Its always one of the first questions both my friends and clients will ask. Should the Wood Flooring be light or dark? And in more recent years, an additional question has been added – “Smooth or Distressed?
While dark floors have been predominant in most Interiors over the past four or five years, many people are beginning to re-think this entire question. And personally, I am very glad as it really shouldn’t be about “What’s in?”, or “Whats popular?
But really, it should be about, “What works with the style or look of the space”. The color of Wood Floors should not be based upon the current style, or fad (as we used to say). Rather, it should be considered as a design component, not dissimilar to the color of the walls, or the stone species on the counters. If all of the design selections work togeher harmoniously, then whatever color of stain is chosen, should infact work.
We are presently working on a project, in which we are going to “paint” the floors a dusty Robin’s Egg Blue, and are then going to add a stenciled border with bright hues of fresh picked raspberries and creme brulee. The painted floors and simple white cabinetry with polished nickel hardware will create a Martha’s Vineyard Kitchen, or a simple New England Cape Cod look.
Alternatively, we have designed some beautiful Log Homes on Swan Lake in Big Fork, Montana (www.thekootenai.com) in which we have re-used existing wood flooring. The wood flooring was removed from the original hundred plus year old cabins, and re-installed. In this situation, we refinished the floors in a darkened clear finish. They are neither light, nor dark.
In each of these projects, the color of the floors were designed to compliment the rooms as a whole, rather than the color of the floors dictating what other finishes were selected.
We have always believed that good design is timeless.