Your choice is too pink for the fireplace.

Judy, thanks for replying but I have no choices yet! The planks in the picture were decided against. I'm just wondering if i should be looking for high variable planks, or more solid flooring

I’d go for a more solid colored look. Your fireplace is pretty!

I agree with the suggestion of a more solid look. The fireplace is very pretty and just the right amount a variation to be interesting but not busy. I would not add a busy floor to the mix.

I would do a very muted, simple flooring. Do you really want vinyl? Hardwood would look beautiful in your room and is more consistent looking. Vinyl made to look like wood can look very fake.

Hi Diana, thanks for your advice. I have had hardwood floors before and don't want the maintenance. Should i pick a color from the brick to match, or try to match the woodwork?

Depends on what you plan to do with the orange wainscot. I would match flooring to the darkest brick in the FP, but unless you plan to change the wainscot, it will be tricky to find the right fit.

The wainscot will be staying; that matches my kitchen cabinets which this room opens up to. And i agree that its tricky!! I will try to post a pic of my kitchen for reference

Choose a very neutral color without a lot of variation. With such gold wood on your wainscoting and kitchen, I would look for warm colors that are a lighter tone than that wood. Look at the lighter tones in your brick. You will likely need to paint your walls afterward, so I would not include the wall color in your considerations.

Agree with above comments regarding a neutral, solid floor with the brick. We have a large brick fireplace in our family room. I love it but it can be more challenging when considering other choices for the room.

I love my vinyl plank but IMO to mix that with real wood panelling not so much and certainly not in another color of “wood” but certainly if you must keep it very simple

The wood paneling is the determining factor, not the brick. I'm sorry but as long as you have the paneling left in the orange colour, you will be limited to flooring that is a beautiful match.

As soon as you change the paneling (or paint it out) you are welcome to have WHATEVER floor you want. Your brick is subtle. It has many many colours which you can work with. The brick is a great place to start a colour change.

Except...the orange paneling prevents you from using anything but yellow/orange tones. Before you look at floors, go ahead and prime the walls white. Get rid of as much 'colour' in your space as possible. You can leave the carpet in place while you paint. Once the walls are white, you can then have another look at yellow/orange toned floors.

If you are determined NOT to have yellow/orange, then you better change out the wood colour paneling. A clash of woods is never a happy thing to do. You will try to change EVERYTHING ELSE, costing them thousands of dollars, while leaving the 'problem items' in place.

It is easier/simpler/cheaper to change the ONE THING that is preventing you from having your ideal floor = the paneling.

Wow! Thank you all for such great advice. You've given me alot to think about--things i would have never thought of, like painting. Here is the picture of my kitchen that opens to the room with the fireplace. You can see i have that wainscot color all over my house.

family room floor · More Info

family room floor · More Info

curious, why are wood floors more work than vinyl? don't both get vacuumed and mopped( or swiffer, or whatever?)

with all the wood in your home (wainscot, doors, molding, cabinets) putting in a fake-wood vinyl is going to look mismatched. and ditto what was mentioned about the yellow tones. forget any of the trendy gray tones.

what you could try, and what might look OK, (I still say engineered wood flooring is your best bet both for longevity and resale) is this CoreTec stuff. No where near as busy looking as the samples you brought home. and the color would blend better w/your decor.

Norwegian Maple. or look at the other options that fit your coloring.

Hi Beth, with wood i was thinking more along the lines of sanding to refresh the wear and tear, and they are not waterproof like the Coretec is. Thanks so much for the pics!! Are you saying the top picture is the Norwegian Maple? Can i do mixed woods (pine and maple) and just make sure its in the same color family?

you'd have to bring home samples. top pic is the norwegian

as for waterproof, um, do you need waterproof floors? an occasional water spill or wet feet isn't going to hurt wood.

vinyl doesn't last like wood does.

A question about your wainscotting. Is that orange-toned wood below the chair rail, or some other material?

I don't even think vinyl is that waterproof? (unless what you really mean is pet urine. then yeah-- get vinyl.) njmomma's suggestion of the "slate" vinyl is gorgeous! I vote for that.

we have laminate "wood" floors in our basement living room. even though it's somewhat quality, I still personally think it looks fake next to the real wood furniture. as for maintenance: I've lightly scratched it a few times and it's noticeable. the scratches happened from random little things that I didn't think would be a problem -- such as dragging a rubbermaid bin that had a bit of gritty dirt under it.

hardwood seems like equal amount of maintenance -- with the exception that you can't clean it with harsh chemicals. even our kitchen has old hardwood floors from the 50s, and they look fine. you just need to be sure not to let water stand on it for a crazy long time.

Partim, my wainscot is pine.

nj, thanks but for the suggestion--and it is beautiful!- but slate is not for me. i want something warmer!! Maybe i should just stick with carpeting! This is so hard!!

Would it be a mistake to put pine flooring in? Sort of match the wainscot?

You could always add an area rug! :-)

lynn,,,slate is warm. Or rather, it maintains the room temperature of whatever the house is. It doesn't get cold like a marble or granite would. I had a slate floor in my home for 14 years. I really loved it.

I'll also add, if you live in an area that's very cold, you could always do radiant heating under the tiles. I can't even imagine because i'm always hot and would love to walk on icy cold tiles! even in the winter.