Please help me choose a color and type of hardwood flooring. June 14, 2011   Subscribe What color engineered hardwood should I put in? What are the trends? What are the fads? What color would you NOT recommend?When it comes to hardwood flooring in Westchester NY, dark and light are in – both extremes. Light stains gives the room a nice warm, airy and welcome look; dark stains hardwood gives the room a more formal and sophisticated look. At the moment, dark seems to be the preference between the two, but this can vary based on the home owner’s tastes and style of the home. In addition, over the last two years, a new trend has emerged and an old one has been reinvented. Gray is the new hot trend. And, white wash has been reinvented. Yes, you read that right! Because of these strong trends, I needed to update this article. (My original article was from 2011 and yes, styles and trends evolve). When we are refinishing hardwood floors in Westchester NY, we usually test 3 stains for a customer on their own hardwood.

It’s important to do this as all wood varies and accepts the stain differently based on the type of wood, grade of wood and it’s age. Also, wood color varies, so it’s much better to test it on several pieces – some lighter, some darker to get a true picture of how the stain will look (vs. a small chip that is on fake wood)Dark colors are probably the most stylish and dramatic. There are several similar tones, so I think it’s usually best to see which is just the right shade for your taste.– Ebony for a deep espresso stylish and dramatic look. Jacobean is very similar, so it’s good to test that stain, too. Jacobean is currently the most popular stain. Often, we will test a 50/50 blend of Jacobean and Ebony (this is nicknamed espresso) and many of our customers love this combo. –  Over the last year or two, many customers are looking to go darker and darker – even darker than ebony.  Ebony is a very cool toned color, but you can still see the graining of the oak.  Due to this high demand, earlier this year, Duraseal introduced a new color to their line up called “True Black” and it is striking. 

So, if you want extremely dark, give this color a try.– Dark Walnut is similar to Ebony and Jacobean, but it a bit lighter, which some customers prefer. Patio Furniture Sale Columbia ScJacobean and dark walnut show the dirt a bit less than ebony. Buy Fallout 3 T Shirt– Royal Mahogany has a bit of red cut in. Boxer X Lab Puppies SaleIt’s almost a combo of Red Mahogany and Ebony.Light colors are very cheery as well as neutral. They also work for modern looking homes (and ironically, ebony on the opposite extreme also works for modern).– Most often, if someone is going light, we will do natural as this is the lightest you can go, and it usually costs less than adding a stain. Lighter, especially natural tends to hold up better/last longer and show less dirt.– Golden Oak, fruitwood and ipswich pine are also a nice options – just a tad darker and adds some gold tones for more depthMid tones tend to work for traditional homes in Westchester – they just seem to work color and style wise.

They also tend to hide some of the imperfections if the wood is older. – Provincial is the most popular mid tone color. It works well because, it is a brown stain (and does not have reds mixed in), so it’s very neutral and goes with almost everything. The picture on the left is provincial, but it appearing much lighter than usual due to my flash. The picture below is more indicative of what provincial typically looks like. – Special Walnut is very similar to Provincial but a tad browner, so usually I recommend that a customer tests both colors on their floor to see which they prefer. Provincial often works better in more traditional homes and special walnut often looks a bit more contemporary. – Chestnut is similar to special walnut. Please note that all of these stains come out slightly differently in everyone’s homes pending the species (red oak vs. white oak) and age of wood.Red tones are more polarizing and less popular than the brown tones, regardless of whether the stain is light or dark.

Red tones are more challenging to decorate with as they are more challenging to match other wood furniture, as well as paint, window treatments and pillows. Many homeowners and decorators find the reds limiting.– Popular red tones include red mahogany, sedona red, mesquite red and red oak. Most of these are pretty red.– Then, there are red/brown blends such as English Chestnut. This is a mid toned reddish brownish color.– On the lighter side, there is Colonial maple (rather orange) and Golden Pecan (which is similar to golden oak, but with a hint of red). Yes, gray is the new hot color. It’s been very popular in tile and carpet for the last 3-4 years and it’s now been making its way into hardwood. Gray is a bit challenging to achieve and more expensive than typical colors as you need to blend 2 colors and use a water based poly (otherwise it will yellow). You can read more about gray hardwood floors here – Refinishing hardwood floors gray. My higher end customers and those moving from NYC seem to have a lot of interest in this Yes, one of the most surprising resurgences is white washed hardwood floors.

Yes, 5 or 6 years ago, this was so 80’s, but now it’s coming back! The trend seems to be driven in part by the gray trend and in part by high end beach resorts in the Hamptons and now the Jersey Shore. NYC often starts the trends and this is becoming bigger there, so it’s naturally migrating to Westchester County NY as we have so many who move here from the City and work in the City. It’s especially popular with wider plank flooring. White washed floors are more expensive. Similar to gray floors, you need to use a water based poly, and this costs a bit more and you often need to add an extra coat for more durability. In addition, using a higher grade water based poly such as Bona Traffic will help make your floors last longer (and will be less susceptible to yellowing), but this poly does cost more.Here’s a stain chart for Minwax Stains. Please note that this is a picture of a picture and hence it may not be color correct. Regardless, stain colors come out different on different woods (and even different pieces).