Many people fall in love with dark hardwood colors. Rich, dark finished hardwood flooring can:
- Help create a classic, formal look.
- Make a room seem cozier.
- Be used to create a pleasing contrast with lighter colored furnishings, drapery, rugs, etc.
- Be paired with dark furnishings, drapery, rugs, etc. to unify a room.
If you’re considering dark finished hardwood flooring in your home, you can get it in three ways.
1. Natural color
Many woods are naturally dark, so you can simply select a dark-colored species, such as black walnut. A natural dark color is what many people are after when they install exotic wood floors, using woods such as Brazilian teak or Jarrah.
2. Stain
Stain allows you to choose from a wide variety of hardwood floors, and common hardwood choices such as oak flooring usually stains very easily.
There are some limitations based on the type of wood, but generally speaking you can stain floors as dark as you want, all the way up to practically black.
3. Stain accenting natural color
Working with a hardwood flooring specialists, you can enhance the color of natural woods with stain—not significantly altering the color, but adding warmth to its tone. Using stain to emphasize a natural color, many woods can be darkened in a way that brings out their natural beauty.
What About Dust, Dirt, and Scratches?
Dark hardwood flooring has a reputation for showing dust, dirt and scratches, and there’s truth in that perception. Compared to lighter colors, dark hardwood colors do contrast more with light-colored things that end up on the floor, making those things stand out, just as dirt is more obvious on a dark car than a light one.
With dust and dirt, there’s little that can be done other than to keep the floors swept or vacuumed regularly. You can minimize the look of scratching by choosing a grainier wood.
If you expect your floors to receive a lot of wear and tear—from children or pets, for example—you should be somewhat wary of dark hardwood colors.
Explore Your Options
If you think dark hardwood colors might be just the right fit for your taste and interior design goals, start investigating your choices by talking with a hardwood floor expert. You’ll learn what will work, how much it will cost, and what alternatives you have.
