Decorating

My Dream Wood Floor

Here’s a quick ‘how long have you been reading this blog’ check. Remember when Brandon and I installed bamboo flooring in a couple of rooms in our first house?

Installing Bamboo Flooring

We were so house-proud. Dark bamboo was especially good against pale pink walls!

It looked equally at home with charcoal gray, too. There are a bunch of options out there for dark bamboo, depending on whether you like it to be almost black, a little warmer with more brown, textured, or smooth. This espresso stain looks the closest to the finish we used all those years ago. Floor & Decor has a bunch of videos on their site, including one all about bamboo flooring.

Dark Gray Bedroom | Making it Lovely

That home was old (built in 1910), but the second floor was a later addition and we felt like we could deviate a bit from the style of the house. The dark floors were dramatic, and they provided the contrast I tend to love in design. A word of warning though — dark floors, be they wood, bamboo, carpet, or tile, need more frequent cleaning because every speck of dirt, dust, or pet hair shows. Still, they look good enough that I would take the tradeoff.

We’ve put in new flooring in the Victorian too. I was very pregnant when we remodeled the second floor, so I wasn’t about to do the installation myself. We did half of the hallway and got to a stopping point, with the intention of taking a break, having a baby, getting the house rewired, and then continuing on. The electrical work is about 80% done, according to the electricians, but the last 20% is going to see us ripping up a lot of the house to access everything. Poor house. But then we can finish the hallway (and a few other projects that the rewiring had put on hold)!

The Hallway's Floor, in Progress

The solid hardwood I chose for the hall is a skinny Gunstock Oak. I tried to match up our existing wood floor as closely as possible, in color and width. I do sometimes miss the drama of the dark floors in our old house, but a medium tone is beautiful too.

In a different house though? I would kill for a chance to install one of these gray wood finishes. I’ve seen a few of these at the store, and I think this one is my favorite. Installed in a chevron or herringbone pattern? It would be so good.

You know, like in Jacques Dirand’s Paris flat.

Jacques Dirand's Home

Sigh. Total dream floor. Does it really fit in a Chicago Victorian? DON’T CARE. But it doesn’t make sense to randomly add it to a hallway, and so we didn’t. Now if we were ever to replace the floor in the main rooms? It would be a serious contender.

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  • Laura
    July 23, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    Hmmm. It’s pretty, but for some reason I feel like it would warp really easily? I have no justification for that thought.

  • Ashley
    July 23, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    Love the gray, especially in a chevron or herringbone pattern. Sadly, it doesn’t really work for our English Tudor style house either.

  • Amy
    July 24, 2015 at 11:33 am

    Nicole,
    I have been reading your blog for a few years (not long enough to know the original wood floor post), and wanted to say Thank you! I am always inspired by how you are flexible when you work with your home and have an “I’ll try it and see how it goes” approach to lots of things. We’re just getting ready to buy our first home. It’s old and needs love, but I feel like we can do it! Thanks for being an inspiration to me!

  • Carmen Logan
    July 29, 2015 at 8:24 am

    You’ve done amazing job! Good for you! I am going to move in my new house in a few weeks and I am so excited! When I bought it, it really needed a lot of renovations and I made most of these renovations myself! Thank you for sharing your experience!

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