In 2019, extreme-coloured flooring is still a popular colour choices in the South African flooring market. Ranging from the whitest of whites to the darkest of darks, extreme colours entered the scene in 2017, and are sure to remain in vogue for years to come. Dark wood flooring brings a rich and luxurious feel to your space, lending an element of opulence to your home, although they have been regarded to make spaces seem smaller. Light coloured flooring, while opening up space and making rooms seem bigger, can get dirtier easier, and may never seem clean enough.
Dark wood – such as espresso, dark walnut and ebony – have been trending for a while now and are not showing any signs of slowing down in the South African market. Important to note, however, are the largely absent warm undertones of these dark hues. Cooler tones like blues and greys add depth and quality to these choices, purer and cooler than their warmer counterparts which contain red or yellow undertones.
At Inovar, we stock a range of dark wooden options across our lines, from solid wood, through to our laminates and vinyl flooring, including our new Diamond Core range and AGT range that we have on offer.
Black Forest – Brown Stone
Black Forest laminate is the thickest, widest and longest plank currently on the market, and is perfect for high trafficked areas. Owing to the improved thickness, footfall is quieter, and the flooring has the added bonus of increased dimensional stability. As a dark wood floor, Black Forest offers the option of “Brown Stone” which features in the perfectly unique patterning, printed in a non-solvent water-based ink that doesn’t contain any heavy metals, making it the perfect choice for your home and family.
Herringbone – Black
The all-new Herringbone comes in a small and versatile plank which can be laid a multitude of different ways and opens up a range of style choices to the discerning design and detail oriented homeowner. Herringbone, the first of its kind in South Africa, offers the interior designer all the options of a solid wood, combined with the affordability, durability and easy installation of a laminate. Herringbone comes in a simple “Black” as a dark wood option.
Diamond Core – Malachite
Diamond Core, as the name suggests, contains an incredibly resilient inner composite made with an amalgamation of stone and plastic, giving this product extreme temperature resilience and four times better dimensional stability compared to ordinary vinyl. Diamond Core offers a beautiful “Malachite” as a dark wood option.
FinOak – Dark Grey, brown and other stain options
FinOak solid wood flooring is made from sustainably sourced woods. You can choose from a range of core options, from the high-density fibre board core, to the multi-layer or three-ply core, all of which are finished with a European Oak top face and brushed and finished to your specifications. FinOak leaves a lot of room for the design-minded home-owner or to play. The pre-finished “Dark Grey” is an excellent choice in terms of a dark wood floor, although there are countless stain options that can be customised to suit your space. View this beautiful custom Cashmere dark brown Finoak floor.
Dark wood has been criticised for being difficult to maintain since scratches can appear more prominent on a dark surface. In order to protect your dark floors from scratching you can choose a low sheen because high sheen reflects more light and shows up dirt, scratches and indentations. Take your shoes off to protect your floors from dirt and tiny pebbles trapped in the soles of your shoes and use felt pads underneath your furniture. To clean your floors, use a micro-fibre mop, as regular brooms can easily scratch floors and make use of area rugs on high trafficked footpaths, for instance, down corridors. By following these steps, you can keep your dark wood floors in tip-top shape for many years to come.