Tips for Matching Wood Floors

From bullnose trim to stain pens to T-molding, there are many ways to blend new wood floors with preexisting floors to ensure a seamless transition and a polished, designer look.

Sun fading is a leading cause of mismatched floors. When laminate or engineered flooring is involved, try and match the faded tones of the existing floor to new products being installed. Gather samples with different intensities of the same color, then pair them with the existing, faded floor. Choose whichever sample is closest in color to the existing floor. Even though the match may not be exact, once furniture, area rugs and accessories are added to the space, the slight difference in floors will be minimized.

When hardwood flooring coverage is expanded, it's not always necessary to sand and stain both the preexisting and newly covered areas at the same time. Instead, consider having a custom mixed stain matched to the same intensity of the existing wood. This often entails having a contractor water down a stain color until it matches the sun-faded or dulled tones of the existing planks.

Real estate experts and interior designers are apprehensive about mixing different types of wood flooring, because the abrupt transition can cause rooms to feel disjointed. Here, a red-toned hardwood hallway leads to a master bedroom covered in ebonized obsidian plank. Prior to hiring an interior designer, the abrupt transition drew attention to the bedroom floors, creating the look and feel of an afterthought. An excellent way to solve this dilemma is with T-molding.