Room of Shame; what flooring works with both red oak and maple?

last year

We need to redo our northern exposure FR. It currently has off-white carpeting that is begging to be put out of its misery. The 8' wide hall abutting has natural red oak, and the kitchen also has an 8' wide opening with maple (oak overload). The carpet and curtains were innocent victims of "The Cat Pee War", and the oriental rug that ties together the couches and pillows rolled up and ran away for safety. I can only post 6 photos, so you will have to imagine the horror show that was the light blue curtains (from the brief trend that was red and light blue-green) and is the carpet.
We clearly need flooring that is pet mess friendly and light in color, but don't want to go with more hardwood (cost, maple didn't hold up in the kitchen, please- no more oak). LVP looks terrible next to real wood. We found a light gray LVT (last photo), or back to carpet (and prayers).
We're going to redo the fireplace- narrow white shelves between fp and windows (inset miniblinds), wallboard above cherry mantle) and white cultured stone below with dark gray fp cover. Removing the raised hearth and putting dark slate floor hearth as visual border between white stone and whatever light floor material gets picked. Room is currently cameo white, will get painted truer white, including all trim.
Please note the additional design challenge of the raised alcove with a dark cherry cabinet (hence the cherry mantle). All other existing furniture must make compelling arguments for their existence, furniture suggestions are welcome too.
Did I mention that the room is 18x22 and sunken? Photo #1 shows the need for some brilliant design ideas on fixing the step down/alcove step "situation", as the floor guys call it.
So, what do I do about a big floor abutting (but a step down) red oak and maple? Is light gray a trend that will look dated now? Is LVT acceptable in great rooms or considered more a kitchen, bathroom, basement flooring? The house is 3200 sf, older but nice neighborhood in SE Michigan.

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dgash_art
Original Author

last year

Thank you all. I can't see a way to respond to individual comments. I have now learned that the fireplace work gets done first, floor last, so I have some time to figure this out and wait for different options to come out. I am still concerned about oak darkening the room.

Regional preferences are not considered on Houzz. I asked multiple flooring salespeople, and slate and tile, even heated, are very rarely done here. Washable rugs sound good in theory, but not in practice. Scents never fully come out, laundromats no longer allow you to wash rugs, and there is no way to really wash something that large yourself. Yes, I know the fireplace is ugly as sin; I have hated it for 20 years. I've seen many painted brick fireplaces, and none look very good. It will be covered up with wallboard and "cultured" stone in a white, with no hearth. Yes, the trim will all be painted white. I have a yellow vs red undertone issue to address on choosing a paint, but I have a free consultation next week. No, we will not be raising the floor, as that would add significant cost, make the room look smaller, and make the house more bland. Yes, all the dated and worn furniture will be replaced. There are no views out the small windows by the fireplace, so white narrow shelves will hold a selected group of our glass and pottery to provide contrast to all the incoming white. The poor schefflera has to stay where it is, though not ideal from a design standpoint, because she is already taller than the peak of the cathedral ceiling. We will add recessed lighting as well, because the lighting is very poor.

I will post before and after photos, and I thank everyone for your thoughts.

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Comments (15)

Lynzy
last year
Since you don’t want to continue the red oak hardwood (which is what I’d do and the get a large area rug, I think I’d probably just carpet again and manage the pets. The gray flooring you show is not good. Gray as a color is not “out,” as no colors are. It can be used beautifully in a room. That particular flooring doesn’t really look good anywhere and is very cool in tone, fighting the warmth of other surfaces. If carpet is out of the question, consider slate or a large format warm charcoal colored tile.
dgash_art thanked Lynzy
dgash_art
Original Author
last year
Thank you. I did everything I could to warm up the room when we moved in (2002), so I don't want a cool, sterile look gray can sometimes create. We tried a charcoal colored LVT, but I can't live with that dark a floor. Can't do real tile here, as it gets too cold.
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Lynzy
last year
Could you do a heated tiled floor? They are wonderful.
dgash_art thanked Lynzy
User
last year
last modified: last year
I agree that the greyish floor is not a good fit. I also agree that doing some kind of wood look will simply clash with the rest of the house.

Honestly, the nicest looking solution is to get wood that matches what you have in that room next to it. You said you don't like the color. Why? I think it looks classic. (And since you said the maple didn't work out in the kitchen, you could eventually replace just that floor with tile.)

If you absolutely don't want wood though...

This is kind of a midcentury looking living room, so it makes me think of terrazzo. That's pretty expensive, but there are speckled linoleums that have a very similar look. And lino is tough and very budget friendly. Personally I love it.

Imagine something like this, but a slightly warmer white for your living room:

Carpet is pretty wasteful if you think your pets might mess it up again. However, one idea would be to do carpet squares, so you can easily lift up and clean (or replace) problem areas.

This one is Flor:

This one is Shaw. It has too much grey in it, try to imagine it with warm white and beige tones:
partim
last year
You might find this older thread useful. Pet urine is a difficult situation and they recommend sheet vinyl.

There are some very nice ones.
ohgoodness
last year
Since you are changing the floor anyway I would use the opportunity to raise it to the same level as the other rooms. I would also go with red oak matching the existing and I would try to replace the kitchen floor as well so it all matches if I could swing it. My pets usually seem to avoid the hardwoods when they have accidents and prefer a soft surface. FLOR tiles are a great solution for that.
Emily
last year
If it's in the budget to raise the floor and then change out the flooring to be all the same that's what I'd do. But that may not be cards. Since there is the step down to consider I'd make the flooring different for safety reasons, otherwise guests tend to miss the step even when it seems obvious. I wouldn't do another wood look and I wouldn't do carpet if you have pets that have accidents. I would suggest a stone look vinyl or as someone else suggested a ceramic heated tile. Stay away from grays. It won't go with your golden wood tones.

Your furniture layout in good, it just needs freshening up. I would suggest replacing the entertainment center with something simple and lighter in color. Remove the sofa table in corner and move the tree over to that corner. If you have draperies again raise them to 8'. Use single panels on the small windows and two panels on the large window. I would paint out the trim in white, but that's just a personal preference on my part.
partim
last year
Your raised alcove could be closed off with drywall, giving you a cleaner look to the room. It could be accessed as a "hidden" storage area from the hall closet.

For my taste (yours may be different) your room would be more attractive with fewer decorative items on shelves, and fewer cabinets and shelves. I love your art work but the eye is distracted. And I'd like to see more focus on the view than on things on shelves. If you have lots of items that you want to display, they could be rotated. I wouldn't add shelves on either side of the fireplace.
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
last modified: last year
IMO either the oak or go back to carpet as yucky as that choice is IMO I think LVP in all the spaces might be the best answer with area rugs ideally those are washable and you do know once a pet pees on a rug there is nothing that keeps them from doing it again since they can always smell where they went last time even after you wash the rug. I think ditching the dated entertainment center and painting all the trim white including the mantel will make it a much better choice to go oak flooring everywhere and it will not feel so much like oak overload and IMO look awesome
l pinkmountain
last year
last modified: last year
We have a "room of shame" too, and I get it that hardwood is expensive and hard to match what you already have. I have faux marble large tiles in the kitchen and front hall which I am toying with putting in the dining room instead of hardwood. I have so much wood furniture in the dining room I think a floor in addition is not needed and I don't want carpet under my dining table. So the faux marble in beige, grey and pinkish tones goes well with the oak hardwood I have in the parlor. It's held up well to the dog, but proper installation is key . . .

They also make great ceramic tiles in faux wood and faux marble designs. Ceramic is better in durability than vinyl but a little harder.

My office used to be in a building that had faux wood flooring next to real in different rooms, and it didn't look that bad, as long as it doesn't clash. The board size was different too, so it wasn't like the two floors were trying too hard to be exactly the same and failing . . .
dgash_art thanked l pinkmountain
Car Webb
last year
I like the idea of continuing the oak floor too…. Please paint the brick on the fireplace too… it screams 1980s… consult a color specialist..it’s not that expensive… and he/she will help you pull all those rooms together with paint…have you considered carpet tiles…?…if a pet has an accident, you can replace it
decoenthusiaste
last year
Raise the floor to eliminate the step, eliminate the hearth and install the slate throughout over underfloor heat. Slate comes in many shades and you'll be able to pick one that looks good with your woods. Use washable rugs from Ruggable.
elcieg
last year
last modified: last year
I have a pool and a dog and a (cute) husband. To meet all three demands, I went with wood look porcelain and bought a great swivel head floor steamer. For the master bed room, I went against my own advice and had wool wall to wall installed. I should have listened to myself. It is 3 years old, cost too much, and is coming out ASAP. Porcelain is something to consider. I am not sorry I did it.

It can be expensive...not the porcelain, but the install.

My daughter installed wood look, glue down vinyl. She chose it because the cottage is close to the beach and she rented it in the summer. It is very, very good looking. When a guest comments on it and she tells them it is not wood, they actually bend down to feel it...it looks so real.. The brand is Earthwerks. She is no longer going to rent and when I asked her if she had plans to change the floor, she said no. After 7 years of renting, the floor looks brand new.
User
last year
last modified: last year
dgash_art I'm glad you're resurfacing the fireplace and painting the walls and trim. (somehow I missed that in the original post.) do all that first and then take some time to re-evaluate the flooring. I think those changes will brighten up the room so much that perhaps you will be more open to oak. it looks like that room gets decent natural light. keep in mind that a large rug in a light color will also help.

I agree to not raise the floor, it seems unnecessary. when you're ready for new flooring, consider some kind of hidden led lighting which will make it more noticeable to avoid tripping.