Timeless wood flooring?

13 years ago

I've noticed that you can date kitchens by the wood cabinets with oak cabinets dating the kitchens from the 80s and the cherry cabinets dating the kitchen from another period.,

Will this be a problem for wood floors too, where wood floors may remain popular but particular wood types and colors will will not and therefore date it?

Is there a timeless wood floor and color, something like the white cabinets in a kitchen?

I might not even get wood floors, but engineered or something like wood that looks like wood. Even if I do that, I'd still want to pick something that will look like that timeless wood flooring.

Featured Answer

User

13 years ago

Wide planks, handscraping, and exotic woods will all date a home to the "late 1990's through the early part of the 2000's" (which we're still in). Domestic hardwoods like maple, oak, hickory, pecan, or even an actual American cherry in a not too wide plank, with close to the natural look type stain on them are the most style versatile, and "timeless" (which really doesn't exist as an absolute).

BTW, engineered wood IS real wood. It's laminate that's the fake wood. If you are on a slab, engineered is your best bet for flooring. And if you get a good quality engineered, and take care of it, you can expect both a long life out of the original finish, and be able to refinish it down the road if need be.

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Comments (7)

millworkman
13 years ago
2 1/4" Natural finish srip red or white oak. Has bee used for 100's of years, about as timeless as I can think of.
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marvelousmarvin
Original Author
13 years ago
How do I know what is 'close to the natural look type stain" for those wood floors?

When I looked up pictures of the different woods, I see a bunch of different colors and stains for each wood.

And, is there any reason why walnut was excluded?
User
13 years ago
Real American walnut is EXPENSIVE, and soft, which is why it's rarely used for flooring except in a luxury home with little traffic. It makes much better furniture than it does flooring.

You might want to take a trip to a lumberyard to see wood in it's natural state. Or, just Google "natural oak", or "natural cherry". Woods without stains are much lighter than stained wood. Maple is very blonde. Cherry is a light pinkish tan. White oak is a light yellow tan. Red oak is a light pink tan.

Wood also changes over time. It darkens and richens naturally. So that is something else to think about. The stain you choose today, will not be the color of the wood in 6 month, in 12 months, in 24 months. So, you also need to look up pictures of mature woods.
marvelousmarvin
Original Author
13 years ago
I think I'll have to go to a lumberyard because when I googled 'natural' oak and 'natural cherry' I still get a wide range of colors and stains.

So, if I understand it correctly, oak cabinets from the 80s are outdated but if that oak was used for flooring, then its okay?

And, why would hand scraping and exotic woods be in danger of getting dated?

Unless there's something wrong with them, I would have thought that the brazilan woods would be new classics for flooring because they're some of the hardest woods out there.
steph2000
13 years ago
I've read some articles that assert that a medium brown wood appeals to a great percentage of tastes and tends to stand the test of time better than light/yellow floors, dark floors or orange/reddish floors. That makes sense to me and is the range I am shooting for myself.
junepo
13 years ago
I am really liking the wide plank floors by Urban Floors. Their Villa Caprisi collection is so beautiful. I am torn between the colors called Calabria (lighter brown) with a slight hint of blue or Verona (closer to cherry wood) or Messina which is a darker brown and very "in" now. I think the darker brown is cool but may be dated soon and it shows all the dirt. So I like the others a bit better, but what's the best bet? Anyone have an opinion? Here's a link to their site with the color choices. Its really nice....IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Floors - Villa Caprisi collection