pictures of wood flooring

Hardwood flooring is an attractive and durable choice of flooring, which can potentially add a significant amount of monetary value to your home. Like decorating the rest of your home, choosing the style and colour of wood flooring will usually depend on your personal preferences and tastes.

As there is such a wide choice of wooden flooring available it can sometimes be a tough decision to make choosing between the different styles, patterns, woods and finishes.

To make this choice easier you might want to take into account the other elements and features within your house too, as this can sometimes make choosing the right shade and finish of wooden floor much simpler. It’s also important to think which type of wood floors will complement your already existing home décor.

When considering which hardwood will have the greatest visual impact it’s advisable to survey the space you plan to re-floor, and think through what effect you hope to achieve in doing so.

The majority of hardwood floors create a warm feel to your home, but lighter wood tones create a very different feel to dark wooden floors. Woods in dark tones can make your home seem smaller, and in some rooms can have a claustrophobic effect when you walk into them.

However, if you have large spacious rooms which you want to make feel homelier and cosier without filling them with furniture, dark wood hardwood flooring is an ideal choice. Likewise, if you want your home to appear more spacious lighter tones of hardwood flooring will be a better choice of wooden flooring.

To help make your decision easier, many hardwood flooring companies offer potential customers samples of their wood floors. Laying a sample piece of hardwood flooring down in your home can help you gain a better idea of how it will look if the whole floor was to be laid in this type of hardwood.

Hold the hardwood samples near any furniture, the walls, and even your soft furnishings to see if the colours complement each other. You should also carry this out at different times of the day as the light will be different in the morning and evening, so your room will look different.

Compare your favourite hardwood samples to the rest of the flooring in your home, especially floors in any adjoining hallways or bathrooms that will lie next to the new wooden floor. Think about the design of your home and how the new hardwood flooring will complement or clash with your existing themes.

Once you have almost made a decision as to which type of wooden flooring you want to lay in your home, discuss with the flooring company any stains and finishes that can be added to personalise your wooden flooring. While some wooden floors are pre-finished, some types of hardwood floor can be adjusted to your specific requirements.