Go with your gut choice. Like you said, it is your house to enjoy it in. Also, don't forget that what goes around comes around so while your choice might not be trendy now, it's sure to be again.

Anyone who has lived in my house since it was built in 1919 has stared at 2 1/2" white oak with an oil based finish (golden in color). It's timeless. Every house on my block has this flooring. My neighborhood is full of happy, well balanced people...regardless of the flooring:)

Who cares about trends??? That's pretty shallow IMO. Choose what you like.

Fairly narrow oak flooring has been a standard for a long time so you really can't go wrong with it.

Perhaps rather than thinking of your flooring preference as "not trendy" you could think of it as being "classic". This is a more complimentary description which will likely make you happier with your choice.

In a perfect world there would be no trends, merely choices. :)

Go with what you love. Our 1960 house and my parents 1940s house and my grandparents home all had beautiful white oak floors with a natural finish (not stained). Ours are 2 1/4" wide, but I think the 2 1/2" would be wonderful. They are still my favorite, although 200-300 year-old random width floors are pretty fabulous in an old house. I am not a fan of many floors I see being put in nowadays. I also don't believe in living with something you don't love simply for resale gains.

luckygal is exactly right. I don't care for the "trendy" term anyway. It sounds a little tacky and temporary, like ugly wallpaper or something. Think of your hardwood floors as a classic that's going to be around for a long time as the background for the new look for your house.
My floors are 1.5" maple and I still love them; they're right for my house!

Looking around at pictures online (including Houzz), I have been surprised to see so many narrow and orange toned floors and have wondered if the darks are turning over already. I think they're warm, beautiful and still popular if you don't hang out in decorating circles or follow the trends. I, too, do not care for today's wood flooring choices. Most of them do not really look like wood and also do not wear well.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Sat, May 11, 13 at 11:42

I have oak floors in my 1983 house and I love them. They are unstained with a Swedish finish and have mellowed to a warm golden color that goes perfectly with the unstained fir trim and birch kitchen. It looks timeless to me - a very PNW look. One thing the people who built the house did that might interest you is alternate the narrow and wide boards. I never even noticed, just knew it looked terrific, until I had the floors refinished in the late 1990's and the refinisher pointed it out. It's not at all an in-your-face difference, but does look wonderful.

It's funny how we can change our mind after time goes by. When moving into my new home almost 5 years ago, no one could have talked me out of dark hand scraped floors. I'm now ready for something lighter, as well as rustic, like antique heart pine. I also prefer 5" boards rather than narrow, but that's probably because heart pine wider boards are what is normally used.

I still love the dark wood, trend or nor, but would be open to something else.

I was in the same boat when I chose my hardwoods. I went with what I liked and not the trend and have been very happy with my decision of course I haven't tried to sell my house yet. Not sure floors will be loved by all.

When we moved into our tract house almost 30 years ago, it had an awful vinyl tile in the foyer and kitchen with carpet in the adjacent FR, LR and DR. I lived with it for awhile then put pre finished Bruce hardwood in the foyer..a medium oak. Later on, I was sick of the dirty carpet in the heavily used FR and had hardwood installed...oak with natural stain and had the foyer refinished to match. We just recently finally had hardwood installed in the LR And DR...same natural oak stain. May not be trendy like espresso, but it keeps the house looking more light and airy. It's warm against my gray walls and espresso furniture. I think hardwood...in any stain...will never go out of style...unless wall to wall carpet makes a comeback like in the 60's, when my mother carpeted over every square inch of beautiful parquet floors.

You guys have definitely cemented that I should follow my own gut instincts so thank you all for sharing thoughts!! I knew that I should go with my gut, but I just needed a reminder and you have provided this (I live alone so no one to talk through interior design things living with me). :)

BTW I have been trying to find a golden oak floor (not so much orange as gold) for several months now. I looked at about 15 hardwood stores in my city, looked at every major hardwood brand available in my city - and in the end, I found *only one company* that had a true golden oak hardwood. I saw more dismal toned, grayish or overly dark hardwood floors than I would have thought possible. It is all designed for this kind of espresso and silver metal look that is trendy right now (and is in every Starbucks where I live). I am aiming more for a sunny, warm, kind of hybrid southern European look.

This post was edited by Scarlett001 on Sat, May 11, 13 at 21:26

Just wanted to say that you are so right about not wanting your house to look like "Every Starbucks"!!! Very Insightful.

The opposite of "trendy" is "classic".

I restored a bathroom to 2 1/4 red oak, just uncovered a hallway in it that needs refinishing, will uncover a bedroom floor in 2 1/4 red oak ... and have 700sf of it on order to restore the LR, DR and MBR back to their classic good looks.

I agree with many of the above comments. You should choose what you like. But I will make another comment. We have had natural oak floors for yrs and over those yrs they have turned orangey. I absolutely hate them now. A designer told me that is characteristic of oak. We are getting our hardwoods refinished next week and are agonizing over the color. DH wants middle of the road between light and dark, and I prefer the darker.

Yes, I love the term classic. I feel that way about brass. It is such a maligned finish for hardware etc. but I still love it as long as it is a good quality.

Your floors will be lovely. My daughter is re-doing a home that was built most likely in the 40's and had the narrow flooring. She was able to save the flooring in the living room, dining room, and foyer but lost the hardwoods in the bedrooms due to termite damage. They look stunning now and actually better than new.

Good luck with your project and I hope you will post pictures when it is done.

I am replacing the living room, office, family room flooring and chose unstained, white oak 2 1/4 inch flooring. As my flooring guy put it, "It is timeless and doesn't compete with the decor."

I don't care what is trendy now. When we go to sell in 10-15 years, dollars to donuts the narrow white oak will be back "in"... not that it has ever really been "out".

This post was edited by xamsx on Sun, May 12, 13 at 12:25

I feel you should do what you love since trends come and go and as long as you love it, that is all that matters as long as you do not plan to see in a few years. I am glad I never removed my brass chandelier in the hallway since Brass is back! I went with Brazilian Cherry Floors since they were so beautiful to me despite liking dark flooring and now since I had water damage, I want to go lighter as I like light open spaces.

This post was edited by lynn2006 on Sun, May 19, 13 at 16:02

What great feedback everyone. Thank you.

BTW, why would Mirage Flooring offer 2 1/4" and 2 1/2" planks as they seem rather similar in size?? Am I better to go with 2 1/4" since it is a more standard width (thinking future install in other rooms etc.)?? I can find lots of photos of 2 1/4" planks so feel comfortable that I like it. Not sure about ordering 2 1/2" as I am not sure whether I will like it as much. I know that I don't particularly like 3 1/2" planks - looks too plain for my preference.

Thoughts on these board widths anyone?

When preparing our home for sale, the flooring refinishers suggested staying with the natural finish. It is timeless and classic.