Step Up: 20 Ways to Handle Transitions in Flooring
Wood in one room, tile or stone in another? Here's how to make them work together
Pangaea
12 February 2018
One problem my clients ask me about is how to decide where to start and stop flooring when you want to change the material. Especially in open-plan homes this can be a real puzzler. Challenges can also arise when you want to replace flooring in part of the home, but aren’t ready to put new flooring throughout the entire home. Handle it wrong and your home looks like a patchwork quilt – and not in a good way!
Here are some great examples showing how several designers successfully handled transitions in flooring.
Here are some great examples showing how several designers successfully handled transitions in flooring.
There isn't always a logical or obvious place to change from one flooring material to the next. Using some imagination can give you interesting results. The inspiration for this ideabook came from this photo. I thought that following the wood's live edge as it undulates created such an interesting look. It reminds me of an ocean wave as it runs up on the sand. An appropriate water theme for a bathroom!
Entryways are a common area where we find ourselves wanting to change flooring. Stone or tile can stand up to moisture and mud tracked in from outside, but hardwood is still the most popular flooring material for the rest of the house.
This entryway has two logical transition points at the openings to the hallways. The colours in the stone also pick up the tones in the wood, which makes the two materials look good right next to each other.
Know Your Flooring: Hardwood
This entryway has two logical transition points at the openings to the hallways. The colours in the stone also pick up the tones in the wood, which makes the two materials look good right next to each other.
Know Your Flooring: Hardwood
In open-plan homes, the entryway may not have any logical starting and stopping point for a flooring change. In this home a tile rectangle large enough for a handful of people to stand on defines the entry area. The tiles form a path leading to the hallway. Hardwood is used for the remaining areas.
A couple of things I like about this example: the darker shade in the diamond pattern is very close to the colour of the wood flooring, so they work well next to each other with regard to colour. The diamond pattern is also a nice contrast to the linear pattern of the wood.
A couple of things I like about this example: the darker shade in the diamond pattern is very close to the colour of the wood flooring, so they work well next to each other with regard to colour. The diamond pattern is also a nice contrast to the linear pattern of the wood.
In this entryway, stone tiles run right down the middle of the hall with wood on either side, almost like a carpet. I love the tone-on-tone look of the dark espresso colour for both materials.
This designer made a similar decision but reversed the materials, with wood chosen as the walkway and stone leading off into the adjoining rooms. I like that the direction of the wood runs across the hall so it doesn't look like a bowling alley. I also like that the direction of the wood and the stone tiles are perpendicular to each other.
If you want to set the entry floor apart but don't want to use a different material, here's a nice idea. The wood is set in a herringbone pattern in the entry and then switches to a straight pattern at the hallway.
Kitchens are another place where flooring may change. This bright apple green looks spectacular next to the light natural colour of the wood. The same wood tones are found in the cabinetry in the kitchen, creating a nice tie-in.
Sometimes you just have to pick a spot and run a line. This transition lines up with the wall, but not the island. The white moulding covering the line between the wood and the grey kitchen flooring material ties in the colour of the island and feels better to me than if the moulding had matched either the grey flooring or the wood.
Here, stone wraps around the island to protect the floor from kitchen spills during prep work. It continues on past cabinetry and the stairway, creating a durable walkway.
In this kitchen, stone tiles are laid in the centre, but not all the way to the cabinets, with the wood surrounding its perimeter. It gives the effect of an area rug.
This bathroom combines wood and stone tile by creating a square to contain the splash zone. The wood colour matches the exterior of the tub making it feel visually connected.
Why Wood Works So Brilliantly in the Bathroom
Why Wood Works So Brilliantly in the Bathroom
The main living areas of an open-plan home can have flooring changes handled in a number of ways as long as they make sense and don’t make the room feel chopped up. In this home, there is an angle in the room with carpeting for the living area and stone for the dining area. The stone and carpet being very close in colour minimises the visual impact of the flooring change so the room still flows uninterrupted.
All wood in one area flows into a wood-and-stone pattern in the living room creating even better flow than if all wood changed to all stone.
Elevation changes are great places to change the flooring and define areas without dividing them. The light wood flooring contrasts sharply with the grey tile, giving clear definition to the two levels.
These two levels are much closer in colour, but the blocks of wood on the upper level create an interesting pattern against the polished concrete.
Even when your level changes are farther apart, you still want to keep in mind how the flooring choices look if they can be seen together. The view from this upper level takes in both floors.
It can be tricky to use two kinds of wood flooring in the same house. If they are too similar in grain and colour, it can look like an unsuccessful attempt to match them. This home shows a beautiful use of two kinds of wood flooring. They work together beautifully for a few reasons:
- They are strikingly different in colour, yet the lighter flooring has a variety of colours pulling in some of the deep colour of the darker wood flooring.
- They are on different levels, so there is a clear place to stop one and start the other.
- They define different areas of the home.
If you want to feature a flooring choice in a small area, keep the surrounding flooring to one material. Here, using the same flooring upstairs and downstairs makes these stair treads stand out.
One of the reasons these examples are successful is because they have restricted their choices to just two types of flooring within view at any time. Too many types of flooring all seen at the same time makes spaces feel smaller. Letting flooring flow from room to room when possible tends to make a space feel larger.
So, although you don’t have to use the same flooring throughout your home to make it feel larger, coordinating their look and making good transitions will assure that your flooring flows gracefully from space to space.
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So, although you don’t have to use the same flooring throughout your home to make it feel larger, coordinating their look and making good transitions will assure that your flooring flows gracefully from space to space.
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Hi hydeout ~ not knowing the age of the tile or if you could match it I suggest tearing out both the carpet and the tile and starting fresh.
What if my builder forgot that I wanted hardwood floors in two rooms upstairs (that I paid extra for)? A loft which is hardwood is between these two rooms. Instead of continuing the flow (and redoing the installation), he used a transition piece. The boards still run in the same direction as the loft boards. I was told that I wouldn’t notice the transition piece. Well, I do notice it. Although the color of the transition piece is the same, the direction of the grain isn’t. What do you recommend I should do? The house is just about complete. Thank you.
In response to my question answered by Transitional Designs, I ended up keeping the 16X16 tiles, had them regrouted and cleaned. The carpet was replaced by multi plank floating vinyl and with a transition strip of wood between the two. It looks great. Thank you