
Are wide plank floors a good fit for my Space?
The wide planks play tricks on your eyes and enhance your space rather than taking away from your design. To be honest, you will spend more time appreciating your wide plank floors to notice anything else in the room, but maybe I am a bit biased! Take this Kid-Friendly Space.. This is an extremely small space!
Do wide or narrow wood floors make a room look bigger?
In big rooms you can normally get away with either narrow or wide wood floor boards, but ironically, while wide boards will make a small room look bigger, they can also make a big room seem smaller.
Why is narrow plank flooring so expensive?
Believe it or not, narrow plank flooring is often more expensive than wider planks to have installed. This comes because more planks are needed to fill the space and installation will take longer because of the number or planks being used.
What is wide plank hardwood flooring?
Most types of wood flooring range between two and five inches wide. Wide plank hardwood, on the other hand, is generally defined as six inches or wider. And that’s about it! Wide plank flooring doesn’t have any special care requirements. You don’t have to do anything different than you would with normal-width hardwood.

Does wide plank flooring make a room look bigger?
Wider planks can work to make your room look bigger. They can also be more affordable because you need fewer of them. Larger tiles provide depth: A newly popular type of flooring is luxury vinyl tile (LVT).
Which way do you lay flooring to make room look bigger?
Laying your floors diagonally is one of the most effective ways to create a larger space. Diagonally laying floors tricks the eye into seeing the pattern in a different perspective, which also creates more visual interest.
Do dark floors make a room look smaller or bigger?
Decorating Tips for Color Generally, light colors make a room look bigger and brighter. Light and bright colored walls are more reflective making a room feel open and airy, and maximizing the effect of natural light. Dark colors, on the other hand, absorb light, making a room look smaller.
Should flooring run the length or width of a room?
The length of the flooring board will more often than not, run with the length of the room.
What kind of flooring makes a room look bigger?
1) Light and dark flooring Choosing lighter coloured flooring to compliment your furniture can expand the perceived size of any room and can open the space right up. Think cream carpets, natural and neutral toned tiles and whitewashed wood flooring.
Is wide plank flooring better?
Wide plank flooring, lighter shades, in particular, are also gaining popularity in contemporary spaces. In large spaces, the wide planks and light wood can give an airy, open feel. Wide plank flooring also means fewer seams between boards and thus fewer interruptions of the natural lines of both the wood and the room.
Is it better to have light or dark floors?
Long-lasting color: Its color makes dark hardwood prone to absorbing sunlight, while light hardwood reflects it. Over time, you'll find that your dark flooring results in less sun damage, retaining its dark sheen for longer.
How do you make a room look bigger and brighter?
Use contrasts and light colors that make rooms look bigger Light and bright walls are more reflective, making a space feel open and airy, which helps maximize natural light's effect. Dark shades tend to absorb light, making rooms feel smaller. Accenting walls to make a room look bigger is another way to go.
What width of hardwood flooring is best?
Stick with thin widths for a classic wood floor: If you're a traditionalist, planks between 2 ¼ inches and 3 inches are most common in homes and give you that classic hardwood floor appearance. Go wide if you love character: Wider floorboards of 5 to 12 inches reveal a wood's character, including grain and knots.
Which direction should I lay my plank flooring?
The most common way to lay hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists, this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it aesthetically provides the best result.
What direction should you lay vinyl plank flooring?
Flooring is typically installed in the same direction of your leading source of natural light, and the same goes for luxury vinyl. If you have large windows in a living room or an entryway that allows a flood of natural light, then run your planks in the same direction.
Should flooring be the same throughout the house?
There is absolutely no need to change flooring from room to room. We often work with homeowners who feel the urge to pick a different flooring for every room of their home, but there is absolutely no need to do this. Your home will look best if you create one consistent look that travels from room to room.
Which way do you lay flooring in a room?
As a general rule, make sure to lay your floor in the same direction as the main light source in a room and in the same line as the most frequently used entrance. If there are several doors and windows, then opt for the direction that's the easiest to install.
What direction should you install wood floors?
The most common way to lay hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists, this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it aesthetically provides the best result.
Should hardwood floor lay vertical or horizontal?
Wood floors should always be laid perpendicular to floor joists—across rather that in between them. This will make the floors structurally sound and will help prevent the planks from separating, sagging or buckling. So, there is no right or wrong way to lay your wood flooring.
How do you make a room look bigger and brighter?
Use contrasts and light colors that make rooms look bigger Light and bright walls are more reflective, making a space feel open and airy, which helps maximize natural light's effect. Dark shades tend to absorb light, making rooms feel smaller. Accenting walls to make a room look bigger is another way to go.
How to make a small space look bigger?
Here are a few tips to enhance your small space: Keep it light! Choose light & air y wall colors. Whites, light creams, and grey tones will be your friend. Simplify the space - incorporate some of your favorite items, but reduce bulky furniture and unnecessary items in the space.
Does wide plank flooring make a room look smaller?
Contrary to what you might think - wide plank flooring does NOT make your space look smaller. In fact, in many small spaces, it adds unique visual interest. The wide planks play tricks on your eyes and enhance your space rather than taking away from your design.
Why do small rooms have wide plank flooring?
A small room may look bigger with wide plank wood flooring. The exact reason for this comes down to optical illusions and fun sciency stuff, but the point here is that if you’re trying to open up your limited space, wide plank floors could help!
How Does Wide Plank Hardwood Flooring Affect the Look of a Room?
However, wide planks can have a big effect on the appearance of a room.
How Much Does Wide Plank Wood Flooring Cost?
If you’re thinking about buying hardwood floors, you’ll find plenty of wide plank choices in both solid and engineered wood. Oh, and many of the best hardwood floor brands sell wide plank options too!
What is the best flooring for wide plank floors?
Ultimately, if you want wide plank wood flooring and don’t care if it’s made of real wood, it’s probably easier to choose vinyl, tile, or laminate over cork or bamboo. The sheer availability of wide-plank bamboo flooring vs. laminate makes the latter a more practical option.
What type of wood flooring is wide plank?
Most hardwood species (and even a few softwood species) can be used for wide plank wood flooring. From ash flooring to ebony flooring (or at least ebony-stained hardwood), you should be able to find wide planks in your favorite wood flooring type. That said, there are two types of wood flooring that are almost always available in wider planks: oak ...
Why are wood planks narrower?
Wood floor planks have traditionally been on the narrower side—because hardwood has the tendency to expand and contract depending on its environment. And the narrower the plank, the less prone to warping it is.
Why do wide plank floors cost more?
Because there’s literally more material per plank, wide plank wood floors usually cost more. However, take this with a grain of salt because you also don’t need as many wide planks to cover a room as you would with narrow planks.
What does wide flooring do to a room?
The other thing that wide and narrow flooring will do to your décor is that it will appear to change the shape and, or dimensions of a room. Here are some ideas to play with if you’d like to change the apparent shape or dimensions of your room: Small rooms. If you have a small room, wide boards will give and impression of greater volume ...
How to make a room look bigger?
Big rooms. In big rooms you can normally get away with either narrow or wide wood floor boards, but ironically, while wide boards will make a small room look bigger, they can also make a big room seem smaller. In big rooms, where you want the room to seem more proportioned, it is a clever trick to mix wide and narrow boards to create an illusion of bringing in the walls. For example, if your room is rectangular, you could create a rectangle of either wide or narrow boards in the middle of your room where the sides run parallel to the walls. Thereafter, you could place a border of the opposite type of board around the outside. That’s to say, if you’ve created a central rectangle with narrow boards, you could create the border with the wide boards, or vise versa. Cutting your room up in this way will cleverly reduce the impression of volume and add interest to your décor at the same time.
How to make a room wider?
Narrow rooms. A clever way to make narrow rooms seem wider is to use wide boards that are laid perpendicular (at right angles) to the long side of your room. The effect of this will be that your room will seem immediately wider. Long rooms. In the same way that wide boards laid perpendicular to the long side of narrow rooms will make ...
How to make a room look more proportioned?
In big rooms, where you want the room to seem more proportioned, it is a clever trick to mix wide and narrow boards to create an illusion of bringing in the walls. For example, if your room is rectangular, you could create a rectangle of either wide or narrow boards in the middle of your room where the sides run parallel to the walls.
What does a wide board do to a narrow room?
In the same way that wide boards laid perpendicular to the long side of narrow rooms will make the room look wider, wide boards laid perpendicular to the long side of long rooms will make them look shorter. While all of these effects are only visual rather than actual, the right choice of board can make a huge difference to the look ...
Do wide boards make a room look bigger?
If you have a small room, wide boards will give and impression of greater volume to your room, particularly if they are light coloured. Big rooms. In big rooms you can normally get away with either narrow or wide wood floor boards, but ironically, while wide boards will make a small room look bigger, they can also make a big room seem smaller.
What is wide plank flooring?
Wide plank flooring is gaining in popularity recently. Many people are loving the look of these wide planks in their homes. What used to be considered a rustic choice, is now being chosen for even the most contemporary spaces. You can often see the wood grain and other unique characteristics of the wood when you choose wide plank flooring. There will be fewer seams in your flooring and can help the space look more stream lined. If you are looking for an open, airy feel in your home, wide planks are a good choice.
Why are narrow planks so popular?
They are a great choice for small spaces as they can create the illusion of space when there isn’t any. When there are more boards installed with narrow planks, they are often more easily maintained. Narrow planks are less likely to buckle when they are faced with humidity problems.
Is narrow plank flooring more expensive than wider planks?
Believe it or not, narrow plank flooring is often more expensive than wider planks to have installed. This comes because more planks are needed to fill the space and installation will take longer because of the number or planks being used.
Does it matter what type of hardwood you have?
It doesn’t matter what type of hardwood you have decided to have installed in your home. You can count on the experts at Mike’s Custom Flooring to install your hardwood flooring flawlessly. Our flooring experts are highly trained so that you won’t second guess your choice in hardwood installation. Call us today!
Is wide plank flooring good for a small space?
There are a few cons that come with choosing wide plank flooring. If you have a small space, wide plank flooring can make the space feel crowded and smaller rather than larger. Also, if you are looking for a more contemporary vibe, or a more polished look, the knots and loud wood grain can work against that.
Why do you use the same flooring in different rooms?
Using the same flooring in several rooms in your home is proven to create a seamless effect that helps each room flow which makes smaller spaces in the home appear larger and part of something bigger.
Why is dark flooring good?
Whether you choose rich colours or softer dark colours, they both have their advantages when it comes to expanding the appearance of a room.
Why do you need flooring in a bathroom?
Bathroom flooring on the other hand is something to be thought of separately due to the function of the room and the humidity and wetness of the room. Your bathroom needs flooring which is able to withstand these factors.
What to use to compliment furniture?
Choosing lighter coloured flooring to compliment your furniture can expand the perceived size of any room and can open the space right up. Think cream carpets, natural and neutral toned tiles and whitewashed wood flooring. These attractive, light and neutral colours give a room an open and airy feel, making it appear larger, whilst also drawing in the natural sunlight from outside.
How to make a room feel less busy?
Simply choose wider planks over strips, which are at least 3 inches in size. Planks will make the room feel less busy and more open due to the fact there are less seams in the floor, as less boards are needed. It’s as simple as that!
How big should a tile floor be?
As with larger planks, making a room appear bigger works exactly the same with tiles. Choose tiles which are at least 12 inch squares to help open up the space. Carpet floor tiles and luxury vinyl tiles are typically available in different sizes also, which is ideal.
What does the right type of flooring do?
The right type of flooring can help shift the focus of a room’s size towards its appeal and function too . Here are five flooring tips to help give the illusion of a larger space in your home:
What Color Flooring Makes a Room Look Larger?
You can use a cream-colored carpet, whitewashed hardwood floor or another light-toned shade to make the room feel bigger.
Why do you need the same flooring in a bathroom?
Other than the bathroom, which needs a certain material for safety and durability, you want to use the same flooring in most rooms. It creates a seamless effect that makes your home feel bigger.
What does it mean when you pair dark flooring with cooler tones?
When you pair dark flooring with cooler tones, you are creating a welcoming atmosphere. In addition, you can use a darker floor color to make the room feel bigger by pairing it with a lighter ceiling. This way, you are adding height by making the ceiling look and feel higher.
Why is it important to put tile in a diagonal pattern?
When it is time to install your tiles, you are going to find that pattern is important for making a small room look bigger with flooring. Installing your tiles in a diagonal pattern is a great way to make your space feel bigger.
Can you use a criss cross pattern on a tile floor?
However, you want to avoid a checkerboard pattern unless you are absolutely sure you have the right-sized tiles.
Does Wide Plank Flooring Make a Room Look Smaller?
Wider planks are another method of making a small room look bigger with flooring, so you want to choose at least 3-inch wide planks over strips. With fewer seams in the planks, the room does not feel as busy, which makes it feel open and airy.
What Color Flooring Makes a Room Look Larger?
After picking the type of flooring and style you want, you get to move on to the fun part — picking the right color flooring to make your small room look bigger.
How to make a small room look bigger?
For instance, a smallish bedroom will always look grander when outfitted with just a few pieces of furniture instead of a full suite. Light-colored and bright-colored walls also tend to promote a sense of greater space.
What is the best floor tones for a small room?
Bright and creamy floor tones can help modernize a small room, adding an element of airiness. Be sure to snag as much natural light as you can or install warm artificial lights to make your small space as attractive and inviting as possible. View Flooring Options by Room.
Can flooring make a room bigger?
Unless you’re ready to bump out a closet and commit to a full renovation, you probably just want your tiny room to appear less cramped and feel larger. Lucky for you, flooring can be one of your best allies in the battle to help a small room seem cozy but ample. In fact, the right type of floor or floor color can make a room bigger, ...
Is LVT more affordable than carpet?
They can also be more affordable because you need fewer of them. Larger tiles provide depth: A newly popular type of flooring is luxury vinyl tile (LVT). Whether you are sold on LVT or another type of tiled hard flooring or carpet, always pick bigger tiles.
