ambiance. When paired with darker wall shades, or metal and glass designs, coconut flooring looks very chic and modern.

While visiting a home in Asia, I stayed at a house with beautiful hardwood flooring and matching tile décor on the walls. To my surprise, the owner of the house revealed that the floors were made from coconut trees! The floor looked like ordinary hardwood but a shade darker; the tiles on the wall were the same color and had a crossing pattern that looked just like coconut shells. Very beautiful and exotic looking!

As we continue the "green" trend, architectural engineers are contributing to the cause as they come up with more natural products to build and design your homes. What's best about coconut tile flooring is that it's very eco-friendly. It's great to know that they're slowly coming up with more choices for "green building"!

For another interesting and eco-friendly flooring type, read our article on peach pit flooring.