New hardwood floors - colour/design questions

11 years ago

I have a split level home. The following features of my home are important to my question: (i) There is a den on the entry level of the house that has existing older laminate floor (in good shape) that is a light/mid golden oak colour. (ii) On the main level (one half-flight of stairs upwards), I have the kitchen and living room. The kitchen is ceramic tile. The living room is now carpet (to be changed to hardwood). (iii) The den (existing laminate) and the living room (to be hardwood) are not only on different levels but are not in direct line of sight from one another (you cannot see one room from the other). (iv) Baseboards, window casings, kitchen cabinets, stair rails and all doors in the entire house are a light/mid golden oak colour.

I am changing the living room to hardwood (plus the stairs leading from entry level up to the living room). I have a relatively limited budget. I may change the laminate flooring in the entry-level den to hardwood in 3-4 years when/if I have money, but for now it is in good condition so it will stay. I have no money to change trim. I have no plans to sell the house so resell value is not any concern for many years.

My issue is this. I am deciding on the colour for my new hardwood floor in the living room (the main room I spend time in). I am going with oak, but the oak hardwood flooring in most stores is either a too-pale "natural-stained" oak that is much lighter than the existing laminate/trim and moreover I don't like these paler colours, or otherwise it is darker than my light/mid golden oak laminate/trim. Light/mid tones of oak are difficult to find.

What colour of oak do I prefer? I prefer oaks that are mid-intensity in colour so somewhat richer/darker than the existing laminate/trim but not way darker. Will it matter if I choose an oak hardwood colour that does not perfectly replicate the laminate/trim if all colours "work together" as a package (similar undertones, no bad colour clashing and knowing that one day I may change the laminate)? Thoughts?

This post was edited by Scarlett001 on Sat, Apr 6, 13 at 19:02

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Comments (9)

User
11 years ago
If you get unstained flooring the installers can probably match the stain color to that of the trim and doors in the rooms. Either that or you could paint your doors and trim out in white and get whatever color of flooring (prestained) you want.
Scarlett001
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, I prefer to pre-stained flooring that is ready to install for a few different reasons.

Re the trim, I have oak inner casings on the windows and the door jambs so it really would be a huge undertaking to deal with changing the trim, and plus some of the trim is not even real wood but it is that fake stuff so not sure it can be painted over. I will probably keep the trim as-is until such a time as I can afford to completely redo it properly which is many years away.

Some web sites seem to suggest that it is okay if wood baseboards are a slightly different colour than the hardwood floor as long as the woods are complementary - is this correct I wonder??
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Scarlett001
Original Author
11 years ago
Hmmm, no advice from anyone on this question about woods of different colour? I will have to do some internet sleuthing on this topic but I was hoping from some first-hand advice.
User
11 years ago
I understand about the prefinished, we went that way too and installed the floors ourselves. I completely understand budget constraints, but changing out trim can be a very inexpensive thing to do as a diy project. It may take a chunk of time, but my DH and I did it in every room of our home and I can't tell you what a difference it makes.

We had that plastic wood stuff in our guest bath, it's horrible.
Olychick
11 years ago
You should put in the floors you love. The trim will be okay until you are ready to change it. If you aren't crazy about it, you'll be inclined to change it sooner than later.

This post was edited by olychick on Sun, Apr 7, 13 at 17:45
Scarlett001
Original Author
11 years ago
I am just taking some photos so will upload them in a bit. I have the hardwood floor sample board at home now, so I can show the differences in some photos.

The thing is my house was not that well put together in terms of interior design when I bought it, but it had a lot of things going for it at the time (it is my first house).

My big problem is that the house is decked out in variations of golden oak but literally EVERYTHING is a slightly different shade (more orange, more yellow, more red etc.). The trim (baseboards, window trim) all over the entire house is that fake wood stuff (one colour), slightly different than the living room baseboards which were replaced as contractor snapped the plastic one in half and it could not be matched so went with similar real wood trim dyed a somewhat similar colour but that was a tricky match to make, slightly different colour than the kitchen cabinets, slightly different colour than the wood doors, slightly different colour than the door jambs and inner window casing, slightly different than the laminate flooring in the den, slightly different colour than the large kitchen window that had to be replaced including the casing, slightly different than the stair rail to the living room.

In the end, it seems trying to "match" the hardwood floor to anything in my house is a waste of time given that everything is slightly different!!

So I thought that for now I should get a hardwood floor that blends and works with everything (find some sort of a balance and that in particular works with the things that are in proximity to where this hardwood floor would go), but not necessarily match any one thing. And then over the years, I can gradually changes things in ways that make things more uniform and that make sense. TBH, money is a limitation, so I have to make choices that also work now as I don't want to live for the future but want to enjoy my house now.

This post was edited by Scarlett001 on Sun, Apr 7, 13 at 17:52
Scarlett001
Original Author
11 years ago
Please note: Money is an issue (limited) and I have no access to any handy DIY people to help me do things so have to rely on contractors. But I managed to save enough for these hardwood floors and cannot wait to finally make my living room look nice (and get rid of that blue/gray carpet that no longer matches the new paint etc.).

I have taken some photos of the hardwood floor sample compared to various oak that are in close proximity to where the new hardwood floor would go in the living room (for example, there are no doors in view of the living room, so I have not compared the hardwood colour to the doors). Kind of strange but I think that the difference between the hardwood and the various things looks a tad more obvious in real life than in the photos (the laminate colour side-by-side with hardwood sample is way different, but looks close from the angle that photo taken), but nonetheless these photos do give you an idea.

Stair rail vs. hardwood sample:

Living room baseboards vs. hardwood sample:

Kitchen window/cabinets which can be seen from the living room vs. hardwood sample:

Laminate floor in den (actually NOT in view of living room) vs. hardwood sample:
deeinohio
11 years ago
I would save a little longer and replace the baseboards.

Your new lovely flooring will accentuate the tiredness of the laminate. In addition, the baseboards should be removed anyway to put in the flooring. You could buy the woodwork, refinish or paint it yourself (it's easy!), then pay your installer to reinstall.
Scarlett001
Original Author
11 years ago
I agree that the trim really needs to be redone (!!) - but I do feel as if once I get started on tackling trim, it will balloon - the window casings will need to be done to match the baseboards, the inner parts of window are oak so they will need to go (!!) which means new windows all over the house, the door jambs will need to go, the doors are the same oak. It just seems how once I start to change it, then I should do it all or it will look very mismatched - by the time that is all tackled we are dealing with multiple thousands upon thousands of dollars and I just don't have that (I am an avid horsewoman so my limited $$$ all goes to my horse passion!!). But the old grey carpet is just so limiting and dreadful in the living room so it has to go as that change will really spruce up the main living part of the house - I don't want to wait any longer to get rid of that carpet.

Maybe I will do the hardwood now in a colour that I like, then save for a few years and tackle the trim in full force and the laminate. Sigh, even that seems a far reach financially. I am afraid that I have to make compromises. :(

This shows comparison between the laminate and the hardwood. You can see that the laminate colour is not particularly nice and very out-of-date so I don't want to attempt to match it (moreover that colour just is not in the stores these days) - but no way do I have money at present to redo the laminate in den as well - just have to hope that the hardwood company does not stop making this colour of hardwood before I get around to doing the den.

There is one way that one sees both rooms at once and depending on the lighting, the differences can be more of less obvious at times.