Wood Floor Design Basics

Wood floor design should always be appropriate for the space. Designers and decorators make this decision-making look easy.

Number 1
Floor design should always be appropriate for the space.

What is the feel of the room? A lodge floor is very different from an art gallery, for example. Should a foyer inlay be considered when a big thirsty area rug is going to cover it? And for that matter, you may like the idea of a frame or border, but, in the end, will your furnishings hide most of it? Do you really want beveled edges for a kitchen wood floor that feel grimy all the time?

Number 2
Less is more.

A clever floor is like clever people, often, too cute for the room. I confess this is probably just the Swede in me, but why does a floor have to draw attention to itself? People who want to make their floor a conversation piece are probably even more boring at parties than I am.

Number 3
Consider geometry.

Install wood floor borders in symmetrical rooms. Symmetry begs for a frame. For an a-symmetrical room, consider a full pattern, wall-to-wall. Run strip flooring in the same direction of your longest walls, if possible.

Number 4
Work with nature, not against it.

If you want a dark floor color, consider a dark wood. If you know you want an oak floor, would that be White or Red? And if Red, would that be from the Adirondacks, Appalachian, or the Ozark mountains? If your cabinets are Birch, and you want a Birch floor, your eye may not be prepared for all the color variety in your floor that is not in cabinet grade Birch. The same can be said for Cherry.

Number 5
Never consider a wood floor that breaks with any of the longest life guidelines of The Wood Floor Conservancy.

One Way to Add On with Clever Design

Then...

...and finally, the payoff! A thousand dollars saved, or so, just by NOT having to resand the existing floor in the foreground, which leads to a hall and a formal living room.

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