One thing about my design style, I absolutely love wood floors. I’m sure you all can agree they are the perfect foundation to any room, no matter where in your home. Now that we’ve finally replaced the carpet in our primary bedroom for a gorgeous hardwood, I want to answer a common flooring question: which way should wood flooring run?
While it’s not nearly as fun as deciding the flooring color, wood flooring direction can be both a functional and aesthetic choice. This is what you’re going to look at for decades! So, let’s dive in and discuss everything you need to consider when deciding your wood flooring direction.
Wood Flooring Direction: Factors To Consider
The first time I sat down to install wood floors myself, I had no idea which way they should go. It was a thought that never even crossed my mind. Now years later, I consider the flooring’s direction just as much as the color and size of wood. Together, you can create the dream foundation for any room.
Here are the wood flooring direction factors to consider:
- Light Source: Take note of the direction and intensity of natural light in your room. Running wood flooring perpendicular to windows can enhance the flow of light, while parallel installation will create a more consistent glow.
- Room Size: The direction of your wood flooring can really expand your space. In narrower rooms, horizontal installation can make the space feel wider, while vertical installation can elongate the room.
- Traffic Flow: Consider how people move through the room. Choosing a direction that goes with the primary traffic flow will help with durability and minimize wear and tear on the flooring.
- Potential Wood Sagging: Wood flooring will naturally expand and contract over time. Running the planks perpendicular to the floor joists can help minimize the risk of sagging or buckling. While this is not a huge issue to worry about, this is still a factor to consider.
- Your Future Preferences: Think about your choices not just currently, but also in the long term. Specifically for different designs, choose one that not only suits your current aesthetic, but also offers timeless appeal.
Wood Flooring Directions:
- Straight / vertical
- Horizontal / side-to-side
- Herringbone
Straight / Vertical
Typically, hardwood floors are laid in a straight pattern, with planks installed parallel to each other along the length of the room. This classic wood flooring direction works well with any design aesthetic and can elongate the appearance of a room.
Horizontal / Side to Side
Installing wood flooring horizontally will help create the illusion of a larger space, particularly in narrow rooms. This direction draws the eye from side to side, enhancing the perception of width. Regardless of if you choose horizontal or vertical, you can’t go wrong with a straight wood flooring direction.
Herringbone
I’m not a huge fan of wood flooring patterns (I think they can look tacky really quickly), but herringbone is the one exception. It’s the perfect mix of a subtle zigzag pattern, without looking too crazy. While this is absolutely gorgeous, this pattern requires skilled installation and will be more expensive. To see a better estimate, read my post on How Much It Costs To Install Wood Flooring here.
Wood Flooring Q+A’s:
Which Type Of Wood Flooring Is Best?
I know there’s a lot of talk about different types of wood flooring, whether it be natural or man-made. Throughout my time renovating our homes, I’ve used both and see a lot of pros to both options. For our bedroom and closet, we utilized LVP planks and absolutely love them. To read all the details on luxury vinyl planks, read my post here.
What If My Flooring Has To Change Direction?
While in an ideal world, each room is the perfect rectangle, this is almost never the case. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to run all of your flooring the same way due to the layout of the space. If your flooring has to change direction, don’t stress it will still look beautiful.
You can create intentional transitions by incorporating borders, inlays, or transition pieces. I love creating borders with flooring and often use tile, but this can also be done with wood. These elements not only make the change in direction look deliberate, but also add visual interest to the room.
So… Which Way Should Wood Flooring Run?
The fun part of designing the foundation of your home- there is no wrong wood flooring direction you can choose. Whether you choose a classic straight pattern or a statement-making herringbone design, the wood flooring direction is a great way to make sure you love everything about your new floors.
Which direction is your wood flooring? Let me know in the comments! And to keep up with the all the latest on the blog, check out my recent posts:
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