Hardwood flooring question

[jseklund]

I have a design question for everyone. I am going to be laying down a cherry hardwood floor in a dining room. The dining room has a doorway leading into a hallway, and another doorway leading into a living room/stairs. Both the hallway and living room have 20 year old oak flooring that I am going to sand/refinish.

I had this "artistic" (in my mind) idea to take a nice 4-5" board of hard maple and put that down in between the cherry and oak in the 2 doorways as a threshold, perpendicular to the 2 1/4" boards of oak and cherry. I thought this would help define the dining room, making it seem much more formal and seperate from the living area where the oak is.

Now, in explaining all this, I realize that I have the same idea everyone else is telling me- 3 woods will look weird. However, when I'm there and looking at the wood on the floor, my gut keeps telling me it looks very nice.

What do you ladies and gentlemen think I should be doing? Using Cherry as the transition in order to stick to just 2 woods, or using Maple as the transition- throwing common thought to the wind?

[scorrpio]

Sounds iffy to me. I would rip a few small (4" x 1" x 1/8")pieces of cherry and oak, plus one maple, glue them to a piece of plywood in the way you envision, and then sand and finish - and see how maple looks separating two different woods. Should give you some idea.

[LarryG]

However, when I'm there and looking at the wood on the floor, my gut keeps telling me it looks very nice.

Does this mean you've mocked it up, and it looks okay to you? If so, that could be your answer. You might want to get a second, third, even fourth opinion.

Design-wise, little elements like these generally work best when it is an extension of something else in the room. For example, if your furniture was maple, with the same finish (coloring) this piece will have, the threshold would make more sense.

[jseklund]

Thanks for the responses.

I have mocked it up and it does look OK to me and my gf. However, some others who have seen the mockup are the ones that think it will look funny.

I have maple cabinets going in the kitchen- but they're not clear maple color. They have a slight golden stain on them that I really think may look funny on flooring. Not to mention I don't know how I would match it exactly since they're out-of-the-box cabinets.

The idea is to set the room inside the boarder apart as a unique, classy room. I just thought the maple boarder would help to break the cherry from the oak, but perhaps I'm mistaken.

My plan was to put the transition up against the oak with a but joint and biscuits. I would then nail the tongue side down and slide the cherry floor's groove to the tongue for a nice tight fit. My question is- if I decide I don't like it, will it be relatively easy/possible to remove the two boards and replace them with Cherry?

[siliconbauhaus]

So your "threshold" would be maple and 90 degree rotation from your oak and cherry?

In my mind as a architect I think it works as your emphasising the crossover form one room to another. I could wax lyrically about the concept of passing from space to space and it being a journey.

Anyways, I like the idea

[JimD]

If you like it and it is your house, it seems like you have your answer.

Remember that cherry darkens with sunlight, it will start out close to oak in color but get a lot darker as it ages. May not make a difference but I thought I would mention it. I would also be careful when you are sanding and finishing. Oak pores could look a bit odd with maple dust in them and cherry dust could color your maple.

The next time I do a floor, I plan to use pre-finished flooring (I think it will be a lot tougher and it will eliminate the wait and fumes) and I am thinking of doing a picture frame type detail - run about a foot wide strip all the way around the room, and then throw in a strip of a contrasting wood. I've seen this effect in some older homes and I like it. The rest of the room would be laid at right angles to the floor joists like normal.

Jim

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Have you thought about walnut?

It would give the contrast between the oak and cherry but not stand out as much as maple. I have saw this application two times and it looked pretty decent. At least it looks intentional. There is no way to match the cherry and oak. Getting it close would look worse than the intentional 3rd wood color element IMHO.

[jseklund]

siliconbauhaus- This is kind of what I thought. When my gf and I look at it we say that it is "artistic" and we kind of figured an artist may like it. I also have a feeling that while everyone is nervous about it, it may be a bold move that, when it is complete, will be impressive.

JimD- I know what you're saying about it being our house, but I also don't want to do something that will make it tough to sell if I choose to. I am also wondering if I am being a victim of limited perception. I.e.- I think it will look good, but when it's done it will be totally wrong. I know the cherry will darken- which is part of the reason for the boarder in my mind. It seperates what will eventually be really dark wood from somewhat light wood. Does that make any sense?

Jeffrey- Funny you mention Walnut. That was my ORIGINAL idea. But then my gf and mother suggested maple and others agreed. They were worried about the light, to really dark, to dark transition. So I went with the maple and then a bunch of people became concerned about the concept and thought I should just lay two cherry boards perpendicular. I guess the other consideration is that the cabinets in the kitchen and baths are going to be Maple- but stained slightly golden, not clear. I don't think I can match that stain, but I may try.

Thanks again for all the input!.