I agree with felizlady. I don't like the short boards stained differently, that for me is too busy. It can clash with your furniture and your other home decor making your space look even busier. I prefer light to medium floor with the same stain all throughout enhancing the original look of the hardwood. If you have it installed this way, you are free to change your furniture and home décor as you like because your base/foundation is simple which even makes the general flow of your space look bigger.

I prefer a medium wood. Too dark and everything shows. Too light and everything shows. Prefer medium chocolate to dark toffee range, oaks or walnuts. Their grain hides everything - scratches, scuffs, rubs, and daily dirt.

Both light and dark! I had very dark hardwoods in my last house that was on the more traditional style and I loved them! I had no problems with seeing more dust/pet hair. I just finished renovating a cape cod we bought at the end of last year and went with light hardwoods. I’m totally obsessed with them and can’t imagine this interior with hard hardwood, which they actually were before we sanded them back to a natural color. I think the thing happening in design right now is to go super light or on the opposite end of the scale go dark. Just depends on your interior. I’m feeling the modern, Scandinavian look I have going on right now works better with the light floors. Here are pics of our last house with dark floors and the reno with light floors....it’s a toss up..I don’t think either one looks cheap, outdated or like a gym floor

Have lived in this home for 33 years...Very dark...& the HARDEST wood floors I ,or my entire family, have ever seen ! Have med. wood floors @ new house...Seems one can scratch them w/a fingernail ...I have not experienced that dark shows everything w/regards to dust,etc....To me...light shows everything.../so much so...I bought a Roomba.Thinking of replacing.(darker)..plus the awful gray,bedrpoom carpets !

It often depends on the colour of your pet, if you know what I mean.

@Mary Berry What do I do if I have dark pets and white pets? Perhaps a striped floor? Or if my doggies are all dark coloured, I get dark coloured floor. Do I redo all my floors to light coloured if I get a white cat? :)

Interesting comments to read as I am deciding on new engineered flooring, presently there is a medium parquet. There is a lake view from the back of the house and the walls and furniture are quieter tones. The kitchen floor is cork and is so quiet and comfortable on the feet. To match the cork the best choice is light oak. I stare at dust bunnies, etc on the medium colour. I prefer light non shinny colour which will make the space seem bigger and brighter. There can be a lot of yellow and orange tones which could dominate a room. It's very difficult picking flooring from small samples and when laid could look completely different. Fingers crossed..

Personally I prefer the exotic woods. Whatever wood you have, I think the stain should highlight the natural grain of the wood. The most important tip I offer is to "not" go with a gloss finish. It's the high gloss finish that shows every footprint and speck regardless of the color. A satin or matte finish is much more forgiving.

Bottom line, dark floors show every speck of dirt. You're a slave to them...

It would depend on the room and fixtures/furniture and preferred paint color.

I would say it depends. I tend to like rich looking natural wood floors. I have Brazilian cherry, which is a deep reddish brown. If the wood is darker naturally I tend to prefer it. I wouldn't unnaturally stain them. If the room is in a darker part of the house, the wood would be better lighter.

Cherry

Anything but that bleached out looking stuff that is so fashionable now. It's so... cold.

I like medium or even a grey colored hardwood. Dark emphasizes dust and light seems to show more stain/scratches.

If you've got kids, light ♥ Otherwise, you can still opt to change it to light to give a more vibrant glow on that couch

It depends on the color of the walls and furniture. I am just redoing my living and dining rooms..the walls will be light gray, with white trim and doors with some black pieces of furniture...the fireplace mantle is a wood beam so I decided to look for flooring that would go with the color stone on the fireplace and the mantle.
The flooring is rustic wide planks in medium shades. Go with a matte finish..they do not show the human and dog prints like the gloss finish does.I also think that the gloss finish looks less like natural wood.

Dark floors throughout my old house which is very light with big windows, S & W exposure and 14 foot ceilings. The dark floors seem to anchor the rooms and make a good foundation. As far as "showing the dirt," it's there anyway on the lighter colors! But do you feel that you don't have to clean because you can't see the dirt? Never understood that. Clean is clean. Choosing anything because it "doesn't show the dirt" just means you are OK with dirt as long as it doesn't show. White carpet and clothing does not attract more dirt - it just shows what's there.

I prefer medium. Light is nicer in a modern/contemporary home. I don't think I'm a good enough housekeeper to have dark floors :).

I have dark floors and they are impossible to keep clean. I wish now I had chosen medium.

depends on the space but I usually prefer dark

I think it depends on the wood-when we bought our home 10 years ago it had dark-like black-engineered bamboo. Any home we've been in with engineered or refinished hardwood shows everything...I thought it was just my house, but my sister had a medium red toned and it too showed everything, I think it's that matte finish that makes everything so visible. That being said, I prefer a darker stain, especially for our colonial home and our transitional style. We tried more of a medium and it just looked dated and too rustic with the white oak we have. I love the lighter bleached look, but for a California home on the water...has to be the right setting. But the thing that cracks me up the most is people saying how they're looking forward to not having to clean as much (I've said it too)...that dust and hair is still there though people, it doesn't go away...you just don't see it, lol! No judgment here, we have two big dogs and I'd have to vacuum and mop twice a day to keep things looking pristine with any floor....just sayin' :)

janetoconnor could you tell me what floor brand/color is that? Love it and looking for something similar for our home.

Feathered and Mellowbo, what is the Brand and color name of your floors? thank you

I like floors that are on the medium side of the lighter end of the spectrum. I think dirt shows much more readily on either extreme light or dark floors.

Different floors work for different spaces and clients. When I'm designing in an urban setting I often suggest a lighter floor because whatever natural light comes into the space then reflects, bouncing off the floor onto other surfaces.

When I've renovated an apartment or townhouse and we change from a dark floor to light floor the difference is astounding!

Here are some photographs of a project where you can really see the light reflected. There's no artificial light at all in these images:

Brooklyn Townhouse Renovation · More Info

Brooklyn Townhouse Renovation · More Info

Brooklyn Townhouse Renovation · More Info

Brooklyn Townhouse Renovation · More Info

Studio Geiger Architecture- beautiful designs!

It depends on the wall color...I chose a flooring that had several shades...mainly because it matches my mantle and my walls will be light gray. I like the contrast with light and dark. I have allot of people coming in as well as large and small dogs.. so I wanted a no gloss floor.. they are matte and will hide foot and paw prints as well as dust and dirt.

Speculative homes in my area are canaries in the coal mine and this year has seen a decisive shift from dark wood floors to light. Almost no one is doing dark wood flooring any more to compete in the spec market. 18 months ago was the reverse.

My fave is to use select grade white oak and protect it with a clear coat (no colorant) poly.

Stanford House · More Info

Lovely! White oak adds warmth without being oppressive.

Dark floors look beautiful, but show wear and scratches more than light tones, also unless you have the dust mop out 24-7 dark floors show dust more readily

Hint: Medium shade or light finish hardwood floors are going to get just as dirty as a darker hardwood floors. Allowing a hardwood floor to remain dirty with grit, sand, dog hair, etc. ups the wear and scratch factor since shoes and even stocking feet will push that grit, sand, dirt, etc. across the floor. And that's regardless if you can see dirt or not.

If you dislike cleaning your hardwood floors regardless of stain hue, get yourself one of those robotic automatic vacuum cleaners and run it daily in the room that collects the most dirt. One highly recommended robotic vacuum by Consumer Reports is Eufy 11S and you don't have to pay a ton of bucks for advertising or brand name.

When I bought my house, I have a oak yellow floors. Yeaky!! I desided to instal dark walnut color maple hard wood. It’s the most beautiful floor I have seen! I LOVE IT!! .. NEVER,EVER again go back to light color wood. Maybe if it is brownish- washed - weathered hard would floors. Which I like too!

Wood**

I love my dark floors!!

I just built a library. Almost finishes.

Absolutely love the look of dark hardwood floors with an otherwise bright & white kitchen!!

I much prefer light floors. At least you won't see every fleck of dust and dandruff like you would with dark floors.

I prefer very neutral light to medium tone. We have white oak finished with Bona matte clear coat and we love it. Timeless and clean look.

The darker stains show the character of the wood better and everything you put on top just pops; like bright area rugs, light grey fruniture , white crisp mouldings pop, white Cabniets stand out beautifully , and grey / blue color paint works so well with brown. With light / natural floors , you’re limited to cream or white walls with no contrast…. It is open and airy but not cozy, unless you load the place with fabrics and all kinds of accent fruniture / art . Also, with no stain, just a sealer, wood kind of takes a yellowish undertone which looks dated quickly. I would say unless it’s a beach house with a water view go light to medium tone at the very least.

I’ve always preferred lighter colors than darker colors in any case, but i love both when it comes to hardwood floors. Darker wood colors are great if the space is sizable, has tall ceilings, and plenty of lighting including natural. Lighter color wood flooring can have more of a natural look even as it may darken a little over time and gives the space a light airy feel. However, the wall colors are a major determination as well how the space will be used when choosing whether to go with light or dark wood flooring.

I love the look of dark flooring but wou not have it again as it shows everyspeck of dust or light colourd hair .