Flooring - light or dark?

13 years ago

Trying to finalize flooring choice in our new house. Have decided on Armstrong's alterna tile in Mesa stone chocolate. But for main floor color am liking both Armstrong's desert tan maple and rugged khaki. The darker one is made to look hand scraped etc and has nice texture. The maple is smoother and is a commercial grade laminate that is $1/foot cheaper. Go figure. Neither one feels like laminate underfoot. Decided on laminate over hardwood because of our climate (northern Saskatchewan) because I have small children who aren't easy on anything and we live on a farm.
The house has lots of natural light and even the basement windows are 3' high. My husband says "whatever you want" and I'm stumped. So? Any thoughts? The picture does not accurately reflect the color. It all looks much more red in the pictures. They're both lovely colors. Just need to decide light or dark?

Featured Answer

Mark

13 years ago

I find dark wood floors more aesthetically pleasing then very light woods floors. That being said keep in mind with your small children scuffs and scratches will show up a mile away as well as dust where light wood floors will be much more forgiving in that regard, so it's something to keep in mind when choosing you flooring. Good luck !

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Comments (11)

Kate
13 years ago
Tough choice. Both would work. The dark may show more scratches, while the light may show more scuffs marks. What kind of a style or look are you going for with the home and furnishings?
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Dytecture
13 years ago
Darker color gives a more sohpiscated look IMO.
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Connie
13 years ago
I like the light personally
smr_369
13 years ago
My friend has dark wooden flooring which looks beautiful when it's just been cleaned but she says it was a mistake because it shows up every mark, dust, smudge and sticky fingerprints from her young children! So I suppose it depends how much you enjoy cleaning!
indianpatti
13 years ago
I have dark, handscraped in my house and I love it! With all the natural light ... I would go with the dark.
lisapozzo
13 years ago
If you have any pet that sheds, go with the color that is closest to the pets hair color. We have light floors and a golden retriever, still see hair, but not as bad as when he visits my sons condo with dark floors. Just a thought....
Chrissie Chimero
13 years ago
light colors hide more messes if you don't have the time to clean up on a normal schedule, we have dark wood floors and scratches are easy to see and has to be cleaned weekly to get all the visible dirt and grim up. hope this helps! ^_^
Carolyn taylor
13 years ago
If you have pets and want the dark rich look I would go with Wood look porcelain tile. No fuss no muss. Virtually indestructible
caymanbaby29
Original Author
13 years ago
Wow! Thanks for your thoughts. We have animals but they all live outside so that shouldn't be an issue. No horses in the house! lol
A girlfriend of mine has light colored floors and I always think her house looks so bright. I must say I'm leaning towards the light one - gives more options for cabinet colors in the kitchen and your walls and furniture could really be any color or style. We still have to buy the dining room set and coffee/end tables and the only furniture we have is a set of dark brown leather couches and an oak cabinet in a craftsman style.
The cleaning issue is a big one. So thanks for pointing that out. And the light one is commercial grade and MUCH tougher - and less expensive. So does that mean the decision is made?!
Thansk Houzz-ers. If thats what we're called. lol
Jayme H.
13 years ago
@caymanbaby29. We have a very active home...with pergo, light colored laminate..ours has a little more color variation than your light choice. We have had VERY good luck with it...It was here when we moved in and it has worn like IRON for the past 7 years. The light color is good for us with kids and animals..I fear to think what dark would look like around here...I think it would show more things on it...Good luck:)