When adding tongue and groove hardwood to your décor, selecting the right specie and color can be a difficult choice. Add in options for profiles, stains, various widths and lengths and the choices become exponential. So, how do you know you’re not making a mistake when selecting wood for your home? Here are our top three tips for selecting the right wood for your décor.
1. Determine your style. Is the overall styling of your home modern, classic, rustic, country, shabby chic? Understanding the style of your home is a great starting point for selecting the type of wood you ultimately choose. Should the wood be knotty or clear? Light or dark? Should the wood contain color variations or be more consistent in color? If your home has a contemporary feel with clean lines, you probably don’t want to try to incorporate rustic looking half log siding. It just won’t go with your décor. You may be interested in a painted product, something without knots, or the clean lines of the Nickel Plank Profile.
2. Avoid trying to match everything. We often get customers looking for tongue and groove for their home trying to match something that is already in the home like kitchen cabinets, passage doors or trim. Introducing contrast to a room will help highlight various elements. If all the elements that make up the room are the same, they will tend to disappear into the background. I always encourage people to think of the wood in terms of paint. Ask yourself, if your kitchen cabinets were painted white, would you paint the walls white, floor white, doors and trim white? If not think about some contrasting tones. What elements of the overall design do you want the eye drawn to?
3. Consider your budget. Everybody has a budget, what’s yours? Changing profile, sizes, and adding custom finishes are all great options for achieving the overall look you want with hardwood. Unfortunately, those all come with a price that may or may not fit within your budget. If you can be somewhat flexible, you are often able to get more of what you want without breaking the bank. For example, if you have your heart set on 1x6x10’ paneling but are able to settle for 1x6xRL end-matched paneling, you can complete your project at a much lower cost. If you are designing on a budget skip the stains and other upgrades and look for a wood that has a natural color in the range you are seeking.
