Adding Special Design Elements to Your Wood Floor

Advances in new product offerings in the wood flooring industry over the past few decades have made it easier and more affordable than ever before to customize your wood floor. You can create a one-of-a-kind look with simple upgrades such as borders, medallions, hand-distressing and painting, mixed media and exotic wood species.

Borders can be used to create a custom frame effect that contrasts with the look of your room's main flooring area. For example, a simple medium colored wood such as white oak would look great with a contrasting border in a darker species of wood such as Brazilian cherry. The possibilities are endless, and are not limited to wood only. Borders can incorporate multiple wood species, stone, marble, brass, stainless steel, nickel and other metals to create a beautiful and unique look to your room. It is also important to keep the scale of the border in proportion to the scale of the room, to ensure it meets your expectations.



Medallions add a unique look to any room and are available either pre-manufactured or custom-made at the job site. Like borders, medallions can incorporate multiple wood species and mixed media, such as stone, metal and leather. Inlaid designs can range from simple compass point designs to complex custom patterns, such as a family crest. To ensure a proper fit, medallions should be added after the floor is installed. In addition to floor medallions, consider inlays for fireplace wraps, stair risers or thresholds.

Distressed floors add warmth and character to any room by bringing the beauty of nature indoors. There are man techniques used to distress a wood floor, which greatly affect the cost and quality. Distressed floors are available in a very large range of prices with hand-distressed being the most expensive. Most moderately priced distressed floors are primarily done by machine, even though the manufacturer usually refers to them as "handscraped" or "handsculpted". These lower priced floors can still be quite attractive and allow a distressed look for people on a budget.



Keep in mind, that a little paint can transform an ordinary wood floor into something unique. Look at your floor as a canvas in which to create a work of art that reflects our personal style and taste, such as rustic, formal, contemporary or even whimsical.

By mixing wood with other materials such as stone, tile, slate, marble, metal and even leather you can easily create a custom look. For example, you can highlight a marble foyer with wood to create a dramatic entrance or how about incorporating brushed nickel accents into your kitchen wood floor to accent your appliances, cabinet hardware and faucets.



Exotic woods can add an entirely new look to any room and are available in a variety of colors and species. Looking for something with a pinkish-red hue to enhance your décor? How about considering Bubinga from Africa. If rustic is more your style, take a look at Australian Cypress, which is harder than domestic knotty pine. If purple is your passion, there's Purple Heart from Mexico, which will age to a deep purple or purplish brown. For something sleek and dark there's Wedge from Africa, which will age to a very deep brown, almost black color. With exotic wood species, the possibilities are endless.

If you're looking for an affordable way to give your wood floors an entirely new look, try custom stains. To create a contemporary look try light colored stains or for something more traditional try a warm, medium toned color. For a more formal décor, try dark stains. No matter what your wood species, custom stains can help you achieve a custom floor design.