The best way to upgrade your home is with flooring! We wanted hardwoods throughout the house, minus the bathrooms and laundry room. I have always loved dark finished wood for some reason. I think it brings warmth inside. I love the contrast of dark and light woods together. Actually, I like contrast with all tones of wood. So when Michael and his crew began to pull up the old floors I was on the hunt for the perfect hardwoods.

When you are working with a remodel situation you never know what you will find when you remove walls or floors. When they pulled up the old flooring the subfloor was exposed and it was not originally built with plywood. The entire floor was a pressed board. Have you ever had creaks in your floors? This explained why the floor creaked in many places when you walked. I am sure the guys who were helping us at this time weren’t thrilled to see we decided to replace the entire subfloor in the house! However, you have one chance to fix the problems when you tear it up. This was a costly and unexpected expense, but necessary.

Why would we invest so much in hardwoods and install them on a subpar floor? No way!

LL Flooring has a broad selection of hardwood flooring. We went and visited the store to see, compare and select the floors we wanted to put down. You really have to put your hands on it. Going into it we both really liked the bamboo. The finishes have so much character and they are beautiful. When researching bamboo we found out you have to acclimate the wood to your inside temperature, just as you do all wood flooring. It can shrink and expand due to higher and lower temperatures.

If you don’t acclimate the wood you could install them and they can expand or shrink after installation. The bamboo can be a little more tricky as humidity can cause it to not acclimate as well as other woods. Living in the south with hot, humid summers made us rethink this choice. We felt we would need to wait until winter to install bamboo and we were not wanting to wait. We decided on going a different route.

Michael prefers the wide planks. He looks at installation, being an installer himself, and there are a lot more planks to install when you go with the thinner ones. More room for error perhaps, it makes sense. So we focused on wider planks. The thing is there are so many things to consider when you are choosing your flooring, so it is good to narrow down your options. Simply picking the style and color can be mind blowing. So we wanted darker, wider planks in a hardwood other than bamboo.

I think it comes down to your personal preference and style in choosing the look and feel you want. However there are so many choices to consider! Oak, Red Oak, White Oak, Maple, Southern Yellow Pine, Mahagony, Acacia, Brazilian, bamboo, Walnut. Hevea…what is that?! Then narrow, medium, thick, extra thick, and lets not forget brown, blonde, grey, red and the list goes on and on. Just when you thought it would be easy!

Staying in a style or theme helped me. I was focused on rustic, modern farmhouse for the kitchen. A distressed finish felt most like the look we were going for there. We were carrying the floors throughout the house and from the main room and into the kitchen. The kitchen always drives the flow. It is the heart of the home. I wanted the kitchen to be brand new but have a feel that its been there for 100 years. Distressed finish was it! That narrowed it down a lot.

We also chose a distressed finish for functionality. We have two dogs and it seems that should we get scratches or damages at any point that the smooth finish would surely show more than a distressed finish. It felt like a more practical way to go. Nevertheless, narrowing down your search will get you closer to making that final decision. It can feel like a life or death situation because your floors are permanent and the pressure to make the right choice can be overwhelming! Plus, there simply are so many beautiful styles.

We actually went twice to the store. Make sure you bring samples home with you. You can also order them online. When you look at 100 different finishes, it is really hard to remember the ones you love. We were working with a clean slate, empty house and did not have to match it to anything. We had narrowed it down at the store to a handful of styles we both would have been happy with. Some of the styles we thought we liked the best looked different in our home once we brought the sample in. Seeing the finish in your own space, lighting and all can really help narrow down your decision! Make sure you order your samples.

We chose the Bellawood 3/4 in. Coronado Oak Solid Hardwood Flooring 5 in. Wide

The width is a medium width, but wide enough for our needs. We wanted it thick enough to make a difference. I am sure a smaller thickness would have been ok and the thickness does drive the price point. We were picking out floors to last our lifetime so we went with 3/4 in. Oak is basically one of the hardest woods there is and you can’t go wrong there.

Bellawood is their artisan hardwood line with “the most exclusive style and designs.” The Coronado has a wire brush finish and it is finished with their most durable finish. Also, you get the best warranty with Bellawood. This was very important to us. These floors will outlast us!

This particular style we choose has a pop of a lighter toned finish on various planks. This characteristic makes the floors look “homemade” almost. Handcrafted might be a better word. Most of the planks are darker and there’s a variance every now and then with lighter tones. I would make sure the installers space these out accordingly. I was not paying attention to this and there were a few lighter pieces placed side by side. It was not a big issue as it was in a place where an area rug was going anyway. Something to consider though.

After you choose our flooring style, you need to pick out your underlayment. I think most of the underlayment will do the job, however, we went with the Bellawood Platinum Underlayment. We actually said once the floors are installed there is no turning back. We put the best underlayment under them. We aren’t trying to pull them up, ever! Like I said, I am sure the standard will last too.

Overall we are thrilled with the quality, look and feel of the LL Flooring Bellawood Coronado hardwoods we have. They have tiny knots here and there, and they are so pretty! I choose a light white and grey area rug for the living room to go over them. The door transition pieces that we ordered with them match the floors and look very nice between the hardwoods and the tile we have. They are right over 2″ wide and transition well between the materials.

Figure out what your own pros and cons are. Whatever style you choose I am sure you will love them! Hardwoods last forever and for our Forever Country Home these are perfect! I am so happy with our choice and glad I spent extra time looking and researching. When we do our master bedroom addition later, we will be going back to LL Flooring and maybe, just maybe, we will get those bamboo floors, yet!

This is why we teamed up with LL Flooring, to bring you savings today!

Good luck on your Flooring Hunt, I can’t wait to see which style you pick. Check back in as we will be adding more on the kitchen and porch. Thank you for stopping by!