Hardwood floors add a beautiful and natural touch. They also add value to your home and are highly praised in the resale home market. Today's hardwood floors have made advances in style, durability, maintenance and care, making them more widely usable throughout the home (with the exception of the bathroom where its use is not recommended due to potential moisture problems). With simple sweeping or vacuuming and occasional spot cleaning, wood floors will last a lifetime. There are hundreds of choices in style and color with today's options even spanning into exotic hardwoods. Most wood floors are available in several grades in a wide range of prices. Nothing can add beauty and warmth to your home like a quality hardwood flooring. Available in many different sizes, qualities, and species, it's easy to get confused while shopping. At Penn Mar Floors we help you through the process of selecting exactly the right hardwood floor for your home.

Selection Tips:

Room Size
If your room is small, select a lighter color to make the room appear larger. Rich, darker tones will absorb available light and create a warmer, more intimate environment in a large room.

Existing Furniture & Cabinets
Be sure to choose a color to either coordinate or contract with your current furnishings and cabinetry. If your cabinets are brown toned, stay with brown tones wood floors rather than flooring with red or gray tones. For contrast, white cabinets look great with any wood floor.

Light Sources
The sizes of your windows, the direction they face, and whether the rooms have incandescent or fluorescent light all contribute to the appearance of your floor. Always view your wood selection in the same lighting as what will be used in your home.

Design Elements & Style
Choose your floor to coordinate with the style you like. Whether your home is traditional, country, or contemporary, wood floors can make a statement. For traditional or country/colonial decors, a random width plank is an appropriate choice Single-width planks are more likely to be used in a contemporary setting. Darker woods can have a more formal look, while lighter floors such as natural or whitewashed tones lend themselves to more casual styles.

Width of Plank
A narrow width board will visually expand a room. A wider board usually works better in a larger room.

Edge Style
A plank with a beveled edge can help delineate detail in the natural wood. A plank with a square edge provides a smooth look across the entire room.

Accents
Only your imagination can limit your choices here. Consider laying your floor on a diagonal to focus the flow of within a room. Using a contrasting or complementary color of wood to frame a room, or to create a dramatic focal point. A border or contrasting color can also be used as a transition from an existing floor in one room to new, non-matching floor in an adjoining room. Another way to achieve transition to a non-matching floor is to run boards in the opposite direction of the existing floor.

Neutral Color
Your floor should complement rather than dominate other design elements in the room. Wood's natural color lets you use it as the neutral color to achieve continuity and balance in your design.

It's an Investment
Your wood floor is a secure choice, both as a long lasting investment in your home and as a reflection of your decorating style. You can use wood throughout your home to create continuity and to visually expand your interior decor.

Hardwood Care