Amelia Byrne
After all, once your floor is complete, you don’t want to have to go through the process of refinishing for a VERY long time. Whether it is an old plantation style home in Virginia with the original Heart Pine floors aged to a rich brown patina or a distinctive New York luxury apartment, as shown above, where the design architects from Bromley Caldari Architects chose our White Oak flooring with a custom stain, dark wood floors continue to be a popular choice.
Dark wood flooring works great with a variety of colors and fabrics whether you want a varied color pallet with modern furniture and fabrics, or a mix of soft beige and earth tones with rustic wood furniture, linen, and leather.
Dark floors are a great choice to create a formal look or one that is more rustic and casual. Many people immediately have an image that dark wood flooring equals formal, but that is not always the case. If you have dogs, children, or a generally busy house, you want to expect to see more dirt, dust, and debris on a more regular basis.
The good news is this wear is normally only located on the surface of the finish, not necessarily in the wood. If you do use a dark wood floor, don’t use anything narrower than an 8″ wide board. The wider board will create fewer seams, which will balance out the dark color of the floor.
Light wood floors present many design solutions for your interior. For example, in this home in Southampton, New York, the floor required a coat of stain, paint and a custom sealer to create such a rich white color. You may actually find that with light wood floors it is harder to see the dust and debris — that can be good and bad.
When it comes to maintenance, if you apply the right sealer, the floor should be easy to clean and maintain regardless of spills that might occur or dirt that might get tracked in.
