It’s not hard to fall in love with hardwood floors. Strong, natural and gorgeous, it’s everything we love in a stunning surface. In fact, the more difficult part is deciding which hardwood look you love the most. Different species, stains, finishes and widths can make the process confusing. Even after narrowing down your favorite wood options, you must weigh factors such as activity level, budget and location within the home. There are so many types of hardwood floors, and they can all transform the overall feel of a home. Lucky for you, we’re here to help you take advantage of the latest hardwood floor trends for your home!
Wider, Longer Planks:
Everyone is going crazy for this look, and it’s pretty easy to understand why. Wide-plank flooring is extremely popular due to showcasing more beauty and reducing the overall number of seams in the finished floor. Longer plank lengths allow you to easily create flowing, visual continuity in single rooms or between multiple rooms. In other words, longer and wider plank formats produce fashionable, modern hardwood floors that make rooms appear grander and more sophisticated.
Low-Luster:
Shiny things often catch our immediate attention, but subtle textures will keep you coming back for more. Low-luster hardwood finishes emulate the elegant beauty of oil-finished floors without the time-consuming maintenance that traditional oil finishes require. So not only does low-luster hardwood bring the style, but these finishes are more kid and pet friendly since they don’t show as much dust, dirt or footprints. A perfect compromise in between glossy and matte, a satin finish still gives you a little shine, however, it’s muted enough to hide dirt and imperfections rather than highlight them the way gloss does. Satin finishes are typically 40% lustrous, which means on a shiny floor scale of 1-10, they get about a 4. For the last few years, satin finishes have been the most popular among homeowners. There is a misconception that matte floors look dull or flat. Matte floors make your house look contemporary and expensive. Of course, a poor quality floor can look very dull with a matte finish, but a high-quality wood floor will look gorgeous.
Grays:
Gray flooring has been on the rise, and you can see it everywhere you go – in wood, tile that looks like wood, and gray vinyl planks that look like wood. Over the last 2 to 3 years, we’ve been seeing more variations on the grays where people will blend in some browns for a gray/beige (or greige) look. We are also also seeing a lot of variations where grays are subtly integrated with dark browns and even blacks/ebonies. Gray flooring, particularly gray wood, has grown exponentially over the last decade. Manufacturers tiptoed onto the scene, producing a few gray looks here and there to see how homeowners would respond. Gray quickly became the most popular trend, not just for flooring, but for homes in general.
Coastal Cool:
Everyone loves the beach, and creating that serene feeling in your home is actually pretty easy to do. Cool tones are preferred both the walls (especially grays) and floors, and these work hand in hand together. White, gray and light beige hardwoods are the perfect cool, calm shades to start with. Combine the aforementioned trends of longer, wider plank for elevated style and ultra-low gloss to showcase every grain detail. Not only do you highlight decades of beauty and tranquility, these hardwood styles are incredibly easy to maintain. Clean less and relax more? Now that’s a stay-cation any savvy homeowner can get behind.
White Washed or Lightly White Washed Wood:
Whitewashes are back, and they’ve rapidly grown in popularity. For those of you who remember whitewashes from the 80’s, you’ll be happy to know that they’ve been reinvented and modernized. The whitewashes of today are more matte and many are more subtle in character. They work best on white oak for a modern look. The latest style has been to do a more subtle white wash so that the floors look more natural…but a tad lighter and a tad whiter than natural floors. Also, today’s whitewashed (or lightly whitewashed floors) use of higher grade water borne polyurethanes such as Bona Traffic HD, give a more premium appearance and much stronger durability vs the whitewash from your parent’s (or grandparent’s) generation. Whitewash will make your home look brighter, bigger and more relaxed. It can give that “beachy” feel or also an upscale contemporary feel, depending on the rest of your decor.
Do you need help with your next remodel? We can help! We are The Builder’s Choice for all your projects! Stop in today at 2411 7th ST NW, Rochester, MN 55901 or give us a call at 507-285-1109.
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