Have you noticed the latest photo features in home magazines? Hardwood is front and center.
You might not like hardwood, and that is perfectly fine, as not everyone does. However, if it is something you would definitely consider when upgrading your interior floors, then you will be pleased to note that it is making another comeback. The nation has, once again, fallen in love with hardwood. Whether you know it or not, it is one of the oldest materials available for floors.
However, being old does not mean being blah – far from it. Today, hardwood is customized and detailed, much like buying a new car with options, and you can have pretty much anything you want. The benefits of hardwood? It is long lasting, durable, beautiful, easy to keep clean, and improves the value of your home.
What are the latest trends on the market? They are pretty exciting and will offer you a wide range of choices. For example, wider boards are all the rage and the advantage here is the ability to make a smaller room look bigger. The bigger boards are typically 3 ½ inches wide, as opposed to the usual industry standard of 2 ¼ inches, and this creates a nice, spacious looking room.
Try reclaimed exotic wood for your flooring. The beauty is timeless and the colors are rich and interesting. Additionally, exotic woods are in great demand because they are unique. However, in an ever green conscious world, consumers are starting to demand reclaimed exotic wood, instead of destroying threatened rainforests. Reclaimed wood also has a story; one that will make you feel proud of being green and making an environmentally sustainable flooring choice.
Another trend today is to choose the lighter tones in hardwood, and to ensure they are, like the exotic woods, reclaimed oak. You might not know this, but oak flooring comprises about half of the hardwood flooring industry. If you chose the reclaimed oak, you would have flooring that came from a shipping container, a barn or even an old gymnasium floor. Did you know that the reclaimed oak is tougher than newly harvested trees? This is because the material culled from old buildings used old-growth heartwood.
The whole idea when installing hardwood flooring is to make it look antique and this is a very popular trend to make the new look old. This is where vintage and weathered finishes are coming into play. There are a number of ways to make a new floor look old, such as hand-scraping or using an industrial press, but honestly, this is not something you want to try to do on your own. Check around and talk to contractors if this is the look you want.
Above all else, the leading choice of new flooring for most people is eco-friendly, so if you choose to upgrade your flooring, try the green options. It is a good thing to do and you can choose what is suited to your budget and still feel good about it.
Dean Dupre is with Champion Tile, a Clearwater Flooring, Tampa Flooring, and tile installation company. To learn more, visit Champtile.com.
