Hardwood Floor Layout Patterns

Hardwood floor layout patterns add visual interest

Wood floor design patterns, or “parquet” patterns, add an immediate sense of style and sophistication to any hardwood floor. Patterned wood floor designs originated in the wealthy manors and castles of 16th-century European aristocrats, and the style made a resurgence in the 60s and 70s in America when inexpensive parquet floors were mass-produced. Today, homeowners are choosing high-quality products with hardwood floor layout patterns like Herringbone, Chevron and Versailles to give their interiors a unique sense of elegance and sophistication.

At Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, we are specialists in handcrafted parquet floors that feature a wide variety of hardwood floor layout patterns. From helping our customers to review wood plank patterns and to select the right wood, color and finish, our design teams are experts at creating parquet flooring that will transform any space with warmth and charm.

What is parquet flooring?
Parquet flooring refers to a floor with wood planks that are installed in a pattern, rather than simply being installed as side-by-side strips.

Why use hardwood floor layout patterns?
Choosing a hardwood floor with a layout pattern adds a certain sophistication to the visual aesthetic of a room and highlights the floor as a design feature of the interior space. The right hardwood floor layout pattern can add a sense of movement and visual interest to the floor, making it a focal point of the space.

Can parquet flooring be prefinished?
Yes. Prefinishing a parquet floor is an excellent approach to installation, as the floorboards can be treated at the manufacturer’s facility with stronger sealants to protect them from wear. A prefinished floor also enables the homeowner to avoid the mess and inconvenience of a floor that is finished on site.

Can hardwood floor layout patterns be used with engineered flooring?
Engineered flooring is an ideal solution for parquet flooring, and engineered boards can be easily cut to fit a variety of hardwood floor layout patterns. Carlisle offers two collections of engineered parquet flooring. The Studio Herringbone Collection and the Manhattan Herringbone Collection are both crafted from engineered White Oak hardwood.

Types of hardwood floor layout patterns

At Carlisle, we offer floors in three standard types of wood floor patterns.

A Herringbone floor arranges floorboards at right angles to create a zigzag appearance with a great deal of movement in the design. Each floorboard is cut at equal length – usually 4” in width and 20” in length – for a very even pattern.

A Chevron floor also uses angles in the layout, but the ends of each board are cut at an angle so that they form a V shape when adjoining another board. Chevron has a somewhat “cleaner” feel, with long straight seams running across the floor. Chevron also allows the angle of the boards to be shallower or more acute based on the angle at which the ends of boards are cut.

A Versailles floor is inspired by the floor designs in the Palace of Versailles. The floor is arranged with large squares within which floorboards are cut and laid out in an interlocking pattern that makes the floor appear as if it has been “woven”. This pattern is often installed with floorboards of different hardwood colors for an even more intricate design.

Choosing the hardwood for your floor layout

Carlisle offers a number of wood species that can incorporate hardwood floor patterns in installation.

• Ash floors offer amazing density with hues that range from cream to light blonde to rich nutty brown hues.
• Birch floors feature blonde outer edges and warm amber portions, along with grain patterns that range from highly figured flames to subtle swirls.
• Brown Maple floors feature subtle and consistent grain patterns with hues of rich gold, amber and brown.
• Cherry floors boast a burnished auburn color paired with subtle but distinctive flowing grain patterns.
• Hickory offers unusual strength and hues from lighter blonde sapwood to cocoa brown and beige heartwood.
• Red Oak hardwood comes in deep, salmon tones and tight grain that produces boards of exceptional widths and lengths.
• Walnut floors feature rich chocolate/mocha hues with surprising auburn undertones and complex grain patterns.
• White Maple offers striking, flowing grain patterns with clean and lighter hues for a more neutral finish.
• White Oak features dramatic grain patterns that range from simple and sleek lines to vibrant swirls, with hues that range from beige to brown
• Rift & Quartersawn White Oak floorboards are cut with special techniques that produce straight parallel lines in the grain with vibrant ray flecks that radiate across each board.

Why Carlisle makes hardwood floor layout patterns easy

When you want the finest in wide plank floors and hardwood floor layout patterns, Carlisle is your only choice. As flooring innovators since 1966, our business has been built on delivering wide plank floors of the highest quality. Every Carlisle surface is a handcrafted masterpiece that reflects the owner’s sense of style and taste. With unrivaled service and expert guidance provided at every step of the process, we ensure that your parquet floors will surpass your exacting requirements and our high standards and will continue to delight you and warm your space for years to come.