Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,000,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
20 Great Examples of Transitions in Flooring
Wood in One Room, Tile or Stone in Another? Here's How to Make Them Work Together
Houzz Contributor. Pangaea Interior Design is an award winning design firm specializing in residential projects including new construction, remodeling and kitchen & bath design. Pangaea's style is characterized by clean lines and uncluttered interiors that are warm, comfortable, inviting and reflect the personal taste and interests of her clients. Call to schedule your initial consultation and you'll be well on the way to the home of your dreams. 503-.816.4394
Houzz Contributor. Pangaea Interior Design is an award winning design firm... More »
One problem my clients ask me about is how to decide where to start and stop flooring when you want to change the material. Especially in open plan homes this can be a real puzzler. Challenges can also arise when you want to replace flooring in part of the home, but aren't ready to put new flooring throughout the entire home. Handle it wrong and your home looks like a patchwork quilt — and not in a good way!
Here are some great examples showing how several designers successfully handled transitions in flooring.
Here are some great examples showing how several designers successfully handled transitions in flooring.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
There isn't always a logical or obvious place to change from one flooring material to the next. Using some imagination can give you interesting results. The inspiration for this ideabook came from this photo. I thought that following the wood's live edge as it undulates created such an interesting look. It reminds me of an ocean wave as it runs up on the sand. An appropriate water theme for a bathroom!
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Entryways are a common area where we find ourselves wanting to change flooring. Stone or tile can stand up to moisture and mud tracked in from outside, but hardwood is still the most popular flooring material for the rest of the house.
This entryway has two logical transition points at the openings to the hallways. The colors in the stone also pick up the tones in the wood which makes the two materials look good right next to each other.
This entryway has two logical transition points at the openings to the hallways. The colors in the stone also pick up the tones in the wood which makes the two materials look good right next to each other.
| In open-plan homes, the entryway may not have any logical starting and stopping point for a flooring change. In this home a tile rectangle large enough for a handful of people to stand on defines the entry area. The tiles form a path leading to the hallway. Hardwood is used for the remaining areas.
A couple of things I like about this example: The darker shade in the diamond pattern is very close to the color of the wood flooring, so they work well next to each other with regard to color. The diamond pattern is also a nice contrast to the linear pattern of the wood. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
In this entryway, stone tiles run right down the middle of the hall with wood on either side, almost like a carpet. I love the tone-on-tone look of the dark espresso color for both materials.
|
by Birdseye Design
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| This designer made a similar decision but reversed the materials, with wood chosen as the walkway and stone leading off into the adjoining rooms. I like that the direction of the wood runs across the hall so it doesn't look like a bowling alley. I also like that the direction of the wood and the stone tiles are perpendicular to each other. |
by Mandy Brown
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
If you want to set the entry floor apart but don't want to use a different material, here's a nice idea. The wood is set in a herringbone pattern in the entry and then switches to a straight pattern at the hallway.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Kitchens are another place where flooring may change. This bright apple green looks spectacular next to the light natural color of the wood. The same wood tones are found in the cabinetry in the kitchen, creating a nice tie-in.
by Planet Fur
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Sometimes you just have to pick a spot and run a line This transition lines up with the wall, but not the island. The white molding covering the line between the wood and the gray kitchen flooring material ties in the color of the island and feels better to me than if the molding had matched either the gray flooring or the wood.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Here stone wraps around the island to protect the floor from kitchen spills during prep work. It continues on past cabinetry and the stairway, creating a durable walkway. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
In this kitchen, stone tiles are laid in the center, but not all the way to the cabinets, with the wood surrounding its perimeter. It gives the effect of an area rug.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
This bathroom combines wood and stone tile by creating a square to contain the splash zone. The wood color matches the exterior of the tub making it feel visually connected.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| The main living areas of an open-plan home can have flooring changes handled in a number of ways as long as they make sense and don't make the room feel chopped up. In this home, there is an angle in the room with carpeting for the living area and stone for the dining area. The stone and carpet being very close in color minimizes the visual impact of the flooring change so the room still flows uninterrupted. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
All wood in one area flows into a wood-and-stone pattern in the living room creating even better flow than if all wood changed to all stone.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Elevation changes are great places to change the flooring and define areas without dividing them. The light wood flooring contrasts sharply with the gray tile, giving clear definition to the two levels. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
These two levels are much closer in color, but the blocks of wood on the upper level create an interesting pattern against the polished concrete.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Even when your level changes are farther apart, you still want to keep in mind how the flooring choices look if they can be seen together. The view from this upper level takes in both floors. |
|
by frankovitchjm
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| It can be tricky to use two kinds of wood flooring in the same house. If they are too similar in grain and color, it can look like an unsuccessful attempt to match them. This home shows a beautiful use of two kinds of wood flooring. They work together beautifully for a few reasons:
1. They are strikingly different in color, yet the lighter flooring has a variety of colors pulling in some of the deep color of the darker wood flooring. 2. They are on different levels, so there is a clear place to stop one and start the other. 3. They define different areas of the home. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
If you want to feature a flooring choice in a small area, keep the surrounding flooring to one material. Here, using the same flooring upstairs and downstairs makes these stair treads stand out.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
One of the reasons these examples are successful is because they have restricted their choices to just two types of flooring within view at any time. Too many types of flooring all seen at the same time makes spaces feel smaller. Letting flooring flow from room to room when possible tends to make a space feel larger.
So, although you don't have to use the same flooring throughout your entire home to make it feel larger, coordinating their look and making good transitions will assure that your flooring flows gracefully from space to space.
More: More Flooring Guides
How to Shop for Ceramic Tile
How to Find the Right Stone Tile
So, although you don't have to use the same flooring throughout your entire home to make it feel larger, coordinating their look and making good transitions will assure that your flooring flows gracefully from space to space.
More: More Flooring Guides
How to Shop for Ceramic Tile
How to Find the Right Stone Tile
Ideabook published on July 29, 2011.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
We are replacing the laminate floors throughout our home in October (I ruined a large section of our current flooring during a Wall Flats fireplace surround installation and now part of the livingroom has concrete floors) and I'm wondering, given the tongue and groove egding of the laminate we are installing, if it would be possible for me to inset a strip of tile or other type of flooring in the entryway length-wise between the laminate planks or if seamless edges, like the gorgeous ones pictured above, only work with real hardwood?
Thanks!
Do you know what type of flooring was used in the seventh photo (the bright apple green floor)? I wonder if it's painted concrete.
Thanks again!
aprilaries -- I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with laminate. If you don't have a flat edge on the laminate, can't it be cut along the edge so that it becomes flat? I would ask your flooring installer. I don't know what the green flooring is. No info on the photo -- but my best guess is something along the line of Marmoleum. I put a question in to the designer, so if they answer, I'll post it.
newmouse -- It is very liquid looking -- but I like my visual of the ocean wave on the sand better ;0)
I'll definitely post pics if we can pull it off.
Next comes engineered floor - It moves less because in essence it is plywood and much less volatile than a solid piece of wood. Then comes Laminate floor which can range all over. It depends on what the manufacturer uses in its makeup. Usually it is more stable then solid but you never know what some people will try to get away with.
In conclusion, how big an area is the hardwood going to be in a straight line from the transition? Which direction is the hardwood laying? What type of flooring is being used? Does the floor have room to move on the opposite side of the hard surface transition? What are the humidity fluctuations in the room and house in general?
Lots to think about...sorry if it is daunting but just make sure that your installer mentions a lot of these items or else he might not know as much as he should under these circumstances.
For more info and to see some neat projects look us up on FB under Aryze Developments.
Good Luck
Thanks so much for your response! I will be visiting your FB page shortly.
Viviennevinyl -- Not sure what the slight height difference in the wood and tile would have to do with moisture?? Click on the photo and go to the architect's profile to see more photos of the entire bathroom "Chenery Residence". Toilet and bidet are in their own area, where this wood is used. The rest of the bathroom is designed as a wet room. I featured another photo of it in my Ideabook about bedrooms and bathrooms all in one room. Very good architect and the floor will be just fine. --- Besides -- if one can afford a bathroom as deluxe as this -- one can afford a housekeeper and let them handle the mopping up ;0)
sfairbanks -- No, sorry. You can click on any photo and it will take you to that designer's profile. There you will see an option at the bottom to ask a question. The designer should be notified via email that there is a question on one of their photos. Some answer & some don't.
sandykb -- #18 with the two kinds of wood certainly is stunning! I loved it too!
The apple green flooring in photo #7 is VCT, or vinyl composition tile. It's a very economical and durable material, and fairly easy to install.
Pangaea, thanks for featuring our project!
J.C. Schmeil, AIA
Principal, Merzbau Design Collective
http://www.partnersflooring.us/
http://plewabuilders.com