Trying to decide between light or dark hardwood floors? Maybe these beautiful spaces will help inspire you!
We’ve been stuck here for weeks now – should we go with light or dark hardwood? It’s not a small decision – at the very least, these hardwood floors will cover our entire main floor and upstairs, and it’s very likely we’ll choose to go with the same hardwood floors in our basement as well. We have radiant heat throughout our home, so we do know that whatever we choose, it will have to be an engineered hardwood that is approved for installation over radiant heat. That’s about the only thing we know though.
Originally, as I was dreaming up all the ideas before we’d even moved into this new/old house, I got it in my head that I wanted to go with a medium toned hardwood throughout. Something not too dark, but also a bit different than the light floors that it seems like we’re seeing everywhere now. The same light floors that we went with in our old house. I liked the idea of doing something a bit different and I thought that a darker (but not too dark) floor might bring out a bit more of that old world, character that I’ve been hoping to highlight in our tudor style home. I was SO sure that a nice, warm, mid-toned floor was hands down the right way to go. Until I started shopping that is.
I swear, I’ve been to every flooring store within 200km of our home and no matter how many samples I look through, I just can’t find “the one”. They’re all too dark, or too gray, too warm, or too cool – where are all of the medium-toned hardwoods?! Really, I can’t be the only one out there looking for this. I’ve found some that are close (this one is our current front runner, but it’s definitely a bit darker than I’d hoped). I’ve searched them all online and over & over again I thought I’d found the perfect one (like this!), only to discover it’s not at all what I’d envisioned once I see it in person (photos are always tricky to depict true colour).
The thing is, through all this searching, I came across SO many lighter hardwood options that I absolutely loved. The more samples I looked through on my quest, the more some of the light coloured options jumped out at me. And the more I sat with the idea of going with a lighter toned hardwood, the more I liked the idea. They look great in both lighter and darker spaces, hide dirt and dog hair so well, and are SO much easier to decorate around (right down to the wall colour – dark walls and dark floors could get old quickly). I do know I’d love to mix all the wood tones through our floors, furniture and even cabinets – I feel like this would be easier too with lighter floors rather than dark. I don’t know if it’s because I’m just tired of searching for something that I’m not even sure exists and so I’m talking myself into what would likely be the easier, safer option. Or, if lighter floors really are the way to go here. And honestly, I’ve spent far more time than I’d like agonizing over this decision.
I thought it might be helpful to look through some of my favourite spaces from some of my favourite designers to get a better idea about which flooring I’m drawn to most and of course, I thought it would be fun to take you along for the ride. I *think* I’ve landed on one over the other, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts, so please share in the comments below! What do you think, should we go with light or dark hardwood floors?
An Argument for Light Hardwood Floors
An Argument for Dark Hardwood Floors
I hope you found as much inspiration in these images as I did! These are some of my very favourite designers and creatives to follow, so be sure to click through to their Instagram accounts to see more and follow along with all of the beautiful images and design inspo they share there!
And please share your thoughts friends! I would LOVE your help to think this through!
Wishing you SUCH a lovely day my friends!
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I can't wait to hear your thoughts!