The 7 Most Common Wood Flooring Patterns & Styles

Our home isn’t simply the place where we spend a significant amount of our free time. In many ways, it is a reflection of our being. Every little detail of our home decoration has purpose and meaning, even the floors. Maybe especially the floors. One of the first things any visitor is going to see upon entering our home is the floor. They say first impressions are more impactful than the rest and a beautiful and intricate floor pattern can be a nice first step in the right direction.

Considering how much of our time we spend at home now, we are definitely going to look for more comfort, functionality, and, of course, the aspect of a visually pleasing interior. Recent statistics show the number of households getting involved in home improvement projects with a focus on wood flooring is skyrocketing at the moment.

Beautiful parquet flooring keeps its popularity in the decades and has even grown in popularity in recent years. In fact, a parquet wood floor will never go out of style. It is a classic choice that originates from centuries back when this type of floor was first installed in the Mirror Hall at the Versailles. Therefore, parquet flooring is usually associated with timeless beauty and elegance, a touch of luxury and a lot of styles, and it brings character and old-world charm wherever it is installed.

Are you planning to invest in a beautiful and stylish parquet floor? You may feel a bit overwhelmed by the great variety of parquet floor patterns available on the market. Keep in mind that each and every parquet pattern is a result of a lot of craftsmanship, talent, skills, and knowledge. However, each one of them is very beautiful, indeed. Each parquet pattern comes with benefits in the context of style and appearance and could complement your home's interior in a different way. In order to help you make the best choice and pick a parquet pattern that ticks all the boxes for you, we introduce you to seven of the most popular options on the market.

Regular Flooring Patterns

1. Straight pattern

This is the most common and well-known way of wood floor fitting. The boards are laid from wall to wall and side by side. If you have a small room you can arrange the boards to follow the longest wall in the room to make the area appear bigger and vice versa.

This design is popular for a reason, it is plain, simple and effective. It is a perfect and simple addition to every home and interior thanks to the fact it does not make the room look too busy and cluttered.

Therefore, the straight pattern is a common choice in many homes and suits all interiors, from cutting-edge contemporary to very traditional and classic ones.

2. Diagonal pattern

Similar to straight pattern with one obvious difference – instead of covering from wall to wall, it goes from corner to corner. This design also requires a certain degree of skill and experience to execute the installation properly. 

Therefore, if you want to achieve the perfect diagonal parquet pattern in your home, make sure to hire an experienced and knowledgeable installation specialist. Keep in mind that this type of pattern can also create an optical illusion in the room.

Depending on the direction of installation and the layout of the room, it can make the place appear wider or longer.

The Types of Parquet Patterns

3. Random Pattern

The width of the blocks in each row can vary. One might be 4 -inch, other 7 and third 5. The pattern itself, however, is consistent. Only the size of the boards is different. Gives the impression of a bigger room and comes in either a straight or diagonal pattern.

The best way to achieve the proper effect is to install it parallel to the longest wall or the main source of natural light in the room. The random pattern is a great way to add a lot of character to space. You can further play around with different colours and textures of the wooden floorboards and create a really unique and stunning floor like a piece of art. 

4. Herringbone pattern

This pattern is arguably the most popular today but not very suitable for small spaces since it gives the impression that they are even smaller.

Herringbone grants great dimensional stability because each of the blocks is pressed against the other in a way limiting its movement. It can be installed both parallel and diagonal to the walls. It was the Ancient Romans who first used this pattern for their famous roads. This only testifies to its great quality. 

The herringbone parquet pattern has definitely stood the test of time both in style and durability context. It is probably the most recognisable parquet flooring pattern in the first thing many people envision when it comes to real wood flooring. 

5. Chevron pattern

It is very similar to a herringbone yet still different from it. Both herringbone and chevron are made from equally sized wood blocks put in a zig-zag pattern. When the pieces are cut in rectangles and arranged in a way that puts the end of each plank to the side of another, we have a herringbone.

When the blocks are cut at an angle and form a straight line where each piece meets the end of another - it is chevron. Just like herringbone, the chevron pattern is a very classic and timeless choice in terms of style. This is not a pattern that fits best in narrow halls or smaller rooms as they can make space appear smaller and busy. However, the chevron pattern will look perfect fit in a spacious area, making the interior look more formal. 

6. Brick pattern

As the name suggests, it's supposed to look like traditional brickwork. While simple in its own right, it can be laid to the whole floor or just to an area which is then surrounded by borders. The brick pattern is often used in combination with other more detailed and complex parquet floor patterns for creating a very unique floor like a piece of art.

However, you can always opt for installing the parquet pattern on its own. In such cases, it will perfectly complement more modern, minimalistic, urban, and even industrial interior styles. The simplicity of this pattern allows you to unleash your imagination when it comes to matching it with interesting furniture pieces, vibrant colours, intriguing textures. 

7. Basketweave pattern

The big plus of this pattern is that it fits pretty much anywhere regardless of the size of the room. It is most commonly made from oak and maple and usually laid parallel or diagonal to the walls of the room. Colours are mostly lighter but you can always spice things up with darker species like walnut to accentuate the pattern.

Furthermore, in case you feel even more creative, you can mix different wood species and create a really stunning and outstanding wooden floor that will add a lot of character and charm to wherever it is installed. The Basketweave parquet pattern used to be very popular a few decades back and it is now making a huge comeback for industrial and modern interiors. 

Our flooring service comes with obligation-free site visit, quick quotations and free advice. Give us a call on 020 88309782 to speak to a member of our staff, who can arrange for a free assessment of your floor sanding or wood floor fitting service at a convenient for you time.