Most hardwood floor planks are rectangles. Finding ones that aren’t is fairly rare but you can find some squares and some irregular shapes. However, uniform rectangles are definitely the norm. That might sound like you have limited design options but that’s just not the case. There Are many different types of hardwood flooring designs that don’t require a single can of stain or paint. You can choose a dynamic and exciting floor for your home using only rectangular planks of the same wood. One of the most exciting new patterns is herringbone.
Herringbone
A herringbone pattern is so named because it’s supposed to resemble the bones of a fish. It is made of columns of parallel planks of wood. In one column, all of the planks will slope in one direction. On the next column, they’ll all slope the opposite direction. This creates columns of chevrons. With hardwood flooring, there are two ways to mimic this pattern. You can have each plank cut so that it fits against the other planks at an angle. That will increase your workload considerably and create a lot of scrap wood.
Alternately, you could choose a hardwood flooring pattern that is called herringbone but isn’t the traditional method. For hardwood flooring, the principle remains the same; it’s columns sloping one way next to columns sloping the other way. The major difference is that the planks of wood are staggered. Therefore, the next column of planks that slope the other way can fit against the previous planks without cutting. This creates the illusion of columns and resembles the original chevron pattern.
How to Customize It
You can customize your herringbone in several ways. If you want your herringbone to be subtle and understated, choose skinny planks of the same type of wood. If you want your herringbone to be bold but not too dramatic, wide planks will work great. They’ll create a bold look that’s not distracting.
If you want your herringbone pattern to be dynamic, colorful, and exciting, you should choose different planks for the columns. You can alternate between different types of wood or just different finishes on the same type of wood. Some people choose to keep the wood uniform for each column. Others alternate from plank to plank or in groups of planks. Whatever you choose, changing the colors or types of wood creates a very exciting pattern on the floor without requiring any cutting.