schmoopie2 Most builders will suggest that hardwood be laid in the opposite direction to your floor joists. This provides much better support and lessens shifting and settling...hope this helps

casavieja Also, as a rule of thumb, use the longest outside wall to use as a reference line.

Custom Home Planning Center Think of the flooring as the arrow that tells you which way to walk. If you have rooms going off to the left or right you can use a feature strip to change and run perpendicular. If the rooms go off at a 45 degree a haring bone pattern is a great look.

houssaon I agree that it has to go perpendicular to the joists. The flooring needs structual support.

State Wide Construction & Remodeling Some jobs can be tackled alone. And others should be done by a professional who can do the job correctly the first time.

inkwitch Herringbone.

inkwitch Actually, not herringbone, but diagonal, but that creates a pattern of its own that must be taken into consideration with other fabric patterns. Best to stick with normal layout. Diagonal flooring works best in modern architecture.

judyg Perpendicular to the joists.

Stephanie Ives, AKBD, Custom Dwellings, Inc. Everyone is assuming the current flooring is on a wood sub structure- if the house is on a concrete slab with a plywood underlayment the direction to lay the flooring has more to to with how it relates to the interior spaces. While it is typical to lay hardwoods perpendicular to the joists it can be done in either direction. Often we make assumptions is renovating homes that the hardwoods do run perpendicular to the joists but that is not always the case. Consider the flow of the space as your cue- if you are going to take the hardwoods into the kitchen you may want to run them the direction you have them laid in the photo. If the joists run the other direction in one of the rooms from the other you have the opportunity to do a contrasting inlay at the door opening between the rooms as a nice accent before changing flooring direction. As for the kitchen, you may want to consider where the dishwasher is- a leak can do major damage to hardwood flooring and it may be easier to repair if the hardwoods run parallel to the dishwasher...

ruthmand I suggest you speak to the people you are going to buy your flooring from as they should be aware of any restrictions on laying particular materials. You may be able to lay it in either direction, rather than being restricted by joists, as I think a floating floor can go either way. Best to find that out first and then you can make further decisions.

Linda Ask your installer. It looks like you have a modern house, so square corners and cock-eyed walls shouldn't be an issue but especially in old houses, you have to make sure not to highlight the wrong details. I was recently in a older house where the hardwood floor was laid inside of a contrasting two board border run all the way around the outside of the room. Unfortunately one of the short interior walls was way off of straight (maybe an inch or little more in two feet) and the border ran parallel to the wall. However the HVAC installation ran parallel to the joists. So, right through the middle of the beautiful border was a floor vent at probably a 15 degree angle...ouch! Talk about pointing out something that would never would have been seen otherwise.

kicksychick Our hardwood expect always looks for the longest sight line. From your picture that appears to run from the living room window towards your kitchen. It will lead your eye through your space and make it feel larger.

jensie I'm going to be less than helpful - because I don't know the answer - but I just really need to know the color of the walls (living room and kitchen) - this is EXACTLY what I want. Also, LOVE the kitchen!!! This will be beautiful with the dark hardwoods!

johnsonrossi Thanks for all the advice...it helped a lot!! The living room colour is BM Tiramisu and the kitchen is BM Mortar (which is actually very green in certain lights...not too sure about it!). Over all they are very warm colours that go well together!