Many 21st century hardwood flooring trends are about unnatural colors such as blue. At first glance, the red hardwood trend seems like it might be the same thing. However, the red hardwood flooring trend is more about natural colors. There are naturally red hardwoods such as red oak or cherry. They’re not as red as a wood might be if it were stained red, though. That’s why many homeowners are choosing red stained hardwood. The trend is wide-ranging in that way.
Red Domestic Woods
The most common red domestic wood is red oak; it’s also one of the most popular woods used for hardwood flooring in the United States. Red oak can range in color from honey-colored to a deep brown. To get on the red hardwood trend, you would want to choose a red oak that is closer to a red color. It’s also possible to stain the wood red. If you are going to stain the wood red, you would likely make a different choice. A lighter-colored red oak will be a brighter red after you stain it; a darker oak will produce a deeper color that’s not quite as obviously red.
You could also choose cherry wood. Cherry wood tends to be very pale in color with a slight reddish hue. It’s not obviously very red at first glance, but it responds very well to a red stain.
Red Exotic Woods
There are dozens of different kinds of imported lumber that runs a gamut of reddish shades. Some of them are as pale as a light cherry wood. Others, such as redheart, are shades of pink and red that trend towards purple. Cocobolo has prominent, dark grains and a deep red hue. The surface of a cocobolo floor looks something like Jupiter’s great red eye.
Others, like rosewood, are much more subtle in color but still unmistakably red. All of these different imported woods are great options for getting on the red hardwood flooring trend. However, imported hardwoods tend to be somewhat expensive and difficult to come by.
Your best option for a red hardwood floor is likely to pick a lightly colored hardwood that you like and then stain it red. You can hire a professional to stain different samples of the wood to pick the shade that you like best. Just make sure that you sample the different stains on spare pieces of your actual hardwood floor. Every type and tone of wood responds differently to stain.