Mix and Match Hardwood Flooring Species

31 May 2008

When you’re shopping for hardwood floors, the salesman will probably ask you what species of wood you want. Do you like oak? Cherry? Maple? Perhaps something more exotic like Brazilian teak or zebra wood or tiger wood (all the really fun woods are named after animals)? Ultimately, you’re supposed to pick one. But if you’re having trouble deciding, maybe there are ways to integrate more than one species into your flooring outlook.

While you probably wouldn’t want to alternate boards, you could do something like the hardwood floor shown here. Different inlays highlight different species of wood. This is actually a flooring company’s showroom floor, but it demonstrates a bit of what you can do to create interesting contrast.

You may also want to check out past posts on hardwood floor inlays and hardwood medallions.