Polski
A Well-Known Flooring Brand Returns — and a Home That Senses Your Presence
In September, the flooring and smart home industries brought us two seemingly unrelated stories connected by a single thread: a return to local roots and technologies that protect what matters most today — stable supply chains and homeowners' privacy. Here's what Armstrong Flooring has in store, and how Aqara is changing the way we think about presence detection at home.
01 · Finishing Materials
Armstrong Flooring Is Back in the Game — With American Manufacturing Behind It
On September 18, 2026, AHF Products announced the official return of the Armstrong Flooring brand to the retail market [1]. The decision followed market research confirming that the brand still enjoys strong consumer recognition, despite the restructuring period it went through. The comeback isn't a quiet one: in October, a five-city promotional roadshow will kick off, showcasing new collections, including DLuxe Plank HDPC vinyl planks, Sacred Grove Select engineered wood, and as many as three porcelain tile lines.
Notably, AHF Products is putting strong emphasis on the fact that production takes place in the USA — at facilities in Georgia and Tennessee. That's no coincidence: local manufacturing helps reduce dependence on import tariffs and ocean freight delays, pain points that have long complicated supply planning in the flooring industry. It's a signal that major manufacturers are increasingly embracing reshoring as a way to bring predictability to their business — a topic that should interest anyone planning large-scale finishing investments.
02 · Smart Home
Aqara FP400: Presence Detected by Radar, Not Camera
From an entirely different corner of the industry comes an equally interesting piece of news, this time from smart home. On September 16, 2026, Aqara announced the availability of the Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400 [2], which uses 60 GHz mmWave radar and artificial intelligence to detect presence — without a camera. The device can simultaneously recognize up to 10 people in spaces as large as 80 m², across a 120-degree field of view, making it a genuine alternative to traditional motion sensors in larger rooms or open living areas.
The FP400 supports up to eight automation zones, and the manufacturer highlights that it effectively reduces false alarms triggered by pets or robot vacuums — a common headache with classic PIR sensors. The device is compatible with the Matter standard as well as the Thread and Zigbee protocols, so it fits easily into existing smart home ecosystems. For the senior care market, an FP400 Pro version is also available. It's a great example of how the building technology industry is responding to growing expectations around privacy — home automation without a camera in the living room is an argument that's winning over more and more users.
Summary
Summary
This week reveals two different faces of the same trend — building customer trust. Armstrong Flooring builds it through local, predictable manufacturing and brand recognition, while Aqara does it through technology that automates the home without compromising residents' privacy. Both threads — finishing materials and smart interior solutions — are exactly what you'll find live at the Warsaw Home Build fair. Stay tuned for more roundups, and be sure to visit the exhibitors' booths!
Invitation
Want to see the new flooring collections and the latest smart home sensors in person, not just in write-ups? Visit the Warsaw Home Build fair and see how local manufacturing of finishing materials and camera-free technologies are transforming modern interiors. Let's meet at the exhibitors' booths from the construction, finishing, and smart home industries!
Warsaw Home Build 2026Footnotes
[1] Floor Covering News (fcnews.net) — https://www.fcnews.net/2026/09/armstrong-flooring-returns-to-retail-with-october-roadshow/[2] Aqara (materiał producenta) — https://www.aqara.com/en/news/spatial-multi-sensor-fp400-availability-announcement/