We are starting to think about replacing the flooring on our main level. We have tile in our entry and bathroom, vinyl in the kitchen, and carpet everywhere else (great room, sunroom, dining room). If this tells you anything, the vinyl is our favorite of all 3. The tile was not laid on cement board, so it is cracking. The carpet was poor quality and has not worn well. In addition (making this the next big project on our list), our dog had accidents in his old age.

We know that we want wood floors. However, picking them out seems impossible. They have to be pretty, durable, and affordable. The trifecta. I want them to look very classic/traditional. While I love some modern decor, traditional floors are about as homey as you can get. Who doesn’t love homey?! They also won’t go out of style. We will be spending money on these floors and I never want to have to replace them. I don’t want trendy. I would prefer solid floors rather than engineered, but I haven’t ruled out engineered. Also, they have to be the perfect color – not too dark or too light or too red/orange. See, the problem is that I know exactly what I want. I just don’t know if its possible to achieve in a price we can afford. Here are a few different looks that are on my radar:

So that last one is exactly what I want. The others I could live with. The unfortunate thing is that when we go to stores to look at pre-finished floors, nothing quite looks like this color. It is probably a custom stain. That would make it either a DIY for us (risky and messy because sanding is involved) or too expensive. Luckily, we have about a year to work on a decision. Any thoughts on wood floors? Do you like the look of these?

Jalene