Real wood flooring remains an extremely popular flooring choice for homeowners. Warm, stylish and classic, wooden floors deliver a number of benefits. With a wide range of wood species offering different looks, and both natural and stained colour varieties available, you can choose the flooring that best suits your home and décor. Real wood flooring is also highly cost-effective – it will last much longer than most other types of flooring – and is easy to maintain.
Looking for a new wood floor in your home? Here are the key things to consider when it comes to choosing the right one to suit your needs.
Room size
The colour of your flooring can have a surprising impact on the feeling of space in a room, so it’s a good idea to choose wood flooring that will complement the room size. For large, spacious rooms, selecting dark brown and warm-coloured woods, such as a natural walnut, can make a large room seem more intimate and cosy. On the other hand, if you want to make a smaller room feel more spacious, it may be better to opt for a lighter wood floor, for example a natural light oak or even a wood with a white or light-coloured stain.
The light in the room
There can be quite a subtle interplay between the light at different times of the day and the look of your wooden floor. It’s important to take this into account when looking at flooring samples in your home – a floor that has a certain look in the evening in artificial light might have quite a different look in daytime sunlight. Consider what times of the day you use the room and how the light will affect that – is the flooring for a living room that’s mainly used during the evening, or a kitchen where the family gathers for morning breakfast?
The use of the room
The type and colour of wooden flooring has a definite impact on the “mood” of a room, so it’s also important to take into account what the room is going to be used for. A cosy, intimate bedroom where you want to relax and feel comfortable will demand a different type of flooring from a busy living room or a family kitchen. Remember this is about more than just defining the function of a room – it’s about how you and your family interact with the space and how you want it to feel.
The room’s décor
Whether the room you’re fitting with wood flooring is already decorated and furnished or yet to be fitted out, it’s important to match the flooring with the rest of the décor. Lighter natural wood colours, for example, can create a more neutral space that can help designer furniture and bold colours stand out more. Medium-dark colours can be a perfect complement to antique furniture in achieving a traditional “country house” look, while very dark and black flooring can be ideal for more modern spaces. Reddish tones, meanwhile, can be helpful in imbuing a room with a sense of luxury.
Maintenance
Wooden floors are extremely durable and also easy to keep clean. However, different types of wooden flooring can require different levels of maintenance. Lacquered wooden flooring requires less maintenance than oiled floors, for example. When choosing flooring, it’s also important to consider that, typically, lighter-coloured wood species are somewhat more susceptible to wear and tear than darker woods.
Consider all of the above to make sure you make the right decision when it comes to wood floors in your home. Contact us today for advice or to book a free measuring or home-selection service.