French floors

When I had a meeting a few weeks ago with my architect and designer, my architect pulled out this sample board of a floor that he had in mind for the house:

Given that we are designing a French inspired house, a beautiful herringbone or chevron floor seems like a natural fit. My designer suggested that we keep the floor color as similar to this natural oak color as possible, and my architect noted that this sample is just a starting point, the planks can be made longer, wider, thicker based on his specifications. Chevron and herringbone floors are definitely a fit for my style – I have literally over 100 pictures of rooms with these kind of floors in my inspiration files.

However, when it comes down to making a decision between the two – I am now looking at my pictures with even more scrutiny. Here is a side by side look at the two styles. On the left: a chevron style floor, where the planks are set on the diagonal, and meet in a center line. On the right, the herringbone pattern, where the planks are also set on a diagonal, but interlaced. Although the looks are very similar, they each have their own distinct look and feel.

Herringbone

One of my favorite pictures from Suzanne Kasler’s book ‘Inspired Interiors’ – in fact, this was selected as the cover. I have looked at this picture a dozen times, but only just noticed that the floor is in a herringbone pattern – to me the ebonized finish is what defines the floor, rather than the herringbone pattern.

Designer Lori Tippins (whose home is a source of endless inspiration to me) used a herringbone pattern in the floors of her family room and kitchen. The size and scale looks very similar to the sample board that my architect showed me.

A herringbone floor created with short planks. The size and scale of the planks can be adjusted for different looks.

A lovely, well worn herringbone floor in an apartment designed by Miles Redd; these planks are medium in length. Image via House Beautiful, photo credit Thomas Loof.

A charming space in a S.R. Gambrel designed townhouse, with well worn herringbone floors adding interesting texture to the space.

This picture, from a Southern Accents showhouse, utilizes thinner planks in a herringbone pattern – these are perhaps 3” wide. I prefer the planks to be wider, although this is still a beautiful look.

The chevron and herringbone pattern is frequently seen in materials other than wood. In a stone and tile store in Atlanta, Materials Marketing, there were some beautiful examples of stone floors with herringbone and chevron patterns.

This stone floor in a herringbone pattern is in the basement of a beautiful home that I saw recently, with interiors by John Oetgen.

Chevron

There is something so architecturally pure about an empty room, and even with no furniture this room is beautiful in part because of its stunning chevron floors. Image via Blayne Beacham, from a home listed by Beacham & Company REALTORS.

A charming French room, with striking chevron floors.

One of my favorite entry hall pictures. I like how the center seam of the chevron floors lines up on axis with the center of the door. Image via Southern Acccents.

Designer Ty Larkins’ house has beautiful chevron pattern floors. The planks are on the shorter, narrow side, which gives the floor a lot of pattern. Image via Cote de Texas.

A pretty chevron floor in the city apartment of Phoebe and Jim Howard shows the importance of the scale of the wood pieces on the design of the pattern.

A charming apartment in Paris – to me, the chevron floors in the space are quintessentially French, and to be more specific – very Parisian.

A vignette with four of my favorite elements: a chevron floor, interesting chairs, books, and art hung gallery style.

One of my favorite rooms in Max & Company, Phoebe and Jim Howard’s store in Atlanta, is this bedroom that has an unusual chevron floor that is set in two directions, making an interesting ‘x’ pattern where the two directions meet.

Architect Design has had a magnificent series of posts on Petite Trianon, and the billiard room caught my eye because of its chevron floor designed with long planks.

One of my favorite pictures of a dining room, from a house in California with interior design by Betty Burgess. I had to look closely to see whether these floors are chevron or herringbone, but given the straight seam, my guess is chevron. (Click here for intaglios very similar to the ones seen in this picture).

Another room, from the same house. Clearly Burgess is letting the beauty of the floors take center stage as a design element; note that she did not use a rug in either room. This image and previous image via Veranda, photo credit Roger Davies.

I came across this show-stopping picture last week on the Splendid Willow blog. The post was about the mirror, but I couldn’t get my eyes off the floor. What an interesting handling of the chevron floor – it is almost like panels done in a checkerboard pattern, with varying shades of light and medium tone wood.

A chevron floor in stone, at Materials Marketing stone and tile store in Atlanta.

So far, my project team has not discussed the floors in any great detail, but it is helpful to look through all of these pictures before making a decision. What are your thoughts? Are you team chevron or team herringbone? In your mind, is there something distinct about the look and feel of each pattern?

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Herringbone in the Fireplace

Although I like the herringbone pattern in floors, I absolutely love the herringbone pattern in a fireplace. Specifically, in a firebox (a new term for me), the part of the fireplace where the fire is actually lit.

My favorite cover of Veranda features a beautiful herringbone pattern inside the fireplace. Interior design by Renea Abbott of Shabby Slips, Houston.

The cover of this month's House Beautiful also features a beautiful fireplace with a herringbone pattern inside the fireplace.

Francois & Co. makes beautiful handcarved mantels, and many of the pictures on their website feature herringbone fireboxes. I love this scene - the French chairs and trumeau paired with a simple but beautifully carved fireplace. The herringbone pattern inside the fireplace blends perfectly with this scene.

Another scene from the Francois & Co. website, this one a little more modern with the contemporary art and the more streamlined chairs (looks like a Todd Murphy painting above the fireplace). The mantle is sleek, and the herringbone firebox looks great in this setting too.

A large French fireplace with a herringbone firebox, via Cote de Texas. This is a statement fireplace!

This is a spectacular fireplace, made all the more lovely because of the herringbone firebox. Interior design by Pam Pierce, via Cote de Texas.

From Elle Decor. A beautiful herringbone pattern in the fireplace, but I can't help but wish that the soot stains weren't there; it detracts from the lovely color of the bricks. I guess a fireplace needs to be used, though!

This room designed by S.R. Gambrel has a magnifent, large fireplace with a delicate herringbone pattern inside. I wish I had a picture of the fireplace head on; it is the focal point of the room, and I am sure that the herringbone pattern was carefully selected.

This well known picture in the design blog world features a room designed by Barrie Benson (Domino Magazine). Yes, I love the room, but the herringbone pattern in the fireplace also caught my eye!

One of my all time favorite living room pictures. No surprise, if you look very carefully, you can see that the fireplace has a herringbone pattern inside. Architecture and design by William Hefner.

Old World Stoneworks also make beautiful fireplace mantels, and frequently advertise in many of the design magazine. This fireplace was featured on the Southern Accents showhouse cover in 2004. Many of the examples on their website feature a herringbone firebox.

So, I have found another 'must have' for my dream house: a herringbone pattern inside the fireplace. It works beautifully with the layered European look that I love, but as seen in these pictures, is so classic that it also goes with a variety of different styles.

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French Floors

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Recently I had the opportunity to tour an exquisitely crafted custom built home in Historic Brookhaven, one of the most beautiful parts of Atlanta. The home had been built to the highest standard; the detail in the craftsmanship is amazing. The architectural feature that stands out in my mind are the beautiful wood floors, which have a chevron pattern.

Chevron pattern

Here is a close up of a chevron pattern floor. I associate chevron pattern floors with French design, although it is a classic pattern and certainly holds its own whatever the design aesthetic.

This room has a layered European style, from the chevron pattern floors, to the gray paint and white trim on the doors, to the beautiful chandelier. Image is via This is Glamorous.

' Barefoot Contessa' Ina Garten's NYC home has beautiful floors with a chevron pattern.

One of my favorite stores in Atlanta, Mrs. Howard, has chevron pattern floors in one of their rooms (you can see a tiny bit in this picture). The entire store is designed like a home, and the rooms have the most beautiful architectural details. James Howard (husband to Phoebe Howard) is an interior and architectural designer, and designed all of the architectural features in Phoebe Howard's stores (Mrs. Howard and Max & Company).

Beautiful chevron floors are featured in this room designed by Sharon Mimram.


Ty Larkin's home (via Cote de Texas) has chevron floors throughout the main floor.

Antique chevron pattern floor, from a floor company in the UK

Erin Fetherston's Paris apartment, as seen in Domino magazine, has beautiful chevron floors.

A classic French apartment, from a real estate listing. Note the beautiful floors.

Porchlight Interiors posted a lovely home for sale in her area of Australia. The house is beautiful, and the whole thing is enhanced by the gorgeous floors.

I also love herringbone pattern floors, which are similar but have a slightly different design.

Herringbone pattern

Herringbone pattern floors from a British wood company

Elle Decor, January 2007, features an apartment with herringbone pattern floors. Interior design by Todd Romano.

Herringbone pattern on the floor of a modern kitchen

Another kitchen with herringbone floors. Alan Higgs architects.

In my dream home, I would probably do wide plank floors. However, there is something so quintessentially French and appealing about chevron and herringbone pattern floors, it would be tempting to put them somewhere!

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