hardwood floor-straight vs diagnal (house, tile, living)

[jviffer]

Help friends,
My wife and I are installing new hardwood floors. We're in a big argument about laying out the floor design. This floor will be installed in our living room. This is the first room you see when entering the house. We have tile layed throughout the house in an uninteresting way. To break up these straight tile lines I would like to install the wood at a 45 degree angle throughout the living room. She says no way and she would like this floor installed long ways. What do you guys think, am I crazy? Are there some hard and fast design rules I would be breaking by installng at a 45 degree angle? What are your thoughts?


Thanks in advance,
Jim

[EscapeCalifornia]

I think it would look odd and it would probably hurt your resale value if you did it at and angle since most people don't like "different" things when house shopping. Its also going to be a lot more work since every piece would have to be cut.

[DMenscha]

You're also going to waste a lot of material assuming a tongue and groove material. You also probably should lay the floor across the shortest dimension rather than along the longest one. Sometimes the ambient light dictates the orientation of the floor.

One other option you may want to do, is to create a border 18 inches or so around the exterior walls and then fill in the middle with the proper orientation.

[bellalunatic]

It also depends on the shape and size of your room. The diagonal can make a room appear larger. If the room is not a square then it may help you. But:

Does the front door open directly into the living room without any kind of separated foyer?
Or is it just that the living room is the first you see once you get in the front foyer area?

Are you able to post pics.?

The border design idea is cool too.

[humboldtrat]

Try the house forum

[jviffer]

The entry door does open into the living room. It's a small home, the dimensions are 13.7 wide and 20.3" long. On the south end of the wall, oppsite end where the entry door is I have a brick fireplace. This is also a sunken living room and you must step up 6" into the dinning, kitchen, and isle way into the bedrooms.
To all thanks for the help.
Jim

[dweej]

Laying the hardwood the "long way" in the room will make it appear larger (just like a vertical stripe on a person makes them look taller). I've seen some diagonally laid floors on some of those home programs, but as I see it is a trendy thing, whereas the traditional "long-way" laying will be more timeless. For resale, I've got to side with the Mrs. on this one!

[kettlepot]

I agree with DMenscha. If you want something interesting, do a border of some substantial width around the edges, and then lay the center part lengthwise. A diagonal floor may look cool and trendy for awhile, but after time, it may begin to hurt the eyes.

[Inthesierras]

My SIL has a cherry hardwood floor that is on a diagonal slant. My FIL laid the floor and it looks amazing. There is a border around the edges with a diamond design in the center of the floor. It reminds me of wood floors I have seen in some restored Victorian homes and newer upscale homes. It did take more time to install and used more materials.

[Winston Smith]

I think diagonal or straight is fine as long as it doesn't draw unneeded attention. IOW, you want people to enter the house and get a nice feeling without noticing what exactly gives the nice feeling. If they come in and the first thing they notice is that the wood floor is straight/diagonal/whatever, the treatment failed. Just MHO.