Designing with Wide Plank Floors: The Finishing Touches

dog on window couch

We love wood and appreciate the natural color tones of all wood types, especially when enhanced with a high-resin tung oil finish. In our previous blog post, we talked about how even though wide plank floors are typically traditional in nature, you can create many different design styles from urban to contemporary, rustic to elegant.

In this blog, you’ll learn how your design and budget options open up even further when you consider staining your floor or applying a handcrafted texture to the surface of the boards.

Stains and Finishes

Have your heart set on our Black Walnut, but it’s not quite in your budget? Try a dark brown stain on our New England Yellow Birch for a very similar look with a lower price point. Eastern White Pine

[Our Original Wide Plank Floor™] takes a stain beautifully, and has a softer grain like walnut. And we recently had a customer who finished their Northern Hickory floors with a dark stain and Tung oil finish for a very refined look.

 

Imagining a white floor to brighten up a beach house or a country cottage, but maple is a bit too formal? Use a white stain on the Original Wide Plank Floor to set the perfect backdrop.

 

Love the grain and color variation of Crosby Heart Pine or Northern Hickory, but find the contrast in colors a little too dramatic for your taste? Try a light golden brown stain to even out the tones while still showing the interesting grain and color variation.

 

Ask us about the William & Henry exclusive blends of stain colors, produced by Sherwin Williams®Our current offerings include: Highland Malt, Canterbury Chestnut, and Williamsburg.

Textured Surfaces

There are also many different types of texturing that can be done to the surface of the boards to create some interesting looks. And our craftsmen use the same methods and tools as they did years ago.

Saw kerf marks can be created during the milling process. When stain is applied, the kerf marks absorb the stain darker than the smooth surface for a rustic finish.

Hand-scraped edges and surfaces replicate boards that are hundreds of years old, showing wear marks from people walking on the floors, rocking chairs and dinner table chairs pressing into the wood, kids and dogs running and playing. This look lends an early American look and feel.

Gentle brush strokes are also applied during the milling process, and when a stain is applied enhances the grain. Design trends from rustic to contemporary can be achieved.

Learn more about how to achieve the perfect style of floor unique to you and your home, and request custom flooring samples by calling 603.354.3368.

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