Creating Hardwood Floor Designs
with Simple Techniques

When out of the ordinary is right up your alley, hardwood floor designs can put a special touch on a simple wood floor.

For many people just adding the natural beauty of hardwood flooring to a room is enough to provide the finishing touch to their décor. However, if you like living your life 'on the edge' and want to make your floor truly unique, consider creating a custom design in your hardwood floor.

Prebuilt inlays such as medallions, borders, and corners that can really jazz up your floor are available from specialty companies. You can also create your own unique designs with the wood itself - by using your imagination it’s often possible to create a personal touch that reflects your sense of style or interests.

Whether you plan on doing your own installation or hiring a flooring contractor, some hardwood floor designs can complement just about any room and many add very little additional cost to the project.

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR HARDWOOD FLOOR DESIGNS

One of the great benefits of Hardwood Flooring is that there are so many wood species available and each has a distinct look – just like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike.

Using one or two different wood species along with your primary choice is an easy and inexpensive method for creating designs in your floor or you can choose to design by applying different stain colors on the same material.

Hardwood floor designs can be done most types of flooring styles, from unfinished and prefinished solid hardwoods, engineered hardwoods, and some floating laminate flooring.

Some suggestions you might want to consider:

• Go Diagonal– one of the easiest methods for creating a distinctive hardwood floor is to install the boards diagonally across the room.
  
  The installation takes a little more time and material than normal – a small price for a look that is sure to make your guests stop and take notice. Diagonal installations are usually all the same type of wood to make planning the layout a little easier and might be a little too difficult for the beginning DIYer.
  
  
  

• Shapes & Patterns–Installing the wood in an interesting pattern is another way to go. A herringbone design (pictured) is a unique addition to an entrance or small area, or even a octagonal shape. It takes much longer to install so you'll spend a bit more - either of your time or of your installers. These patterns can be made with prefinished wood, but unfinished installation means they'll be sanded flat removing any slight differences in wood thickness.
  
  
• Create a Pathway – if you’ve noticed your carpeting worn in various areas from your family and guests traveling across the room, consider installing a hardwood pathway in the area.
  
  Hardwood holds up to heavy use better than carpet and adds an interesting contrast to the other flooring. In most cases the existing carpet can simply be cut back and then kicked in to meet the new hardwood floor.
  
  
• Borders – create your own borders by simply using a few rows of a different type of wood around the perimeter of the room. If the main part of the floor is oak, consider installing a row of cherry or walnut to add a color contrast before the floor meets the walls. Adding two separate runs of cherry with some oak in-between can create an even more dramatic effect.
  
  
  

• Random Width – while this hardwood installation configuration might not be considered a special design, it can still add a lot of character to your room’s appearance – especially if you choose a wood with numerous color variations.
  
  Many unfinished and prefinished solid hardwoods and engineered wood flooring styles are available as random width selections.
  
  

Creating simple hardwood floor designs often take a little more time than a standard installation, but in many cases they don’t add much in cost and can make a big difference in the appearance of your floor.

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