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Matching a wood floor to existing cabinets and detailing

13 years ago

So we just bought our first house last week, and one thing we want to do before we move in is to replace the carpet with hardwood floors.

The house is a largely a blank slate right now, a place with a lot of light -- windows, skylights, etc. The one room that's causing us trouble, however, is our dining room:

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(The table, chairs and mirror are from the staging of the house, not ours. The folding doors are in terrible condition and need to be refinished regardless, so we're not married to that tone.)

So we've got three existing shades here: The darker wood of the ceiling, the red brick of the fireplace and the lighter wood of the kitchen cabinets (which we will replace eventually but not for a while).

I'm having a very hard time figuring out what tone of hardwood would work with all of these elements -- I'm terrible at visualizing this sort of thing, and in my research I've had a hard time finding examples of places that have these different colors.

If anyone has input or, better yet, a photo of a similar situation, it would be much appreciated.

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Comments (2)

towlehouse4
13 years ago
Are you planning to keep the same brick on the fireplace or going over it with stone veneers?

I would say that if you are going to be replacing the cabinets at some point, don't even consider the color they are now, consider what they will look like when they are finished.

I moved into a home 3 years ago and had a hard time getting my new wood floors to coordinate with the cabinets.

I ended up going with BR-111 exotic Brazillian Walnut because it has many different tones in the wood and a lot of character. Worked out perfectly.

We are now moving into a new home. Will be replacing the cabinets but have to try to coordinate all the wood trim with our new cabinets & wood flooring. I will again be going with a wood flooring that has different shades and more character as to pull all my other colors together.

I love your wood ceiling and would definitely incorporate some of that color into the floor.

That's just my opinion and I'm no decorater :)

Kelly
downsouth
13 years ago
"Gunstock" would go good with your cabinets and the brick, if you don't plan to change it right now. We have it in our dining room and foyer. I know Bruce makes Gunstock but I think other brands have this color too. Our floors are engineered flooring and have held up well the last 14 years.
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We opened up our kitchen to the LR (took out a half wall between them) Everything was red oak and really shabby. We also expanded the kitchen and thought we wouldn't be able to match the oaks, so went with hickory laid perpendicular to the oak in the LR and used varied board sizes. I was unsure how this would look, but I LOVE it! It is beautiful and my favorite part about the reno. The two woods were stained the same as we had the LR sanded and refinished at the same time. The difference really delineates the space since everything is so open....SO ..I think you can go with whatever wood you choose as long as they are in the same color family! Good luck! a href="http://s700.photobucket.com/albums/ww4/luvnlife_09/?action=view&current=P4160114.jpg" target="_blank">
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New Braz. ch wood will be lighter in color, it is photosensitive and will darken up over time to match your existing wood or you can stain the new wood and try to match the current color, best of luck.
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Thanks for your input! I don't know the details re the engineered wood, IE how thick the wear layer is. Maybe I could try to find out. It might have been purchased through Home Depot years ago. Re LVP: I've heard that there are disadvantages with the LVP and it seems like a waste to take out my existing wood flooring or to cover it up with vinyl. I like the idea of finding unfinished wood and trying to stain it to match. I've spoken to three contractors and none have mentioned that. All three have discouraged me from trying to match the wood. Patricia, you say it's done all the time? I'd like to know where to start with that idea. Thanks to all commenting! As you can see my carpet is trashed. That's why I don't want more carpet!
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I'm sorry but the only option (to get what you want) is to sand and refinish ALL of it at once. If you had planned on that in the first place, your flooring professionals would have matched the species and the cut and the grade of floor. They also would have matched the THICKNESS of the planks. Or ideally they would have told you how it was going to turn out...and that the best option = remove the old and lay all the same floor. It is CHEAPER than doing a sand/refinish on Aluminium Oxide floors for the TOTAL square footage. Sigh. I think you have TWO different species of wood. You certainly have two different GRADES of wood (the new one has ++++ plank variation and HEAVY grain presentation. This tells me that if you sand all of this down you will STILL have two floors that look VERY different...even with the same stain. Right now my 'fix' = remove the old wood in the entrance/foyer. Use the entrances to the other rooms as the 'break'. Use the edge of the new wood as the break. Now you drop in stone or porcelain or vinyl that LOOKS like vinyl or porcelain. By removing the SMALL amount of old wood in the entrance you will REMOVE the eye sore that is 'mismatched' wood floors touching one another. It will do the 'most for the least'. Removing the old wood and prepping the subfloor = $2/sf. New stone-look vinyl tiles = $4/sf. Cost of install = $3/sf. Total cost of job = $9/sf. Size of the job? Looks to be about 100sf = $900 and you have a BEAUTIFUL foyer without ANYONE noticing the two woods are not the 'same'. It is the simplest, easiest way to fix this without messing around with sand/refinishing wood that shouldn't be touching one another anyways.
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