Dark wood floors?

We currently have medium color wood floors (probably the most popular) and are moving and renovating our new home. I'm just so sick of the medium wood floors that everyone has!! I know they go with everything - but to me, they do nothing for a house, they're just kind of there. I love dark wood floors but i heard theyre so difficult to keep clean looking. Plus we have a cat with white hair which cant help the cleaning issue.

Anyone have experience with dark floors? Even if theyre not the super dark floors. Are they difficult to keep clean? Difficult to find furniture that looks good with it? Pros cons?

Re: Dark wood floors?

I have a love/hate relationship with my dark wood floors. I like the look and get lots of compliments on them, but dust and dog hair is always super noticeable no matter how often I swiffer/mop.

Dark wood floors?

The only reason I didn't go dark was because everyone I know that has them complains of the upkeep. I wanted to go really dark. But I also don't like to sweep every day..If I did or had the time I would totally have went darker! I love the look!

Re: Dark wood floors?

Dark wood floors?

We have dark wood floors and I'm in love with them!

Re: Dark wood floors?

We have dark wood floors. I INSISTED on having them.
I have them and regret it.
They look amazing, everyone compliments me on them.
But with 2 kids and a dog, it was the wrong decision.
No exaggeration, I vacuum and swiffer AT LEAST 3x a day.
It makes me tired just taking care of the damn floors lol

Dark wood floors?

We have dark floors and were concerned about keeping them clean, so we chose a matte poly. With the matte poly they aren't super shiny, so they don't show dirt or things easily. They start looking dirty after about a week if I don't mop them, but that's with one kid and two cats.

Re: Dark wood floors?

I have dark floors, I love the look of it but seriously you can see every speck of dust. They never look clean no matter how often I clean them.

Dark wood floors?

I have dark wood floors - they are the bain of my existence.

Especially with a 2.5 year old and a cat. I am forever vaccuming and mopping them because you see every crumb, speck and dust particle.

That said - I love them, I love the way they look and plan on going even darker in our next place.

Message edited 4/12/2013 9:32:12 AM.

Re: Dark wood floors?

Dark wood floors?

Not until it starts balling up in the corners, which happens more often than I care to admit....

Re: Dark wood floors?

I love dark wood but the darkest I would go is Brazilian cherry -- even though I like the look of darker, too much with the cleaning, they always look dusty, they show everything. We have friends that have them and warned us against it.

Re: Dark wood floors?

We went with Medium Walnut with a matte finish. You see NOTHING and they aren't the same color that everyone else has (I know exactly what you are talking about)

I always loved the look of dark floors, but my sister inlaw warned me big time about how hard it is to keep up with them. So we looked around and found this color. I love it

Re: Dark wood floors?

If I had someone to swiffer/clean them every single day - I'd be in love ......but I don't - which is why I vetoed them in our house when DH wanted them.
They're beautiful, but a b*tch to keep looking that way !!

Re: Dark wood floors?

We wanted dark floors but couldn't find anything we liked that we could afford. We went with a wood that has darks and lights in it.

BUT, had I found a color I wanted I would have purchased them. Many people said they bought a little irobot to dust the floors while they're not home to keep them clean

Dark wood floors?

I insisted on them too... stay away, unless you have a cleaning lady that comes everyday! Big pain in the a**, you see every scratch & every crumb.

Re: Dark wood floors?

We put dark wood throughout our whole first floor and I LOVE them, we get so many complements on it.

You can see every piece of dirt, but I am a little odc about it so I vacuum everyday.

Re: Dark wood floors?

DON'T DO IT!! I have dark wood floors, and it really is so hard to keep them looking clean. I vacuum practically everyday, and I feel like no matter how many times they're cleaned, they never look clean.

You can also see every small scratch and imperfection....especially when the sun shines on it. When the time comes to refinish the floors, I will NOT be staining them a dark color!

Message edited 4/16/2013 7:58:37 PM.

Dark wood floors?

We have Brazilian cherry in our kitchen and den. They are beautiful, but so hard to keep clean with a child. Also, the cherry is a softer wood, and dents, so that's also something to consider

Re: Dark wood floors?

As hard as it is to keep my dark wood floors clean, I still wouldn't change them! We stained them dark from the original honey color and it looks so much more modern and makes the furniture looks better IMO. I would rather deal with seeing more dirt than seeing a color I disliked everyday.

Re: Dark wood floors?

We did the whole house in walnut.

But the bedrooms already had a red wood. For the hallways, living room and kitchen we laid down 4 inch planks but used white wood. So the color is slightly different because the wood is different.

Then the dining room is super old parquet also in he walnut, and again has a slightly different color. I think it looks awesome but our old house had natural wood floors and this shows dirt and scratches a little more. But I am still glad I have that color.

Re: Dark wood floors?

Granted....I have laminate & not real wood floors, but they're dark & yes - dust is all I see. I'll Swiffer or vacuum & not even the next day - just in a couple of hours I see a layer of dust.

Re: Dark wood floors?

I have them and love them. It is a semigloss finish and I never really have an issue with them looking dusty or dirty. I have 3 kids and a dog (he doesn't shed though). We don't allow shoes on in the house so I don't know if that makes a difference. The cleaning lady comes once a week and then I do it another 2 times.

The only con I do have is that in our office, it looks wore where the chair was sitting from sliding it in and out. We bought new construction and are only living in the house for a year. I think that reasoning has to do with it not being pre-finished. I think if it was pre-finished we wouldn't have had that problem.

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Dark wood floors?

We have dark wood floors in our living room, dining room and hall and love them. They aren't high traffic areas so it's not terrible to clean up. I'll run the vacuum in all the rooms once a week to clean up any dust/cat hair and then everyother week I'll mop them.