the perfect WOOD STAIN
Your lifestyle and the maintenance of the floor are important factors to consider when choosing a color for your hardwood floors.
I’ve tried every color in past projects from pickled white to ebony black (see pictures below). Dark floors are a STUNNING choice, especially against white crisp walls. But as beautiful as they are, they involve so much upkeep. Dust and scuff marks are much more evident against dark floors, whereas lighter floors are much more forgiving. Contrary to belief, darker floor do not hide dirt and scratches better - think a black car with water spots and dirt. With two young kids and a pug, the world’s worst shedding breed of dog (omg!), I knew lighter floors was the better suited option for my family.
GLOSS WHITE
PICKLED WHITE
DEEP BROWN
EBONY MATTE
Inspiration Photo
Take inspiration from everywhere.
Years ago, I was browsing through an antique shop and was taken back by the floor. I simply fell in love. I took a picture and asked the shop owner questions of how she achieve this particular look.
I’ve always kept this picture and that information in my back pocket. I particularly love this flooring color because it’s light but not too modern - which light floors tend to be. It’s a nod to the past with a French provincial vibe, but one that you could see layered with contemporary furniture and artwork. Just felt right and balanced. It also appears to be “natural” but with a tonal color wash for dimension.
This look is not achieved from something bought off the shelf - to look this “natural” it takes a custom mix. I knew I was never going to achieve the perfect match but I was going to try my best with a few factors to consider:
Species of wood: I was working with Antique Red Pine.
Bleaching: To kill some of the red tone in the wood, you will have to bleach it before applying stain. The trick is not too much so that you still get a warm pink undertone.
Custom Mix: To achieve a look this natural, it takes the most unnatural process. If you want something to look simple, it never is.
Application: You really need an artisan to apply your stain. It has to be essentially buffed into the wood so that the wood retains the color and the color doesn’t just sit on top - which can lead to scratches and eventually show wear.
Sealer: A sealer is going to affect sheen and color.
Finding the perfect flooring color is exhausting, and I am relentless when trying to achieve a particular result. Luckily I had an incredibly talented (and patient) flooring contractor. He made many color samples until we settled on a family of tones that I felt got us closer to my inspiration picture. Sampling a lot of stains is important to the process, so don’t rush it. You have to live with this choice for a very long time. Give yourself at least two rounds of sampling. Provide inspiration to your contractor, let him or her develop samples and make sure they are on the flooring you will be using. That is key! From there, zone in on the tones you liked the most, and then start developing custom mixes for your next round. Repeat if look is not achieved.
The stain color I eventually landed on has a percentage of white, brown, and black and then sealed with a white Nordic sealer. (But before you ask me, I forgot to get the exact formulation of the floor which I promise to share! Don’t worry he’s coming back to do my master bathroom.)
Rule of Thumb: it takes a lot to look simple.
There is an area of my home that is the final phase of renovation. There we left the original floor color until we resolve the wall layout. The picture above is a great shot of ‘before and after’ of the same floor. The original color appeared to be a standard stain from the store which not only felt out-dated but the varnish was peeling throughout. The rich coloring masked the graining of the wood, which to me, is the best feature. Many times when we see this brown color we think that is a natural wood color which is not the case. It has coloring and a heavy clear coat applied which manipulates the color. We’re just wired to think otherwise because it’s the traditional method.
In the end, we were able to get pretty close to the original inspiration picture and a color that truly appears more “natural” which of course I like, but when Aaron saw it after weeks of discussion and back and forth I think the poor thing was so underwhelmed. He said, “Is there another coat that goes on top? Or…” I get it! It looks bare at first glance. But both me and the installer just looked at each other and laughed. To get finished wood to look like this - takes A LOT.
Tips to consider, beyond the finish color:
Make sure to finalize room layout architecturally. If you are creating openings into a room or knocking down walls, you want to establish all those boundaries before refinishing floors. You don’t want patches anywhere, especially at thresholds. You have one shot.
Stay away from knots in your your planks by going with a select grade hardwood. This is if you are purchasing new wood for your project. Generally speaking, knots in floors are a clear sign of a younger wood type, so it looks out of place in a historic home. I’ve installed wood floors with knots, strictly as a cost savings since select grade will have a more premium price tag, but only if I am going with a dark stain whch helps to hide the knots. But if going light, I suggest to go select.
All new wood needs to be acclimated inside the home before installed. Wood needs to sit inside the home with A/C and(or) heat running for a minimum of 3 days. Best practice a week or two if you can afford to do so. Make sure wood is not contained inside of boxes and that it is cross stacked to allow proper ventilation. This process is most important because it avoids, cupping splitting and cracking.
Before
Before
Before
After
After
After
Below is our kids future playroom. We still have a lot of renovation left in this room but went ahead and did the floors while we were proceeding with the rest of the home. It’s open, light and airy due to the flooding of natural light, so went with a standard white pickle in here to keep the room bright, as well as predicting high traffic.
Before
After
There is much more to my flooring renovation that probably deserves it’s own post. Of course with renovations, particularly historic homes, NOTHING goes as plan and you just have to be ready to pivot and make quick decisions. We started at the top floor and by the time we refinished the downstairs, we uncovered that most of the flooring there was a totally different species, red oak. See what I mean that a darker stain can mask a lot of the woods characteristics? Prior to the refinishing we thought it was all the same. There were many more complex issues with downstairs that I’ll reveal later. For now, enjoy these tips and let me know if you have any questions!