Hardwood flooring continues to evolve to suit the changing design preferences of consumers. Here are five of the latest trends we’ve been seeing in hardwood flooring.
Textures
More and more consumers are gravitating towards textured finishes. Texture can be anything from a rough sawn reclaim look, hand scraping, wire brushing to an overall knottier grade. People want to live in and enjoy their homes. An ultra-smooth floor is harder to keep looking like new. Textures tend to wear better and help disguise small blemishes from pets or normal wear and tear.
Color
More and more homeowners are coming to us looking for a cooler toned neutral hardwood floors. The hottest two colors right now are gray toned floors and white toned floors. In the last few years, we’ve seen the warm brown and beige tones of home décor replaced with cooler gray tones. Five years ago, everyone was looking for reds and warm browns, that has completely gone away. Modern and contemporary design tend to incorporate crisp, clean colors and let the accessories provide the color pop.
Homeowners looking to keep their large surfaces, think: floors, ceilings and kitchen cabinets, light and airy. Once thought to be too “institutional” white is making a comeback especially in kitchen and bath design. Consumers looking to play on this trend are looking for an underwhelming wood floor that will not overpower the rest of their design.
Matte Finishes
Gone are the days of the glossy topcoats, making it essentially impossible to keep your floor looking like new. As stated above, people want to live in and enjoy their homes, not constantly worry about whether they are scratching their floors. Matte finishes offer the same protection as glossy finishes and show less scratching and wear. Matte floors also tend to look more natural versus the sometimes plastic look you get with a high gloss floor. We are also seeing a piqued interest in alternative finishes such as oils and hard waxes as consumers become more environmentally conscience.
Plank Size
Wide plank flooring has been popular for a few years now. It is easier to install, and will help add the illusion of space to a room. Most buyers are looking for a plank that is at least 5” in width and many prefer something even wider. Consumers are also gravitating toward a mixed width product. Mixing wide and narrow planks adds some dimension to the floor and makes it look more natural. We are especially seeing a preference for mixed widths in rough sawn textured floors.
Engineered
With many homeowners installing radiant floor heat in their homes we’ve seen demand for engineered flooring. Engineered floors are real wood floors that have a thin wood layer on top and multiple plys of plywood for the core. Engineered floors are more stable than solid wood floors and are generally the best choice when going below grade or over radiant floor heat. Engineered flooring is now the most commonly sold hardwood flooring globally.