I believe that american cherry is a little bit soft for floors, so you might want to take that into consideration. I don't think it's impossible for floors, just softer than something like oak.

If your dream is to have painted cabinets then I would go with cherry with a light stain to help even it out a bit on the floors and then painted maple cabinets. Hopefully the construction period will be long enough for it to do most of its aging although if you are planning to use rugs you might have an issue with a lighter spot where the rug was down the line. Maybe you can forgo area rugs for a recommended amount of time, I do think that at some point the color stabilizes. Please don't get cherry cabinets and then paint them later :) I think if the look you want is painted, cherry cabinets and cherry floor is going to be too much. It would be too much for me regardless, but american cherry floors sound absolutely yummy to me.

It all sounds gorgeous. What color would you paint the cabinets? I am expecting something other than white from you ;).

I'm sure the American Cherry will be gorgeous. As long as you know going in that it is soft...it dings very easily. You have to be comfortable with a lot of character marks. That is not something I'd want to be surprised about. I believe sassymnmom has it and it looks gorgeous, she doesn't post here much anymore. I found a post that shows her floors...HTH.

I'm with kgwlisa, if you want painted cabinets, get painted now. It will be a more durable finish and why have to bother with it later? Painted cabinets and the cherry floors should be beautiful. If you do go with stained cabinets, I think the darker cabinets will give a more formal feel...not sure what you are going for in this place.

Do you have an option for quartersawn oak for the floors? That is really nice and doesn't have the big open grain look of oak. It is a little more expensive, but might be something to consider.

Sounds like lots of fun choices to make! Have you sold your FL house?

Here is a link that might be useful: sassymnmom floors

I LOVE the American Cherry Hardwood floors so much. I Love the color, the style of the wood and the overall look in Sassymnmom's dining room. Than you polkadots for sharing since I am consering what color I want my home office floors if I decide to rip out these 17 year old carpets and put in a hardwood floor.

But I wonder if Cherry Wood would not be good for a home office if it dings easily and I have a lot fo visitors? I really love the color and it would match my desk and credenza.

My neighbors have a darker wood stained cherry kitchen cabinets and I just love their kitchen so much. They just installed hardwood floors in their home and it is gorgeous.

We have cherry floors and we love them.

We had to have them refinished when we moved in, because the PO's made a mess of them.

But now they are gorgeous.

Don't try to stain cherry. It's a very "open" grained wood, like pine, and any stain will make the wood look damaged. We experimented with stains when we had ours refinished, and every stain we tried looked AWFUL.

So we opted for natural, and it's lovely.

We get loads of compliments.

I absolutely love cherry wood, and all of the good furniture we've been upgrading to over the years has all been cherry, but we just couldn't do it for the floors. It just dings too easily but no other wood compares....until we found amendoim. It is very similar looking to cherry but substantially harder. Most flooring stores that deal with exotic woods have them, but so does Lowe's. The one by us has a sample board on display. You can get it in 3" wide solid strip or 5 1/2" engineered forms.

Here is a link that might be useful: BR-111's amendoim site

We went with brazillian cherry for our floors and american cherry for our cabinets. The cabinets are stained a darker, brown, with a little red tone. They go together, but are not close to being matchy match. I thought of paitned cabinets too and dh was so against it. We compromised and are doing a cream, painted island. The walls are a yellow/gold color. I must say it is more beautiful than I even visioned. It all looks wonderful together and the complimetns have been pouring in:)

Thank you my friends! Yesterday turned out to be a carpy day for me...issues with buyers here, problem with contract on new house, and something else I can't remember now...oh yeah, the floors! I swear I got repeat stress trauma in my arm from clicking through the finished kitchens blog! So, I was happy to read the supportive posts here this morning.

Lisa, I was thinking of a grayed down bluish green. Or even a greened up gray. At one point, I was considering painting just the island and the color that works best with the tiles I am leaning toward is F&B's Breakfast Room Green. I have a hunch it would be a bit much for the whole kitchen though (even for me!) Btw, how are you feeling? It is soon yet?

Polkadots, thanks for the link. I had seen sassy's floors and e-mailed her a few days ago. But that particular shot you linked offers a great view of those floors. Wow! We do have a buyer for the house. (happy dance!) They are very excited and we are very relieved. There are still details to iron out which involve going back to our GC of three years ago for answers and remedies, something I really dread. Thanks for asking.

Lynn, we had to make a decision for an office/guest room too, on the second floor though, so we wanted carpet. I decided on "bank-grade" carpeting. I have bamboo floors now and they ding up really badly. I would be worried about the chair wheels on the floor. If you can do the Braz. Cherry, it is much harder and would probably be better. I am not allowed to use tropical woods for anything and since we are going for LEED Certification, we are using only local wood for the kitchen cabs and floors.

Mclarke, glad to hear you love your floors. How long have they been in? Are they showing wear? Do you have kids, pets, etc? The worst place on my bamboo floors is where the counter stools are. In the new house, we're going to get a long view of that spot....wondering if I shouldn't just do Marmoleum in the kitchen and wood everywhere else...

Straw Bale, I don't have the option to go with an exotic, as I mentioned above. It is amazing what one can find at Lowe's these days...

Momto4, I am glad to hear you don't think it's too much cherry. Do you have any pictures? I am also thinking of yellow walls...I have EK Mustard Seed now in my kitchen and would love to use it again. It is such a wonderful, happy color! Of course, the light in the new kitchen will be quite different...so all the "rules" will have to change! Lots of fun!

I'm here! I did get your email Amy, just haven't got around to responding!

About our floors:

They are beautiful. They are not stained, and direct sun has deepened them to a richness that I adore. They are very soft. We have three boys (7,5 &4) and a new puppy. I also tend to wear shoes in the house and our entire first level is rustic cherry. They will get dinged up, a fingernail could dent them. That said, the scrathes and dings do not look as bad as scratches and dings in maple or oak floors. The raw wood 'darkens' and becomes part of the character of the floor.

You have to know your own comfort level with this. If you are sick at the thought of scratches, move on. It you are mellow about it and accept it as an inevitable patina...you'll be ok. Our floor is rustic and has a lot of color variation and all the dings and scratches play into the rusticness. I can tell you that visitors gasp when they see our floors, and only notice the beauty, not the flaws. To me, the flaws are part of it's beauty too. We are going for a casual worn farmhouse look...so it works.

Hope this helps!

Amy asked: "Mclarke, glad to hear you love your floors. How long have they been in? Are they showing wear? Do you have kids, pets, etc?"

One kid. (Two, if you count DW, lol.) One cat. We don't have a hard rule about "no shoes in the house", but I try to encourage a "sock and barefoot" atmosphere.

The floors are ten years old, same as the house. We had them refinished two years ago. The PO's were pigs about their floors; it had to be done.

We had them refinished naturally, no stain, with a high-gloss oil-based finish. I love shiny floors. They do show scratches if you look reeeeealll hard, but as our floor refinisher told us, it's a floor, not a piece of furniture.

And I figure, if people come into my house and notice the scratches on my floor, I'm doing something else wrong...

We were warned that the wood would darken with exposure to light, which has happened. After two years, you can lift a rug and see a line. But that's the nature of cherry; no way round that. We lift the rugs when we go on vacation; it helps a little. You can also get a UV blocking varnish, but we didn't do that -- maybe because it didn't come in high-gloss? I don't recall.

We were also told that you can get special film on your windows to block the UV rays, and it will help, but not prevent, the darkening of the floors. We priced this and decided not to do it.

The color of the floors will definitely influence the colors that look good on your walls.

Oh, and our floors are Brazilian, not American cherry. Is there a big difference?

Someone on one of the other posts about cherry wood floors had mentioned that Brazilian Cherry is a harder wood than American Cherry. Both cherry woods are gorgeous to me.
-------------------------------
Brazilian Cherry Wood's Appearance

Jatoba's natural reddish brown color and superior hardness has made it a favorite for all applications. Featuring distinctive and varied grain patterns, coupled with a litany of colorful hues, Jatoba matures to a beautiful, rich mosaic.

Color Change

A photosensitive wood, Jatoba's original color darkens to a deep red with exposure to light. Color stabilizes approximately three months after installation.

-----------------------
Brazilian Cherry Wood:
---------------------------------
American Cherry Wood's Appearance:

Featuring a finely textured and tight grain pattern, American CherryÂs light brown color is accented with hues of pink. A long time favorite for fine furniture and cabinetry, American Cherry is an equally exquisite hardwood flooring material.

Color Change

A photosensitive wood, American CherryÂs original color darkens with exposure to light. Color stabilizes approximately three months after installation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Site that has both Cherry Woods and a discussion on them & pictures

http://www.br111.com/woodspecies.html

Flooring Trade Name
Timber Trade Name
Origin
Description
*Hardness
Amendoim
Ybyraro
South America
Reddish brown with wavy grain pattern
1,912
Angelim
Angelim Pedra
South America
Amber highlights with interlocking grain pattern
3,040
Angico
Vermelho
South America
Random graining with dark brown to blonde color
2,820
Brazilian Cherry
Jatoba
South America
Tan to reddish brown with black streaking
2,820
Brazilian Hickory
Guaiuvira
South America
Distinctive graining with dark brown to black hues
3,540
Brazilian Maple
Pau Marfim/Guatambu
South America
Clear grain, nearly white
1,500
Brazilian Teak
Cumaru
South America
Golden tan to darker brown
3,540
Brazilian Walnut
Ipe
South America
Varied browns to almost black
3,680
Macchiato Pecan
Guarapuvira
South America
Tan to dark brown color with unique graining
3,540
Santos Mahogany
Incensio/Cabriuva
South America
Dark reddish brown
2,320
Tiete Chestnut
Sucupira
South America
Tan to reddish brown
3,540
Tiete Rosewood
Madeira Nova
South America
Rich rose color with fine graining
3,280
Tigerwood
Muiracatiara
South America
Bold black striping accents reddish brown hues
2,160

...
...
Janka Hardness Rating Comparison

Below is a hardness comparison between Indusparquet® flooring and several common domestic species. All data is provided by the U.S. Forestry Lab, per the official Janka Hardness system. Janka Hardness represents the pounds of pressure required to embed a 0.444" diameter steel ball one half of its diameter into the wood.

All BR-111Â 5/16" Engineered products feature a cross grained construction that results in a Janka Hardness Rating equal to that of Northern Red Oak.

Here is a link that might be useful: Various hardness ratings of wood species - but missing American Cherry

The color stabilizes three months after installation?

I wish I had known that.

I would have kept my area rugs elsewhere for three months.

I just visited an open house in my neighborhood with the most beautiful Brazilian Hardwood floors that I was told was engineered wood with a pad on top of the concrete floor to be a floating floor. I really liked the feel of the floor when I was walking on it. They bought the flooring at Home Depot that installed it for them they told me. Their home was so beautiful with the identical unit as my townhouse but they have a marble fireplace, ceiling fans, updated fixtures in the kitchen and bathrooms, new vanities in the bathrooms, new flooring in all rooms including he kitchen and new kitchen cabinets and new counters.

I just love Cherry flooring and the Brazilian Cherry and Cherry hardwood floors to me are so beautiful like my office desk from the House of Norway that I bought 13 years ago.

I am still not sure what I am going to do about my 17 year old wall-to-wall beige carpet in my home office two rooms that I am tired of steam cleaning several times a year so I can breath. I wonder if I put a floor mat on top would my chair with wheels not ruin the hardwood floors? The chairs my clients sit on have no wheels but I may then need to put a floor matt under them also? I guess this is my concern and my concern about my little dogs ruining them if they accidentally pee on them.

But I really would like hardwood flooring in my downstairs due to my allergies and my equipment getting so dusty that my CPU is always filled with dust and not dog hair since my "furkidz" do not shed.

I wonder if I would have any problems with an engineered floor since I have cement under the carpet in my townhouse and have no basement underneath me so may not be able to do solid wood? I was even thinking of a Bamboo Floor stained a cherry color that is floating.

My SIL has the most beautiful Cherry floors and they look a lot like Sassymnmom's floors. I was commenting the other day to my SIL how much I love her floors and wish I had that instead of my Oak. She said if she had it to do over again she'd get something lighter because they show every crumb and dust. For those floors I could live with it!! :)

We have engineered wood floors.....no micro beveled edges on our floor. They do exists you just have to look harder.

Hi Amy, I love that you're moving to a green community and using local materials :). I'm guessing that whatever finish you use needs to be low or no-VOC (?) - does that rule out staining?

I have maple floors that are stained very dark - the colour is usually called either chocolate or walnut, depending on which company you look at (our floors are pre-finished). They are not quite as dark as the "espresso" stain.

Just another option in case you want something with less red in it than cherry.

gwendolynne, I just love your stained maple floors. I love the look of maple wood. I am looking for flooring that can be installed on my first floor that has a cement floor after I remove the rug and padding. I need a floor that has no VOCs or extremely low voc due to my allergies. My rug in my office is beige and I just had it steamed cleaned a few weeks ago and it is looking so dirty again and bothering my allergies and affecting my my computer's CPU (that sits on a anti-static mat on the floor under my desk that is on my wall-to-wall 17 year old carpet) that is always filled with dust now and I have to keep opening it to vaccuum it out.

What color are your walls? I am going to show my friend a picture of your room since he is looking to go with dark hardwood floors and dark furniture with light walls. My neighbors just put in dark hardwood flooring that is stunning and so rich looking like your floor. Thanks for sharing.

Amy, sorry I don't know enough to comment on your question.

Lynn, rubber casters can be put on chairs to prevent scratching of floors. We installed a premium grade of Pergo laminate and the floor company provided casters for our office chairs. We've had the floors for a couple of years and no problem.

Thanks Lynne! I love my floors, but the one caveat about dark floors is that you have to be either completely obsessive about dust (and cat hair, in my case) or just let go and be very zen about the fact that you can see every speck of it. I prefer the latter :).

The second picture I posted shows the three paint colours we used on our main floor, the living room is Farrow & Ball Farrow's Cream (the other two are Picture Gallery Red and Light Blue). Hope that helps!

Gwendolynne's floors look really pretty! I will second what she said about showing specks though. I have Brazilian Cherry floors and they show EVERY piece of lint, dust and even smudges from feet. I don't know if I would have such a dark floor again. Or, if I did, I'd make sure it was a very matte finish.

I am considering BC floors with a water based finish. Is there another exotic wood that will not change color so drastically but still has the reddish brown hues. I would love to have American cherry cabinets with a natural matt finish with BC floors.

gwendolynne, Thanks for letting me know that darker floors show up the dust more often. My shiny black Toshiba TV shows so much dust on it as my shiny black HP Monitor does. At first I was a fanatic about cleaning them so many times a day and now it no longer bothers me. :)

I like the Farrow & Ball Farrow's Cream on your walls.

Thanks Cind11 for letting me know that Brazilian Cherry floors also show every piece of lint, dust and smudges to help me in my decision.

We also agonized over a hardwood flooring choice. We ended up picking maple hardwood floors with a natural finish. We chose the second grade variety, as it has more character and color. Yes, it is lighter than most hardwoods, however, the benefits include:

*It doesn't show dirt or dust. We have two boys and a cat, and it always looks so clean.
*The light color is extremely versatile. We have a black painted, distressed, island in the kitchen, deep colors on the walls, creamy trim and cabinetry, and a medium stained dining table. It all works so well together. I think this flooring could be a great contrast for darker cabinets as well.
*Maple floors are very hard. They do not scratch or dent easily at all.
*The lighter color keeps the rooms feeling open and bright, allowing dark colors to be used in other places.
*Our floors were site finished, so there are no bevels.

Here's a picture of our kitchen with the maple flooring:

Anyway, we hadn't initially thought of maple for our flooring, but now that we have it, we really like it. So, I just wanted to add it as another possibility for you.

Jan

Jan, Thank you so much for the pictures of your gorgeous Maple wood floors. Now I am thinking Maple Hardwood floors would look wonderful in my home and keep the light feeling I have and go well with my cherry wood desk and the black chairs and others colors in my office. I really love your kitchen. I still love the Cherry floors but maybe I am better off with floor that is very hard and will be easy to keep looking clean.

What finish is on your Maple floors (semi-gloss or satin or gloss?)? IS teh floors natural with no stain on top? I really love it so much.

Lynn, the floors are a satin type finish, not super shiny. I think that also helps with keeping them looking clean. There is no stain at all on them, as maple does not take a stain very well, however, the variation in the second grade does add some interest/contrasting color. The finish is a high traffic, water-based coat that will not age (turn deeper yellow/orange) in the future, as many oil-based top coats do.

Sometimes I think about how a darker hardwood would look, but all I have to do is remind myself of the fanatical cleaning it would require, and I snap myself back out of it. With this floor, it always looks so nice and clean, and as a working mom, I really appreciate that.

Another nice thing about the natural maple flooring is that it's very versatile with wall color. It looks great with a lot of different colors.

Jan

Ooooh, I smile every time I see Jan's kitchen! I have darker wood floors because I choose so many other elements that don't match and have such a busy granite that I wanted some continuity with my cabs.

I couldn't believe how much dust shows on them. When I am done vacuuming I have to wait til the sun is shining to see where I missed and then start all over. Maple is beautiful, hard and I can't see you going wrong with it.

Hi all,

Well my selections were made in mid-April and we went with the natural, unstained cherry. Gwendolynne, we were told that maple would be tricky to stain. Yours look great! I think maple would have been a better choice for us regarding durability...I expect the cherry to develop a lot of patina.

We could have had the cherry stained, but I decided to save a bit of money and go for stained kitchen cabs (lowers only) instead for the contrast. Though I love the look of dark floors, I was worried about dust and dirt showing and from subsequent posts here, it looks like that would be a problem. I am not a neat freak and love to swiffer-ize my floors. But, everything about this house is about making life easier, lower maintenance, etc.

As for the green finish, I know stain was an option, tough I don't know what they would have used. The top coat will be Hilliard's Gym Finish in a semi-gloss, I believe.

Luckily, I feel "red is a neutral" so hopefully the cherry will be easier to deal with than the yellow bamboo has been here.

Jan, your kitchen is really gorgeous! What color is that paint? Yum!

Jan, Thank you for letting me know about the finish being a water based satin finish and that the color is natural which I really love especially with the variations in the light colors and how the floor really goes so well with all the colors in the room. I also like things that are easy in life for me so despite the cherry being so beautiful, I am thinking the beautiful Maple Wood floor in the second grade may be what I need. Both floors are stunning to me. In fact so far I have loved most hardwood floors I have seen.

My Dh knows I want Jan's floors! He suspects I want the whole kitchen too. ;)

Susan

Amy, I'm sure the natural cherry will look great with the cabinets. I really love the patina of wood over time, so I think it's something you can embrace. It adds character and depth. Our kitchen paint color is SW Flower Pot.

Lynn, we're very happy with the floor in terms of how it's easy to clean and holding up to kid and pet traffic. Like you, I love most hardwoods. I don't think a person can ever go wrong with hardwood flooring. It's classic.

Jan

Oops, I didn't realize when I first replied to this that it was an old post. I'm sure your natural cherry floors are going to be gorgeous, Amy. When is the house due to be finished?

It's funny, it's only since I've been on GW that I've heard that maple is hard to stain - a huge majority of the flooring around here is either maple or birch, since they are both abundant local woods. Both come in a huge variety of colours, from pale and natural to dark espresso (even darker than my chocolate floors). I don't know if pre-finished vs. site finished makes a difference...? Then again, the unfinished furniture stores here also sell a ton of maple, so it can't be THAT hard to stain, can it?

Mpwdmom - I'm right there with you on wanting Jan's kitchen - it's wayyyyy up there on my list of favourites!

Finally found the post with Jan's Maple Floors. This time I saved it. I am still deciding and after my busy season, I will have to make a decision. Any more posts of Maple floors or Cherry Flooring or other pretty flooring?