Love the idea of a wood floor, but aren’t sure about how to show it off in a manner that helps brighten and bring to life your space? Everything from dark wood flooring designs to lighter stained options are highlighted here in order for you to visualize what that might look like for your areas.
Whether you want to take advantage of it in your bedroom, living areas, or other spaces in your house, we’ve got you covered.
1. Chevron Style
Patterned wood planks are a great way to add texture and movement to your spaces, and work well in both large and small areas. Consider a uniform stain, or even alternating stained hues to create the effect you desire. This chevron design is just one of many popular ways to break from traditional wood flooring plans.
2. Warm Stains
Rich, warm stains that offer reddish and orange hues behind deeper browns is the perfect choice for rooms that open to natural lighting and showcase bright linens and furniture. It also is a great way to incorporate pops of details through the use of frames and table tops in the same stained hues.
3. Laminate Planking
If a natural wood floor is out of your budget, but you still don’t want to give up your vision of the crisp lines and warmth of wood’s natural effect, consider laminate. Available in a range of prices, even the most budget friendly offers an incredibly realistic look for just a fraction of the cost of the real thing. Plus, it is easy to DIY install!
4. Reclaimed Woods
Reclaiming pallets and old barn wood is a great way to save money as well when you need raw materials but can’t afford new ones. You may have to spend some time finding the perfect pieces, and will have to resurface for uniformity, but the effort is well worth it when you get such amazing results.
5. Wide Planking
Break free from the assumption that wood flooring has to be made from the standard 4 inch planks. Wide planking of 12 or more inches makes for a beautiful alternative and can truly highlight the twists, twirls, and patterns of the wood grain. This makes for a much more interesting, and unique flooring that picks up the stains you use for added interest.
6. Long Planking
Just like extra wide planks, long planks can bring an unexpected pop of interest and truly unique look to your spaces. Obviously you need the square footage and long rooms to truly bring this to life, but what you will be left with is an awesome, one of a kind look that will never be replicated.
7. Herringbone Patterns
Just like chevron, the herringbone pattern alternates planks to provide texture and movement. Made with different lengths of wood, the overlapping pattern provides a classic look that helps highlight natural wood grain, and can be customized with your choice of stain, or multiple stains for added detail and interest.
8. Dark Details
Avoid painting your wooden floors, even if you want them dark. Instead, look for a rich, dark stain that helps even out the inconsistencies wood grain creates and provide multiple layers to enhance the overall look. What you will have left is a more uniform color, with slight variations of the grain textures hinted at.
9. Resurface Beauty
When you uncover the old, uneven flooring of your home, don’t despair at how rough and unfinished it looks. Even the oldest and most neglected wood flooring can be brought back to life with the proper care. Smooth, finish, stain, and seal for a truly cool looking flooring that fits right in no matter what your decor is – contemporary or rustic!
10. Richly Hued
Cherry wood has long been in demand for furniture and flooring due to the dark, rich reddish hues it provides. Luckily, you can recreate this look much more inexpensively using specialized stains. Just be sure to use woods that soak in and show off the stains you are using to get the full effect!
11. Stark Contrasts
The start contrast of white shiplap on the ceilings or walls in comparison to a dark stained wood floor creates a rustic, textured look that you can take advantage of in any space in your home. Pair with simple, clean lines in your furniture choices, and light colored fabrics and decor to really make the details pop.
12. Ombre Effects
Use the wood details of your window framing, decorative touches, and furniture serve as a source of ombre effect from ceiling to floor when you use darkened to lighter wood hues through a room. This example provides the perfect illustration of how to make this work with the details brought down from the windows and through picture frames.
13. Going Up!
Who said flooring had to stay on the floor?! Highlight walls don’t just have to provide a pop of color to a room, they can be textured as well – such as with wooden floor planking. This awesome option serves as a stand alone when it comes to detail as the movement of the wood grains brings the room to life. Pair with tiled flooring, or bright accent rugs to really take advantage of the look.
14. Textured Wood Surfaces
Although wood grain offers a touch of texture to any space it is placed in, if you rough up the surface even further using various ‘antiquing’ techniques, you can really create some awesome variations in how the stains set into the wood. This is a unique finish that provides a more used effect and adds a sense of age to the space.
Photo credit: grayskymorning
15. Varying Hues
Mentioned earlier ishow you can stain your wood planks different hues for variation and interest. It works well for patterned floors as well as straight, traditional wood flooring layouts. Use 3 or more hues to provide different effects in relation to the wood planks you use, essentially making it look like you have different types of wood laid down. This is a wholly unique effect and will definitely be one of a kind.
Conclusion
Embrace your natural wood flooring effects and don’t be afraid to use various stains, or even dark wood floor designs to help bring interest and detail to your living, bedroom, and entryways. Keep them looking their best with finishes and don’t be afraid to add in detail through the use of rugs and runners in areas of high traffic.
Photo credit: Krailath/Shutterstock