Designer Confessions: Torn Between Wood Floors

J Willi As you mentioned...contrast is the key! BTW, I just don't get herringbone, don't know why, maybe too retro, it just doesn't do it for me.

J Willi Oh, and while I'm at it, just natural. Throw some Waterlox on it and be done with it.

kdoolittle My husband and I are debating this right now too. I am favoring the reclaimed wide planks. I like my spaces to be light and bright, and I appreciate the visual anchor a darker floor provides. Thank you for the ideabook, I'm feeling inspired by the pic with the grey staircase/trimwork... unexpected!

kdoolittle Is it safe to assume that if the trim is also going to be natural wood, the floor and trim should be the same wood and stain?

Becky Harris I need to bookmark this as a reference for all future renovations! Thanks Rebecca! While I love the herringbone patterns, I'm always a sucker for wide planks.

Tom Miller Interesting article R I'm having issues deciding a floor color that will compliment honey colored maple cabinets & black granite counter tops. Got any suggestions?

Tom Miller Interesting article R I'm having issues deciding a floor color that will compliment honey colored maple cabinets & black granite counter tops. Got any suggestions?

mgb13 This is a debate I'm struggling with now. Love the article and all the ideas.

appytrails I know my dog is always a big consideration in my floor choices, and since you mentioned your golden, yours must be, as well.
I put down a light maple in a small back room... big, big mistake. The floor showed scratches practically from day one, while my darker oak in the rest of the house has worn through many years.

lee_w Wide plank! In our previous home, we did that in one of th bedrooms (with the thought of doing more, which we never got around too). The floors were stunning, and something about them brings out the "oooh and ahhh" factor with everyone who saw them. Our current home as old wood floors, but we're not sure if they can be saved or not. Most are random width, but either painted or in rough shape- we'll see....

kate skouros i looked at practically every house in the county before we ultimately decided to build. the reason: the floors. every house i saw had the same old oak flooring. i'm not a fan of oak. i've always loved eastern black walnut floors and i can honestly say it was the only reason we went this route. now that they are installed i can't believe how truly stunning they are. finished simply with a few coats of waterlox (to stain them would be sinful), they seem to glow. not one person who comes in fails to comment on them.

smithshiredesigner I am building a house right now and this is the first thing I need to decide to move forward and I am driving myself crazy. I'd love to see pictures of the walnut floors and I am strongly considering bamboo, as there are so many different looks right now. Does anyone have knowledge about how it holds up, as the house is on the ocean and I don't know if humidity can affect it at all.

ginakinard Love the herringbone.

traveler Whatever you do don't get bamboo. I have it in a house I'm renting. It's almost brand new and quite lovely, but just two years living in it (no kids or pets) and it's not looking good. It scratches (deeply) at the slightest touch. It stains from water (near dishwasher, outer door and washing machine).

Valerie Bowles Herringbone and parquet floors make me want to pull out my hair. I just don't get it. Glad to see lighter colors are back in vogue, though.

athensgirl I think lighter floors look very modern and don't look as good with white walls, casing, and cabinet as darker floors do. I love the contrast between white and dark that you get with dark floors. The color floors you get really depends on the style of your home and what your wall color and style will be. I have a golden retriever and stained cheap wide-planked southern pine as dark as we could get it (had to water pop it - pine does not want to take stain), distressed the tar out of it, and face-nailed it. It looks like it's been there forever and was the re-claimed look I wanted. Plus, whatever distressing our kids and dog add to it just adds to the charm.

akmcmullen Do dark wood floors show dust?
We have dark wood blinds in our den and while they look beautiful, they get CRAZY dusty.
So much so that I'd never get them again.

akmcmullen Meant to say dark wood shutters! ;-)

rnuna I haven't seen any mention of wood floors stained or painted a color. We have a new addition and we are pondering over how to treat the new oak floor in the upstairs room, which is very sunny with many windows. We are thinking of pickeling the floor in white, or painting it with few layers of colors and then sanding them away to get a worn, old look with color surprises. Any thoughts?

athensgirl Dark floors do show dust more than lighter ones, but I have four kids and sweep or vacuum the main living areas almost daily anyway. As long as I vacuum once a week the floors look fine though. I have a whole-house vacuum with a little sucking outlet thing built into the baseboard in my kitchen right beside our kitchen table so I can sweep straight into that and skip the dustpan. For some reason that makes sweeping seem so much easier and really sold me on this house. I use a real vacuum for carpet, but the whole-house one is wonderful for hard flooring with the hardwood wand on.
We also have some dark blinds in a room and they really show dust, much more so than the floor. They drive me crazy!

jeg700 700 Dark wood floors show dust, paw prints, anything and everything when the sun shines. Although very beautiful when pristine, the rest of the time look messy and dirty. Natural wood tones or pale grey colour is the way to go for great looks and easy maintenance.

Tracy Learner Wood is very elegant

househungry thanks for the photo's! i feel your pain. i want to pull the trigger on the oiled wide plank white oak but am worried about maintenance and abuse (kid and dog). does anyone know how the oiled floors hold up? i am also using charcoal gray cabinets in the kitchen and want that contrast as well.
as for the herring bone, it looks great in the photos and i believe it doesn't show any of our daily sins! you gotta like that!

eford4houzz Consider the wood grain when you choose your flooring. Oak has a very open grain and dirt and grime gets caught in the grain. A tighter grain such as maple or cherry will be easier to clean - especially if you prefer sweeping over the vacuum. I've had both oak and maple floors in previous homes and it's the maple I miss most. I hope to replace the (fake brick) linoleum floors (yuck) in my current home soon with wood. I'd love to have cherry if the budget allows!

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR Had to share a couple pictures of one of my favorite floors. I love wood that has a lot of variation in the color. This floor is Red Birch and it has beautiful pale birch tones mixed with deeper reds -- one photo of the room and a shot looking down at the floor so you can see it better. Nice post!

ariel One option to consider is colored, transparent stain.

The color is picked up by the grain in the wood and really makes it pop, while being "barely there" on the flat parts of the wood.

I've done this using a dark charcoal stain on red oak floors in my current home.

The house I am currently having built will use a dark peacock blue transparent stain on the reclaimed cypress trim outside.

Before you do this, take pieces of the actual wood you will be using to your paint store/dealer/contractor and experiment with different levels of pigment. You may find you need to add more white or more black to get the look you want than you would have thought.

myhome81 Help, We had new oak floors installed in our Mom's addition and in our new bedroom. We are throwing out all the carpet and having the rest of the oak floors restored. How should we finish them? I've read lots of comments, bit I'm still at a loss at how to finish them. We had the floors in our great room addition and I think the contractor used poly u. I really did not like the look and they really did not hold up well. Of course there could be lots of variables. Also, how often should you refinish? We have 3 large dogs. Any suggestions would be helpful. We live in NJ for idea of weather conditions. Thank you.

seamus ariel, I am about to have a red oak floor sanded. Could you possibly show a photo of your floor with the dark charcoal stain?

donobrien Yes, a very controversial topic.
I love the rich red-brown of Brazilian cherry.

rileysgranny I'd love to have dark floors, but we have a white dog that sheds and lots of dust. I think we will opt for a light (maple?) floor, both for the reflective properties and the lower dust/debris showing properties. I'm with the posters who "don't get" the herringbone floors. They just look too busy for my taste. What I truly wish I could put in is the same floors that Bass Pro Shop has in theirs!

Rebekah Zaveloff This is so great, thanks everyone for the opinions and feedback. Lot's to consider!

mightydeck So what is the contrast supposed to be between with floors? The color of most of the furniture or the wall color?

brysonleague The most beautiful floors I ever had were 100+ year old Douglas fir. But with no idea what your house looks like, it's impossible to advise.

debisue I have white pickled floors about 19 yrs old. Unfortunately, the sealer used then is apparently not avail. now. We tried re-doing the floors in family room when we took out the fireplace and could never get them to look like the orig floors so had to replace w/ pre-finished wood. I LOVE my white floors and if anyone has a sealer that will not yellow, please let me know. We're building a new house and it's probably going to be travertine (cold) and not pickled floors.

Susie Q Design Studio hjh

Susie Q Design Studio ooops! Sorry about that first post. I just installed a cottage grade, 10 inch wide plank, yellow pine floor. I wanted a more medium tone brown but I don't like the yellow in the pine and to hide that, I had to go pretty dark. It is really pretty. I did a ton of research before buying and installing. I was on a very limited budget, so my options were limited. I have one major regret, I hope this helps others in their decision, I really wish I had used Waterlox. I ended up using a water based product from Sherwin Williams. While doing the research, I came across so many opinions and felt like so many people were just being "floor snobs". But, I now see exactly what a person means when she says the products "sits on the surface" of the wood. In certain light I can see very fine surface scratches all over. The dry time was the biggest problem for me. It was going to take seven full days to finish, with Waterlox, because of the layout of our house and the need to live in it at the same time. Knowing what I know now I would have made the sacrifice and lived with the inconvenience. Also, when testing stain color, you must sand your sample pieces as aggressively as you will your floor. My floor turned out even darker that I thought it would because the surface on the floor was such a fresh aggressive sand. (I actually only used 120 grit but the sanding machine just took off so much more that my little piece of sand paper and elbow grease on my sample pieces} Sorry this is so long but I hope it is helpful.

Christina Ebbers Great ideabook! I have some 40-year-old parquet flooring in my condo. It's a bit retro but I've grown to like it. No idea what species of wood it is.

I'm hoping and praying that one day I own a home with a spacious attic that can be converted into a finished room for me to escape to. No pets allowed, and therefore, the dream: painted white floors.

bclowg We moved into our two story house before we could redo the floors, but the carpet had to go. So we painted the subfloor! We chose several different colors so we could get an idea of how the light would be in the rooms when we actually did the floors. Half the rooms have a white painted floor, the rest are dark or medium toned paint. The white floors show every crumb and piece of dirt! Without a very smooth surface, a painted floor is hard to clean. I finally finally chose a floor which we will install this spring - natural strand woven bamboo. While a bit yellower than the maple I wanted at first, the sample boards I have laid out warm up the rooms and give them a golden feel. The grain, while not true, gives more interest to the floor than paint and dirt!

wsckky We have a natural white oak floor which is very classic modern and great to hide dents and dust; but they have aged (yellowed a bit) in 7 yrs so we couldn't match the color when we wanted to extend the wood floor to an adjacent step down family room; Instead we put in Brazilian Cherry. Unfortunately, the cherry shows every dent, dust and dirt and requires a lot more vacuuming :-)

nacapa We have unstained oak and it too has yellowed with time. I find, however, that the natural variation in the wood really, really hides the dirt and dog hair. The mistake I made was putting in birch cabinets which were too close in color to the floor and turned more orange with age but painting them will solve both problems.

mrsben In my humble opinion, I feel that since flooring (next to walls) is the largest area in a given space they should namely go with the character of the home. As occupants and lifetstyles vary, one may also be wiser to consider practicality and durability over personal taste. In other words, researching wood types and finishes will most probably benefit you in the end. Its a process of elimination if you keep these factors in mind.

gabs2much We decided to use cherry in our new remodel. It is gorgeous, but... With two large dogs it requires sweeping almost daily and scratches quite easily as it is one of the softer woods, I like the distressed look so the scratches don't bother me. I hated the look of pre made distressing, it is too obvious and "uniform" for that true distressed look! Had the budget be larger I definitely would have gone with reclaimed. We were going to go with the herringbone pattern but at the site it was clearly too busy for us. We have a large collection of gilt frames. It would have looked too "stuffy" . Something to consider also!

centrd Based on my experience, an oiled finish is the way to go and is what I will put in my next house. I'm currently renting a place with wide plank, oiled floors and you'd never guess 2 big labs live here as well. My last home had handscraped mahogany floors, which were pretty but whatever finish was used, probably some kind of poly, it showed thousands of tiny scratches on the surface when the light hit it right. The poly finish defeated the purpose of the distressed look because the scratches appeared to float on top. These oiled floors are amazing and so easy to repair if something happens; all it takes is a light sanding of the spot and reapplication of the oil/wax mixture and they're good as new. They truly are beautiful and come in a lot of different stain options. Easy to clean, too.

Deb Kapteyn I feel that the herringbone is dated looking and the wood itself will outlast the style. Refinishing a herringbone floor would also be difficult as you need to sand with the grain of the wood.

txazdreamgirl Go with light floors. The floor is your blank canvas for everything in your home. The light wood provides unlimited options for decorating by not locking you into selections that do not conflict with your floor color. If you want a pattern, you could install a light parquet of any size or layout and retain the same flexibility for decorating.

b_sits My husband and I are building a house. I am thinking about white oak flooring, cream color paint for interior doors and dark stain (walnut) for all my trim. I have linen colored kitchen cabinets and a brown/red colored island and a linen colored woodstove. What color should I do for my walls?

kim16 3/4 inch prefinished hardwood (we are thinking light oak or maple) VERSUS sand on-site hardwoods. . . that is the question. We are concerned with the bevel between the pre-finished hardwood (getting dust, food etc between them) and are concerned about the ability to re-finsih or repair the pre-finished floors. Any thoughts?

Love this website. . .thanks.

jannyjg We are planning to replace a cream colored ceramic tile in the kitchen, entry, and long hall. I love the dark wood. Our furnishings, cabinets,etc. are traditional. Problem our island is also dark wood--other cabinets are cream. Can i get away with floors that are just a few shades lighter than the island? (Granite counters are light--typhoon Bordeaux granite. Thanks for help.
This site is fabulous!

jan1810 we have honey oak cabinets in our kitchen, and all the trim in our home, baseboards, doorframes, etc are the same. We want to put a wood floor in our kitchen, but don't know what color to use.....can we do a darker wood than the cabinets and trim for a contrast? What will that look like with the honey oak baseboards? Also replacing the countertop, open to color choices. Lots of cupboards in our kitchen along with a peninsula bar area that is solid wood. Help!

pauli12 I chose Brazialian Cherry. I really wanted the rustic pine but after seeing my floor man's floors and seeing how they wear I went with the cherry. I like the soft satin finish he used.

ssspain I'm look at options to replace our carpet with bamboo flooring, which is dog friendly. I'm having a hard time deciding what color to go with. I personally like dark wood, such as ebony, but our staircase is oak and I dont think the two will mesh well together. I don't want to replace or restain the staircase. I do like the last picture that pauli12 posted, it has a good mix of dark and light wood. Any recommendations for dark woods that go well with oak would be appreciated. Thanks!

hemabankad Hi We are on our way to building our first home . We need some help choosing wood colors for cabinets and floors . For cabinets we have maple wood . For floors its red oak. please suggest what is the best color combination b/n the two.

texielevy What about a strand bamboo? Lots of color options. The natural strand is very light, or if you want something dramatic go with the tiger strand. The janka rating is very high for this type flooring so it's great for kids and dogs. :)

valspratt Not a big fan of the herringbone pattern. Too busy. I have a 14 year old oak floor, medium colour and it has gone through kids, dogs and people and I still love it.

kelownabc I love real wood but the maintenance is horrid. My Nantucket shingle style new beach house has grey exterior Hardishakes to avoid maintenance, and inside is all white walls and trim, open plan and I desperately want 6" wide reclaimed hardwood floors... BUT my climate is super cold in winter and desert in summer creating humidity fluctuations that can shrink the boards. I had small claims court today against my former hardwood installer who caused $50,000 worth of damage to my flooring. I cannot survive another law suit. Four kids, a dog, water and sand plus my climate is going to bite the new hardwood floors. What do you think about Walker Zanger Wood Age Ring Field porcelain tile? Add some radiant heat for warmth... The rooms are huge so I was thinking of a 6x24" herrigbone pattern in the foyer and massive living room, then using the 9x36" tiles in the adjoining kitchen. The flooring could extend throughout the entire first floor as it works well for bathrooms. It could even go onto the porch. Is this going to be way too much of short board, fake flooring?

Neil Miller How do i get a gray ebony with olive caste to it?

Lisa I like the white wash finish flooring. For me it is calming and with white walls there's no contrast, seemless.

leiyuan0086 Hi, how about wood grain ceramic tiles? It's easy to maintain.

Karen Irene i'm personally responding to the wide plank selections, both in the reclaimed and in the unstained white oak. gorgeous!

pauli12 We have Brazilian Cherry which I really love. I am having a major problem with them though and am looking for answers if anyone knows anything about floors please look at this:
http://www.houzz.com/discussions/309247/Please-help--if-you-know-anything
I am desperate for help and no one answered me. They are only one year old and they are beginning to cup.

tewy This is a great idea book. Just come back from a 'home product display' show where we made a nearly final decision on floors. Seriously looking at wide plank white washed engineered European Oak, oiled. After looking at the photos here and reading this thread we are going to go ahead with our choice. Thanks for helping us decide this will be the best choice for our new house and lifestyle.

jdwiseman2002 Any suggestions on color of wood floors for an upstairs gameroom with stained knotty alder cabinets (the stain will be close to a walnut color)? We're building and I'm terrible at this!!!

Kassidy Kawa I love the 8th picture down of the white oak floors.....gray trim on mouldings.....How do they get that white-washed look onto the oak floors? Where can I get white tipped floors like in this photograph? Can I find this in heart pine? Thanks!