Interior Design and Hardwood Flooring

Spotlight on designer Krista Stokes

Krista Stokes is one of Maine’s hippest designers and the proprietor of Favela Chic Salvage Boutique and Design.  She was of 14 professionals chosen to work at the exclusive Hidden Pond Resort in Kennebunkport, ME, where she created the “Lazy Days” cottage.  Her work there was pictured in the Boston Globe and chronicled throughout New England.

The Floor

No Knock on Wood

Krista:  Go for the hardwood, wide plank floor because of “the feel” of it.  And the way it sounds.  The feeling of wood is what I go for-everything else is secondary.  You can do anything you want with it.  It’s a really versatile tool.  You’re not pigeon-holed into anything.

Taking Wide Planks One Step Beyond

Krista:  I love going into a place that has a floor laid in an unexpected way.  It gives people a chance to make the statement:  “You know, I actually thought about my floor.”  Anytime you can say that in your home in a nice and easy way, it’s great design.

For example, you can always take what one would expect a hardwood floor to be and change it.  This ranch I’m doing now is really long.  It already goes on forever.  So instead of doing the floors lengthwise, we said let’s cut the room in half and lay the planks short-wise.  You enter through the French doors and on the other side of the room is York Harbor.  The floor takes the distance of your eye and shortens it.  Now you walk in the door and the wood takes your eye outside to the harbor because the floor is pointing you that way.

If I were a Carpenter:

Krista:  Carpenters can lay your planks at an angle, do an original design, a compass rose, or parquet your floor.  You can do anything you want.  The sky’s the limit if you can find somebody who likes to work with wood for wood’s sake or craft’s sake.

The Décor

Come Together:

Krista:  Hardwood flooring is the most versatile thing in your house.  It will do whatever you want it to.  It’s all about the décor.

You can take the same heart pine wide plank floor and:

Put a chrome table, with chrome and black leather seats, on that floor.  Paint the wall bright red and hang motorcycle parts on it.  Place a juke box in the corner.  If you like that sort of thing, you’ll be thinking, “Sweet.”  You’ve got a floor that is perfect for the room.

Then take all that away, and hang ship wheels on the wall.  Place an old farmer’s table in the center of the room, and put up a fireplace mantle with a boat on it.  And wow, the floor’s perfect for that room.

Clear those pieces out and bring in some Angela Adams elements like an area rug or print, an espresso nut dark wood table with white leather chairs, and a bowl of fruit and a side board.  Now you’re contemporary and funky, yet traditional.  And the floor is still perfect.

As long as you are following other rules that balance out your design and balance out the objective of what you want the room to feel like, you’re going to be successful with a wide plank floor.  Everything adds up to create the atmosphere you want.