New Hardwood Flooring for a Full Home Renovation

When we bought our home 4 years ago, we knew this would be our 3-5 year house. As with all good things, time flew by and we soon found ourselves at a crossroads. Our small 1800-square-foot house was cute and cozy, but sometimes impractical – especially if we ever wanted to expand our family in this home.

After reviewing comps of what we wanted in the area, we knew that our best bet would be to reinvest into our current space. We could make some dramatic changes for us to spend another 3-5 years here, plus help with resale value.

When we decided to “love” our home instead of “list it,” there was a laundry list of “must haves” for our new space. Aside from the obvious things like a larger kitchen and redone master bathroom, we also considered the flooring.

The previous owners of our house swapped out the original hardwoods for a Brazilian redwood floor. Sounds great in theory, but resulted in us having three different color floors for each level of the house, which bothered me so much. You know those irrational things that bother you and no one else? That was the three different floor shades for me. Every time I stood at the foot of the stairs and saw the different floors, it drove me crazy.

We considered all of our flooring options and The Home Depot was the best place to do it. I knew that I wanted something durable, natural and trendy. Ultimately, we ended up with the Malibu Wide Plank French Oak, but there are a ton of things we had to consider before making the final decision.

Flooring styles can get outdated so quickly if you aren’t careful. We explored the least expensive option to the most expensive option and everything in between. The contractors were told upfront that due to the varying colors, staining would be out of the question. We both loved having hardwood floors, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t an investment. We explored so many different types of flooring; from bamboo to laminate, and even a short stint looking into wood-style tile, but ultimately we knew we wanted true hardwood flooring.

Once that decision was made, the tough part was actually picking out the right hardwood floors. We went back and forth nearly two dozen times on light v. dark colors, and ultimately ended up with a neutral medium. With the design aesthetic of the house being modern timeless, we really wanted the floors to complement the space, instead of the other way around.

Choosing to install Malibu Wide Plank French Oak floors was the best decision and we could not be happier. There was a slight grey tint to the otherwise neutral wood with natural markings that made it the perfect base for our home.

Once our new floors were in place, our next order of business was picking out this rug for our kitchen. I was a little worried that this is where our taste would collide, but instead it was such an easy experience. We used the filters on The Home Depot website and searched rugs by size and color and within 5 minutes fell in love with the one that we added to our home.