Replacing Your Hardwood Flooring? 3 Prospective Trends

Few things are more inconvenient than renovating your home and discovering that the design selections you made are no longer in style. Fortunately, by knowing the latest trends of the interior design market, you can make flooring upgrades that help your home feel fresh and new. Here are three prospective hardwood flooring trends.

1. Sustainable Hardwoods

Gone are the days of buying first and asking questions later. With more and more homeowners focused on reducing the size of their carbon footprint, choosing sustainable flooring options is a great way to keep costs low and feel better about your renovation decisions.

Because every tree species regenerates at a different speed, hardwood experts explain that some varieties are more sustainable than others are.

For instance, while many varieties of hardwood trees don't reach maturity for 30 to 100 years, bamboo matures as quickly as 5 years and is actually considered a grass, which means it needs cut to keep the overall crop healthy. Likewise, cork hardwood flooring is harvestable while the tree remains alive, making the material a sustainable option.

Other sustainable hardwood options include ash, birch, cherry, pecan, maple, white oak, and walnut trees, as well as many man-made products, including engineered hardwood. As you evaluate your different flooring options, remember that by choosing a sustainable material, you not only reduce waste and save money, you can also be a part of making the world a cleaner, healthier place.

2. Lighter Stain Colors

A few years ago, rich, dark hardwood flooring was all the rage in interior design. However, homeowners quickly discovered that darker hardwood floors tended to show dust and debris more than lighter varieties, while also making rooms appear darker and smaller.

To prevent all of these problems, many designers have started to shift towards lighter, ashier tones of flooring, including blonde hardwoods and whitewashed planks.



One of the reasons lighter flooring has had a surge in popularity is the fact that brighter floors help to open up rooms, making them feel brighter and cleaner. Instead of making homes feel dark and serious, lighter woods make homes feel modern and interesting, while simultaneously disguising scratches and damage.

Lighter flooring also has the added bonus of helping furniture to stand out, especially your statement pieces.

If you want to add lighter hardwoods to your home, opt for matte or satin stain finishes, instead of highgloss finishes that may make your space feel like a basketball court. In addition to preventing slips and falls, matte finishes also make spotting surface damage and dust accumulation more difficult, lending to the always-clean feeling lighter floors create.

3. Rich Patterns & Textures

Just because you choose a sustainable hardwood with a light finish doesn't mean your new flooring will look bland. Another prospective flooring trend is a shift towards textured flooring laid in interesting patterns, such as herringbone or diagonal placements.

Textured hardwoods, such as varieties finished in wire brushed, hand-scraped, or distressed treatments, can give your floor a powerful dose of personality without being too obvious. Additionally, distressing further disguises new damage, making this treatment the perfect addition to homes with kids and pets.

When you select hardwood flooring for your home, remember that since hardwood is a classic choice, mixing things up by selecting a new texture or pattern could make the space feel up to date.

If you want to make a few changes to your home, let our team help you to make things happen. Here at Blair & Son Floor Co., we are committed to helping our clients with everything from careful product selection and installation to ongoing maintenance and floor refinishing. To learn more about the product lines we use, visit us online or give us a call today.