Stunning Hardwood Floors: Benefits of the Top 3 Diagonal Patterns

You may have your new hardwood flooring species and finish picked out, but what design do you want for your new wood floors? Here are three popular diagonal patterns to consider.

Floor Design Idea 1: The Herringbone Pattern

Do you want your hardwood floors to really pop? One design option you may want to consider is a herringbone pattern. Used as early as Roman times, the herringbone pattern is created by arranging wood planks or tiles in alternating, zig-zagging 90-degree angles. This pattern is named after the bone pattern of herring fish, which "consists of very short rows of slanted parallel lines." You can distinguish it from chevron by looking at the end of the plank or tile; if it's square than the pattern is herringbone, and if it's cut at a 30-45 degree angle it's chevron.

Why Choose a Herringbone Pattern?

Here are five benefits to this flooring pattern:

1. Although it may look unique and expensive, a herringbone pattern can actually be both cost-effective and stunning in your home.
2. This hardwood flooring pattern gives your floors more movement, which helps make the room feel more spacious.
3. The herringbone pattern works well with more than hardwood floors; consider it for tile as well. In fact, depending on the material you use, it can give your home a rustic feel.
4. The herringbone pattern makes the hardwood floors very strong; the pattern actually, "spreads the load over twice as much area, absorbing high compression," giving it a lot of structural stability.
5. Tile flooring and hardwood floors designed with this pattern have a lot of versatility; depending on the room's design, they can be either subtle or commanding.

A word of caution: Because the herringbone pattern is so interesting visually, make sure you don't use too much of it. You don't want to overwhelm the space.

Floor Design Idea 2: The Chevron Pattern

Do you want your floors to make a bold statement? Here's a hardwood flooring design idea for you: use the Chevron pattern. It’s similar to herringbone, however this pattern differentiates itself with planks that meet on a centerline, creating a pattern of V's laid out row by row.

The History Behind the Chevron Pattern

The Chevron design originated in France in the 17th century, where it was used in many kings' and nobilities' palaces and manors. Then, in the 1800s in Paris, "Much of the city was rebuilt in a large scale urban planning effort. Many of the new apartments featured parquet floors in either the herringbone or chevron pattern." This is when it started becoming an option for non-noble folk as well.

Chevron Hardwood Flooring Benefits

There are a number of benefits to hardwood flooring installed in the Chevron pattern, including these five:

1. The strong pattern gives the space a bold, sophisticated design, in addition to creating a "wavy, undulating relaxed feeling."
2. The neutral color of the hardwood allows for countless decor options while still making a strong, subtle statement.
3. Although it's most effective in larger areas, the diagonals in the Chevron pattern can help a small space seem longer and wider.
4. The design's regularity and diagonals provide a lot of structural stability.
5. In addition to being a great option for hardwood flooring, the Chevron design can be created with other materials as well, such as tile, luxury vinyl tile or laminate.

Floor Design Idea 3: Diagonal Hardwood Flooring

An often overlooked option, this is a nice way to install laminate and luxury vinyl tile (LVT) in addition to hardwood. Although diagonal hardwood flooring requires some extra installation time, there are numerous reasons to consider this floor design including:

1. Diagonal floors are much less common, and therefore will create a unique overall look and feel to your home.
2. It makes the space feel larger, drawing attention to the room's corners rather than its walls.
3. You can use this floor design to create a focal point in the room, like a fireplace or dining area.
4. Because most homes aren't perfectly square, parallel floors draw attention to mis-measured or unsymmetrical walls.
5. Diagonal floors can provide more structural strength to your home because they span the joists, no matter which way they run.
6. As this Yahoo article explains, if you're covering another wood floor "without a subfloor and at right angles to the joists, a diagonal installation spans the joists without following the expansion and contraction of the old floor. This will reduce the chance of unwanted spacing between boards."
7. It's more cost-effective than some other floor design options since it's doesn't require custom-cut planks or handcrafted patterns like herringbone. Plus, if it's done correctly, it uses the exact same amount of flooring as parallel floors.

Want to know more about hardwood flooring design ideas? Come visit our showroom and talk to our experts! We can answer your questions about hardwood floors and more. Remember to contact us for a free in-home estimate, too.