apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We have black slate floors in a lot of our house. Looks great but you have to dust, vacuum and clean a lot to keep them looking good.

Just my opinion: I love this look and it would make me happy to live in a place with floors like this. And it's a pretty classy look-- it's not as if the floors were painted safety orange.
If you want to make over your floors because you don't like the way they look, do it. You're the one who lives there right now.

Future owners can always paint the walls if they don't like 'em white.

Hmm. What about just replacing the countertop? Agree that black granite sounds hideous, but granite is so tired anyway, and I'm not just saying that because the NY Times did. I've been obsessed with some of the cement-and-glass countertops for years.

I had dark-stained floors in my old place before it was trendy and I liked them a lot, but I never felt that they added real magic. Though some guests seemed to feel that way.

But, in general, I think it's a trend but also a classic look an that you won't have to worry about people saying "it's so '08" in 5 years, so do it if you like it!

and, yes, dark floors show dirt.

I'm surprised dark expresso-colored floors are still all the rage since dust shows up on them so much. For that reason we decided to go with multi-tonal colored floors (Cumaru). Dirt and dust don't show up as much and different colours of wood furniture match perfectly. Multi-tones are definitely making a comeback.

We recently bough a mid-century home here in Savannah and all of the floors are this dark color of wood (and the walls are white). It looks ok for about 5 minutes once it has been mopped but really does show dirt etc. very easily.

We are planning to replace the floors to something that is more authentic to the period of the house.

I prefer walnut floors.

Hell yes this looks good.

i'm not too sure I like the uber dark flooring, but in some situations it can be a stunning look. The main reason is that unless you have lots of light in your space, it can make a room appear darker than it may be already since it absorbs light.

I don't like the uber light wood flooring either but someting in the medium tones seems about right. Some friends put down Brazilian Cherry wood flooring in their house and it's gorgeous a semi dark reddish finish, very beautiful. I like the traditional medium toned/natural finish found in most places along with the smoked, I think it's called Bamboo or teak, teak like tone too, adds a nice warm glow to the space I think.

But if you like that look, I say go for it, it may be trend-ish now but it's been a more or less classy look for a good while so go for it if you like.

I like the look, but I think if you have pets and OCD tendencies, they might drive you crazy from seeing all the dust/pet hair/dirt/etc. etc.

I have a black coffee table, which is used as our dining room table. It shows everything, including every granule of salt that lands on it. Drives me completely nuts!

I have a loft (ceilings, at least) and I need to re-do my floors. I was just thinking this very thing. I am very drawn to dark floors, but I am scared that it will look sooo dated in the future...maybe too trendy?

we had oak floors in the house we bought in 2003; it was ugly (showed nots, and strips too thin), but it would have been a waste to replace them, so we stained them very, very dark, thus hiding all the things we didn't like. They are still stunning years later. No regrets!

I agree it is a nice look, but in 4-5 years I think it is going to date your condo. Much like maple cabinets, granite countertops and marble bathrooms date the condos from 3-4 yrs ago.

Ultimately those trends emerge b/c they look good, but then developers do every new condo with the exact same look and end up creating a generation of close to cookie cutter places that will date when something new takes their fancy.

I always try to find something uniquely classic to set my place apart from the others of the same generation.

they look fabulous but prepare for lots of dusting!

it's too hard to predict trends. just get what you like and forget about the stupid potential owners down the line. we're not talking about paisley kitchen cabinets or something really weird. i think the dark floor look is nice.

I agree with "j i" above - it is almost impossible to predict how long trends will last. Flooring trends will change, just as trends for everything else will change, and there isn't anything you can do about it. I can't imagine that dark floors would ever look *bad*, anymore than light floors look bad. If it's a quality product, and not too out in left field, you'll be fine.

If you go dark, I recommend keeping the color to a moderate walnut, though, rather than almost black.

I have them and love them. Most of the douchebags that take years realize what nice is will love them by the time you hate them. I've wanted them for many many years. Before they were in style and the are a very cool conversation piece.

I like the dark floor look... but I like it with a warmer color on the walls than white (but with white mouldings). My parents just did that in their weekend condo and it looks really nice!

In terms of pracicality of dark floors... we have black granite tile on the floor in our bathroom and it's a pain to keep clean. water drops show on it, as does toilet paper dust, etc. Things you don't even realize can leave their mark do, so think for a moment about possible messes... dog hair, flour, etc. depending on where within a home you'd put the dark floors.

If resale is an issue, go for an updated classic look - dark floors have been around for several years and will look dated.

It is the same with re-doing a kitchen or bath - yeah, it would be great to do whatever is trendy at the moment - but look at shelter mags from a few years ago and you'll be horrified.

Dark floors are high maintenance because of dust that shows easily. Trends come and go, you never know what those crazy trendsetters will come up with in 5 years so you should enjoy your home with things you truly love right now. However, I agree with Taureg. If resale value is an issue, stick to a classic look and update with wall paint and modern accessories.

(But I should add that something that looks really nice today will still look nice in 10 years, regardless of trends).

fortunately, (well, it is actually unfortunate, but this is how I am spinning it...) we live in such a conservative city that I doubt dark floors will ever catch on, so our dark floors will never be trendy, and thus, never be passé. At least, not in our town. (really, haven't seen them in any other house or condo... for condos, it seems to be either laminate -- seriously -- or glossy maple flooring...)

I love dark floors, I think it grounds a room. What I'm not a fan of is reddish wood floors.

I like the look too. I always have. My floors are dark wood, but not an ebony or a chocolate. Just really darker than normal. It plays well with my super KKK white walls.