When it comes to hardwood floors, dark hardwood has always been one of the most popular colors. In recent years, dark hardwood has gotten trendy again, vying with light wood flooring for the most popular style of hardwood flooring.

There are a number of reasons why dark wood is so popular in 2022. Dark hardwood floors add a dramatic and impactful look to any room they’re in, while also being able to suit most any aesthetic when it comes to paint or furniture. The reason for this is the cool tone of dark hardwood. A cool tone allows the wood to mesh well with both cool and warm colors. This also makes them easy to decorate with relative to medium or light colored floors.

So if you’re interested in dark hardwood flooring, we can see why. Not only will the color be stylish and trendy now, but it will likely maintain its allure and match styles going forward in the future. Not to mention that if you do eventually tire of the dark color, they can be refinished later on to be a lighter color. As Philadelphia’s hardwood flooring experts, we’ll tell you all you need to know about dark hardwood floors so you know whether or not it’s the right choice for your space.

Joe Mabel, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

What is the Best Dark Hardwood?

There is no one particular type of hardwood that is definitively the best for dark flooring. The specific species of wood that’s best for your floor is going to depend upon your needs and tastes. Another great aspect of dark wood is that almost any hardwood can suit a dark floor. This is because darker woods naturally suit it and lighter woods can be stained dark.

In general, we like white oak wood floors, walnut, and ash for dark floors as they can be variable in color and are good species that are both durable and flexible. Species of wood for floors that don’t accept stains well, like maple or birch, will generally be worse for dark hardwood.

Is it Good to Have Stained Hardwood?

Not only is it fine to use stains to achieve a dark hardwood floor, but it’s actually the most common. While there are some species of wood like black walnut that are naturally very dark, these woods are more rare and thus more costly. By using a best wood floor stain, you can transform a variety of lighter woods that may structurally suit the needs of your space better into the dark floor that you want.

Dark Hardwood Pros and Cons

There are a number of benefits to dark hardwood floors. The dark color of the floors reflect sunlight so they don’t fade as quickly as light hardwoods do. Apart from the obvious style benefits a dark floor can bring, there is also a potential financial benefit. It’s believed that homes with dark hardwood floors tend to sell for more than similar properties with lighter floors. 

There are some drawbacks to dark hardwood flooring of course. While the dark color is stylish, if the space is subject to a lot of natural lighting, debris like dust, dirt, or pet hair may show more easily than they would on other lighter floors. Another potential drawback is that  things like wood floor pet damage, scratches, or dents may also show more easily. However, it’s easy to avoid these problems with proper care and maintenance. Hardwood floors should be cleaned once a week to remove the debris that causes damage to the floor to begin with.

Dark Hardwood Floor Installation

At Artisan Wood Floors LLC, we install dark hardwood floors in PA, NJ, and beyond and have decades of experience working with all different types of homes, woods, layouts, and client desires. Weather you want your home to look like a moody cave or a rustic french kitchen, we can make sure that your dream space comes to life with the dark hardwood of your dreams. Call (215) 515-7355 and ask for Steve or click here to contact us for an estimate on your PA hardwood floor project today!