Eight Of The Best Hardwood Fooring Trends
In the recent years, trending is the natural look and uncovering the wood’s true beauty hidden in its grains and textures. Imperfections are not something to be hidden, on the contrary, they are a symbol of uniqueness and character. Richer, deeper, darker tones are also desirable because they speak of style and at the same time bring certain warmth. Lastly, there is the search for wider planks because they open up the interior and give the impression of a larger space even in relatively small rooms.
Longer, Wide and Wider Planks
Five, six or even seven-inch planks are getting increasingly popular. Such planks can make narrow places seem a bit wider and more spacious. They are the perfect choice for pretty much any part of the home, especially bedrooms. With the increase in width comes an increase in length going as far as 6 feet. While wider planks are received quite well there is still a market for the old, narrower versions. The manufacturers produce planks as big as ten to twelve inches.
Grey Is Still Trendy
Grey stains have also become very fashionable in recent years and the trend has yet to go into decline. Hailed as the perfect neutral colour, grey can fit almost everywhere and complement almost any surrounding. What makes it so sought after is the fact it can highlight the grain and texture of the wood which makes the whole room more intricate and visually appealing.
White Washed Floors
In the past, whitewashed floors have been really popular but it was in recent years that this particular style resurfaced again. The technique used for the creation of whitewashed floors was also known as lime-washed because it involved the mixing of lime and water. In the present, we use similar but more advanced methods to make the wood look aged and grant it a particular coastal, beach-like look.
From Dark to Darker
Black can never be outdated and if you want to make a strong impression then ebony or dark brown are the tints of choice. People want to push as far as possible and warm Jacobean or dark Walnut are no longer dark enough.
The customers are no longer limited to certain shades of brown and the darker the colour, the bolder the design and stronger the overall impact. Oak hardwood stained with ebony is a perfect option if you are willing to pair it with lavish furnishing and simple interior colour choices to mitigate the effect.
Less Gloss is Better
The glossier a finish is the more it highlights any flaws in the wood. As you can imagine, any floor that is in less than absolutely perfect condition will actually look worse with such a finish because every imperfection will become very noticeable. For this reason, the customers have turned to low-gloss finishes, which will actually help hide any defects, including dust and dirt build-up. Right now satin is the most popular option followed by matte since they also offer more natural look compared to gloss and semi-gloss.
Reclaimed Wood
The advantages of reclaimed wooden floors are many. They are cut from more mature trees which make them less inclined to split. Unlike most modern floors made from younger and accordingly more fragile timber. Also, the species used to make reclaimed flooring can be hard to find today for environmental reasons which only adds to their value. And if this isn’t enough of a reason already reclaimed floors have endured constant contraction and expanding during their life span which increases their durability even more. If you compare a reclaimed piece of wood to a completely new one the vintage will be tougher.
But reclaimed floors have one distinct advantage over anything else. They actually have character and personality. They have their own history and the fact that they have been used before only speaks well of their high quality. The best part is, this has been achieved naturally without artificially ageing the wood in order to imitate certain kind of look.
Wire-Brushed Floor
Wire-brushing is a technique used to scrape the top hardwood layer of a floor before applying a finish. The big advantage here is the fact that a wire-brushed surface is much less likely to scratch because the soft layer on top is gone. This makes the floor tougher, more resistant to damage and exposes highlights the wood’s grain and texture. If the floor actually gets scratched, for example by pets, the damage won’t be very noticeable.
Modern Vintage
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery they say. The trend here is to have the floor look aged and distressed in order to mimic the look of reclaimed flooring. To achieve a better effect, the planks are usually wider with a low gloss finish. This style values natural graining and colour variation by highlighting the wood’s imperfection and unique character.