While some luxury interior flooring trends come and go, hardwood is here to stay. Its popularity seems to grow with each passing year, despite the emergence of wood-like LVT and engineered planks. Imitation doesn’t quite match up to the real thing, it appears, as hardwood continues to rank among the most popular luxury flooring types of 2020.
Flooring is arguably the most important part of interior design, laying the foundations for the room and setting the tone for your style. The authenticity of hardwood flooring is what makes it such a hot commodity. Rustic and homely, it exudes unparalleled warmth and character. Hardwood can also improve the value of your home, lasting for decades on end.
The versatility of hardwood floors makes them a timeless and classic design. While there’s a tendency to associate ‘classic’ with ‘boring’, that couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to solid wood flooring. During its lengthy lifespan, hardwood moves with the times and can be refinished to match fashionable colours and styles. Here, we take a look at 2020’s top five most on-trend hardwood flooring tones.
Greige wood
Greige has been on the tip of interior designers’ tongues this year, with its slick, blended colour style proving popular on luxury walls and floors alike. Where grey was once the king of wood flooring colour trends, greige (a combination of grey’s minimalism and the homeliness of beige) has taken the throne, replacing the concrete-esque aesthetic of simple grey flooring. Beige was a top trend during the 90s, and this mixture of past and present styles has emerged as a popular flooring colour of 2020.
The versatility and neutrality of greige is exceptionally effective in every room in the home. It also offers a fresh contrast with whitewashed walls and brighter decorations for the daring designer. In essence, greige is a calming colour which creates a soothing ambience in family areas while drawing light into kitchens and bathrooms. One of the most luxurious wood flooring colours of 2020, greige is a trend that may be here to stay.
High variation colour wood floors
This year, our flooring tastes have steered away from the synthetic and more towards natural-looking floors. One of the biggest flooring trends of 2020 has been a multi-shade design known as high variation. A true statement piece, the luxury flooring typically features planks with similar, yet slightly different, colours, creating shade variation which is closer to the natural state of the material. As no two pieces of wood look identical, neither do the planks used in this flooring.
2020 has seen a wider range of hues and colour palettes joining neutral shades in high variation flooring to create truly unique styles. Those who are looking to create a talking point and exhibit artistic flair with their flooring have typically favoured high variation in this year, exposing the intricate grains and consistencies of the panels to mirror a more organic aesthetic. High variation wood flooring continues to grow in popularity and will likely continue to do so for the rest of 2020 and beyond.
Blonde and honey hues
Dark colours no longer dominate the hardwood landscape. Floors with a lighter tone have grown in prominence, with warmer hues sweeping the flooring market. The delicate and subtle tones of blonde hardwood was once thought of as yesterday’s news. However, this favourite of 80’s interior designers has made a big comeback. Blonde wood flooring can create an elegant and chic feel while significantly opening up your room. This airy hardwood colour for 2020 is as playful as it is sophisticated, creating a naturally cheerful ambience which makes a room feel spacious and full of life.
A touch darker than its blonde counterpart, honey wood has proved equally popular. A luxurious type of wood, honey coloured flooring embodies the space-creating, airy properties of blondes while exhibiting the decadent warmth and richness associated with more hearty hues. The natural tone of honey lends itself to rustic interior design, effortlessly combining with bold and cosy décor.
Whitewashed wood floors
Whitewashed wood is a relaxed design which brings the serenity of seashell-laden beaches into your home. Whitewash has ridden the crest of a wave in 2020, ushered into the forefront of luxury design as darker shades took a backseat. Another flooring trend which was big in the 80s, whitewashed floors have re-emerged with more subtlety and less gloss than their previous iterations.
The whitewash flooring trend of 2020 has seen a linear look being applied to white oaks and hickory, as opposed to heavier graining which was previously more popular. A classic and laid-back colouring, whitewash hardwood floors have been particularly prominent in farmhouse-esque homes, due to the flickers of darker tone which can peek through, offering a delightfully rustic finish.
European white oak flooring
Of all the hardwood species, oak flooring has had a year of prominence, with European white oak flooring proving particularly popular. A winning combination of affordability and strength aside, the quality hardwood flooring creates eye-catching designs in-line with the turning of the tide towards slightly lighter floors.
This particular species of oak has a smooth grey undertone and a cooler overall feel, increasing its ability to work well in a wide range of rooms and designs. Its soft and sleek grain oozes modernity, creating a clean and sharp aesthetic which has a more contemporary feel than its weightier red oak cousin.
In summary, hardwood floor trends of 2020 have seen a welcome return of lighter styles of past decades, as well as some newer innovations. If you’re looking to keep on top of the latest hardwood styles, these five colours are a insight to the way the market is moving.
