Hardwood Flooring Trends - Materials and Styles

Welcome back to the third and final article of the series dedicated to the hottest wood flooring trends of the year. In the previous two articles, we have already discussed what wood flooring colour and finish to choose if you want to enjoy a wooden floor that is totally in style. In this article, we finish the topic by providing you with great ideas of the trendiest hardwood floor materials and styles.

Solid Wood Flooring is Lifetime Investment

Indeed, solid wood floors are a lifetime investment. Despite the fact that new and more innovative wood flooring products have been introduced to the market in the past decades, such as engineered wood flooring and bamboo flooring, solid wood remains a very popular option among homeowners. In a nutshell, solid wood flooring is designed to last up to a whole century, which is one of its biggest advantages. So if you are looking for a long-term investment, solid wood flooring is always your best choice.

Solid wood floors are available in a great variety of wood species, colours, textures, grains. You can practically find the exact match to your home's interior. In addition, solid wood floors can be re-sanded and refinished many times in their lifetime, which means you can have your solid wood floor looking brand-new even after years of use, plus you can completely transform the look of your floor to match current trends. However, keep in mind that solid wood flooring is not suitable for installation in areas that might be subject to increased humidity and moisture content levels, as well as temperature fluctuations. Solid wood flooring is prone to moisture and water damage and this type of flooring is not the best choice if you have a concrete subfloor.

Farmhouse Style

Farmhouse interior style and rustic look have never been so popular and trendy as they are at the moment. In fact, you can spot farmhouse interior style in every interior design magazine and blog. Naturally, you may fall in love with this style of interior, being exposed to so many beautiful photos and want to incorporate it in your home too. The best way to achieve the farmhouse style for your home is by choosing the right farmhouse-inspired flooring. There is a range of farmhouse-inspired flooring options you can choose from and find what meets your preferences and requirements the most.

Some of the characteristics of farmhouse wood flooring include wider floorboards, subtle and pale wood colours with cooler undertones, which usually includes greys, grey mixes, lights and whitewashed floors, rustic grade and stronger natural pattern. Distressed and rustic floors are the brightest examples and a necessary aspect of every farmhouse interior. The farmhouse is all about a more subtle, natural, and authentic look.

Simple Layout

This year is all about simpler layouts and more and more people are going for these. A simple layout is usually represented by a single width plank in a straight lay. Multiple widths as well as parquet patterns are left in the previous decade. Simple, clean lines created by your wooden floor correspond perfectly with the trendy minimalistic interior style. The clean look with fewer distractions allows you to enjoy timeless beauty in your interior.

Wider Planks

Most of the current interior design trends all revolve around wooden floors with wider planks. These are not only trendy but also very beneficial to your interior - wide wood floorboards make every room appear more spacious and larger. What if the most interesting things about wider floorboards are that they have the ability to make modern interior look more contemporary and vintage interior - more rustic and authentic.

White Oak

Oak is probably the most popular out of all wood species used for manufacturing domestic wood flooring. In fact, oak accounts for more than 80% of the domestic wood flooring in Europe and in the US. Out of these eighty percent, the majority of domestic wood floors are made out of white oak. As opposite to red oak, this year people are still preferring white oak, mainly because of the clean and contemporary look of this wood species, it's smoother graining that blends with every interior style perfectly and works as a simple and elegant background.

The more modern and contemporary look of white oak is a result of its linear mineral strakes. Red oak, on the other hand, is considered to be the most classic and traditional out of the two wood species, coming with a stronger and more distinctive graining. In addition, white oak allows a very broad range of wood flooring colours and stains, including the sometimes challenging to achieve grey and whitewash. Compare to red oak, white oak is more resistant to water and moisture, which means it the more durable and functional choice.

More Options for Cuts and Grades

Customers are getting more and more educated about real wood flooring and the demand for more and more options and uniqueness increases constantly. In order to be able to timely respond to every growing demand for new options, wood floor manufacturers are introducing new and more exciting woodcuts to the market. Among the most popular woodcuts, this year will be the rift cut. Rifted hardwood is actively sought after by a number of customers because it expands and contracts less when exposed to increased moisture levels and temperature fluctuations. Thanks to that, the flooring construction will be tighter and more stable, less gapping between the floorboards ensures better durability and insulation of the floor, better appearance, and less thorough cleaning required.

Back to Authenticity

Indeed, the overall trend that dictates the wood flooring world this year can be described with one single word - authenticity. Neutral colours, textures, finishes are highly preferred by the majority of customers.

With so much going on in our lives, it is easy to get distracted from the important, basic aspects of life that makes us happy. Maintaining the connection with nature, simplicity and harmony, going back to our roots and enjoying slower living are the perfect antidote to the hectic and crazy lifestyle we all have.

And real wood flooring fits perfectly into the concept of simplicity, tranquillity, happiness. We all crave something genuine, something real and authentic and what could be better than choosing real wood for the interior of our homes? So this year is all about celebrating natural wood and its beauty.