Updating wood floor

[GinAndOnIt]

We have varnished wood parquet floor in the kitchen, but it's very dated. It's a very yellow-y/orange colour, and I want it dark brown.

When we had a carpenter here fitting the shutters, he said I could scrub it with something and then varnish over it, but I can't remember what he thing he said to scrub it with. Something similar to a green dish sponge I think. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm not interested in sanding it or buffing it with a hired tool, I just want something to make sure the next coat of varnish will actually paint on.

I probably should have swept the floor before taking that

These are very old boards and they were sanded about 10 years ago so a bit scruffy , but they don't show the bits.

I think what you said above is right, it's the plain block of colour that can show up every mark.

oh! plain block is standard dark floor where I live, ignore my warning then.
but I second a frickonastick

I'll be sure to show some colour samples before I change the colour Qwe

For clairty, I wasnt suggesting that you go dark in your room, I agree that some sort of midtone would work well. I was just saying that even a very dark brown isn't hard to keep clean because there's lots of pattern and variety in wood.

That dark brown is in our bedroom. It's the original colour and we decided to keep it as the room is very light with cream wall and curtains , high ceilings and 4 windows. It works fine.

The kids bedroom floors were just done last year . Their floors are pine and they wanted a light look ( sorta Scandinavia style , they are fellow yellow haterz ) so we did a wash with white emulsion and it looks very pale.

Downstairs we also have wood and it's various midtones. Or yellow as you call it . We have oak, Douglas fir and mahogany which are all different colours - in different rooms of course .

I don't suppose you want to post a swatch of all those different woods, do you Kr1s?

I love the dark you posted for a bedroom. Our bedroom is like that at the moment, but it needs redoing as it had carpet on top and paint splatters everywhere :(

I sort of have a half plan to do the lounge floor a sort of natural colour. Maybe even just sanded with a clear varnish/wax on top. It's varnished a dark cherry brown at the moment if memory serves right (but with carpet on top)

Funnily enough, I've done 'medium oak' on the landing floor but I don't think I like it that much. Perhaps I'm just not keen on the warmer mid tones. Or maybe it's because some of the walls are still magnolia which make everything feel a bit blah.

Out of interest, how do you separate each of the wood colours between rooms? Can you get those divider things as you do for carpets?

I've just taken a couple of photos of the landing floor against the other floors, and I actually do like it. I think it is the magnolia woodchip that spoils it for me, and as the magnolia woodchip is near the downstairs parquet too, I wonder if that's putting me off it? Perhaps I ought to paint the magnolia first before making a decision on the floors, as that is a lot cheaper to rectify!

Here are said photos.

I definitely think the magnolia woodchip is the problem there!

Often magnolia is such a cold colour, and doesn't pair well with warm woods. If you even just imagine the walls cream, you can sort of see what a difference it would make...

Every wall was magnolia when we moved in, and the house looks so different just because of the walls now. I can't believe I hadn't even thought of that.

I originally wanted to wait until we'd done everything else, and then save up to get someone in to replaster the walls for us, but actually, we've got so much still to do and it will be such a long wait, that I wonder if it's worth just painting over the woodchip for now so it feels nicer in the mean time?

As someone who has lived with the most hideous primrose-yellow hall with plaster literally falling off the walls for 7 years (because it has taken us that long to get around to sorting it), I would say paint it now!

How do you feel about stripping woodchip ? I hesitate to mention because it's a PITA and sometimes it was put up because the walls are in poor condition.

If you can't face taking off the woodchip, just emulsion it. Spend a few hours on Pinterest and choose your fave Farrow and ball tasteful colour. Then go to paint shop and match it to a cheaper brand.

If you have a mate who is a painter ,get him/ her to get it from the trade shop, they can match perfectly . And if you don't have a painter friend, why not ?

Remember to cover the floors with a Dust sheet this time.

By the time you have reached the other end of the room with the first coat, the first wall will be dry . One day max. Go for it

I stripped woodchip once before, to find chipped plaster underneath. Never again

Would woodchip have to be painted with a brush though do you think, or would a roller manage it?

Going to have a browse through the F&B booklet now. No idea what sort of colour to do. I'd kind of like something a bit daring, but it's already a very dark, closed space. Hmm.

(Can I also just mention, the paint splatters on floor upstairs are from the previous people, not us )

I've taken some photos of our floors for you but the colour representation isn't good at all, I think because I had the lights on . Will try again later today when it's sunny ( fingers crossed )

This one is oak ( original to house )

Yes, my experience of woodchip wallpaper is that it is usually holding up plaster that is beyond knackered and will fall off in lumps when the paper is removed!

Your oak floor is lovely kristina

Ah that's lovely! That's the kind of shade I was hoping for in lounge, with our big rug.

Glad to hear about the paint splatters

Roller is fine, you might need to touch up with a brush but two coats with roller should be fine .

Go for dark colour and get brighter light bulbs ? I always like the idea of dark and dramatic and collect hundreds of pins. Then chicken out and go for a mid tone.

Sums up my life really < ponders >

That's paler and greyer than the reality though. I'm afraid it's a bit more....< whispers > .....yellow

This is my engineered oak floor in my study. It is quite yellow!

shove look at your lovely fireplace!!

Maybe I should leave the dramatic colours until woodchip has gone? The lighting is an issue. There's only one light at the top of the stairs for the whole of the space, plus a tiny window in top of front door, and a little window at the top of the stairs. I never walk through it feeling like it's dark and dingy, but then it's not really big enough for me to spend much time in that area

My oak floor is that colour too.

Yes mine is like Holly's in RL. We have matching floors and soil < high fives holly >

holly Is that Billy with the glass doors ? looks v classy in the oak

Gin - you might be right about the lighting and avoiding dark colours . When we bought our house the hall was very dark . Same as you - one window and one light at top and bottom and nothing in between on half landing . The carpet was dark red , the walls pink and the ceiling dark red .

We couldnt work out how to improve the lighting without raggling the walls etc. But when we painted the ceiling white and the walls beige ( looks better than it sounds honest ) it was fine . We planned to replace the red carpet when we had the spare cash . Needless to say it's still there 14 years later . It's hard to get excited about buying a new hall carpet, there always better things to spend your money on IME.

Yes, it is Billy. I'm getting a humungus new bookcase built in when I do the extension and DH thinks I am getting rid of these ones. He has yet to find out that I am keeping them and just upping the number of books in the house!

My BIL's partner is a designer and they uses amazing deep colours in the house that look incredible - but I've noticed they very rarely use them in smaller spaces. I am always afraid that anything other than a light colour in a hallway will look a bit like the pathway to a dungeon because it's not just small but thin too. But I am clueless about design!

Agree that hall flooring comes way down the list of priorities. Especially when there are plants to buy!

Happy Birthday !