Hardwood Choices

We all have heard building a house can be a challenge (understatement of the year!). I knew going into this that there would be tough decisions but I never thought deciding on a color of wood flooring would take this long. In the grand scheme of life this decision is microscopic, but somehow it matters.

We have gotten fed up with making decisions at a few points during the home building process. We have to remind ourselves constantly that the more time and thought we put into our choices, the better and more worth-while it will be down the road. So I'm thinking if we live in this house till we die, that's maybe 60 years, then I want to still love our hardwood floors. This is probably not a very practical line of thinking but stay with me here. The wood flooring for most of the main floor of the house is going to run around $7 grand installed so I don't want to ever replace it. Ever.

So let me know what you think. All three are the same wood (maple) and the same line from Mohawk, called Santa Barbara. It is an engineered hardwood and has details called "hand scraped" where some spots are kind of textured and roughed up a little.

We like all three stain choices for different reasons but none of them stick out as the clear winner.

This is a close up of the "Chocolate" stain. First of all we love the name and the dark rich color. I have been warned that the darker the floor the easier you can see dust and scratches stand out. My concern is that all the trim in the whole house is white and I don't want the house to feel so stark with black and white throughout.

Here is a closer look at "Light Amber", so now we are moving in to beer inspired colors. This one is very warm with all its red/orange tones.

Finally we come to our coffee named flooring called "Mocha". This one seems like the safe, comfortable choice with its not too dark and not too light vibe. Our concern is that it might be to neutral and forgettable.

Here is a cross-section of an engineered hardwood floor. It is real hardwood but instead of being one solid slab, it is actually several layers in different directions which helps make the floor more stable over time.

So what's the verdict?

 

 

***Update: We went with Mocha in the end and we are very happy with it. It is warm yet neutral with the bolder paint colors in the house. ************

UPDATE: 2020 still happy with the Mocha and I'm glad we didn't do the red/orange one for sure. The chocolate darker one would have been fine I think. I do wish we had gone with a less shiny finish for the floors, it shows the dust and pet hair easily. We have had plenty of scratches over the years with kids and pets, and I believe the more matter finish would have been a bit better.