Considering inlays?         Back

There is nothing quite like the look and feel of a hardwood floor. But what if you also like the look of ceramic, marble, or even stone? Why not combine the richness of hardwoods inlaid with other materials to give that favorite room - or your entire home - a true one-of-a-kind look, its own special personality?

In a trend inspired by the Renaissance Period, a growing number of floor designers are combining the artistry of old-world floor design with new laser-cutting techniques to produce intricate yet affordable designs. Hardwoods combined with other contrasting hardwoods, ceramic, stone, marble, or even leather and metals like brass and aluminum, offer an endless variety of choices for inlays and borders for any room in the house.

Endless Design Options
Whether as the room's focal point or as decorative accents, inlays and borders allow you to personalize your home with designs as intricate as a family crest or a map of a favorite vacation island, or as simple as a stripes, checkerboards and other geometric patterns.

In addition to combining different materials, different species of hardwoods, like maple, birch, walnut, cherry, ash and others offer unique grain and color variations. Once the design is created, the individual components are laser-cut from hardwood flooring planks, usually 5/16-inch-thick then joined with glue or urethane adhesive. When the inlay is dry, edges are routed to match the tongue and groove joints for the rest of the hardwood floor, and the inlay is set in place.

You can also achieve a custom look with many off-the-shelf products that offer alternatives to more expensive custom-designed materials. For example, ready-to-lay prefabricated wood tiles with medallions, starbursts, and elaborate borders are available, with the option of creating your own patterns and designs.

Here are a few of the patterns, materials, and techniques available to you as you consider inlays:

• Borders - A border of inlaid wood, stone or brass (or a combination of these) can help add definition to an entranceway or room. Elaborate or simple designs at each corner can add interest and tie in with a design in the center.
• Medallions - Inlaid designs of a variety of materials provide a focal point such as a crest, or a geometric pattern.
• Aluminum - This can be a choice for contemporary homes. Aluminum strips for borders are especially nice in kitchens that have aluminum accents like cabinet handles.
• Brass - Thin strips can be inlaid along wood borders to add definition and contrast. Flowers or virtually any other design (a boat lover chose a compass) can be cut from sheets and incorporated into medallions.
• Leather - Yes, that's right. Some designers have combined leather tiles in a variety of colors with hardwood floors for a striking effect.
• Ceramic tile - Combine tile with hardwood in the kitchen, foyer or family room. Tile typically ties in with a more casual, rustic feel. One option is to create a foyer design by combining the tile used in the adjoining kitchen with the hardwood floor used in the family room.
• Aging - Tumbled stone combined with distressed wood can create the look of European floors several hundred years old.
• Marquetry - This technique, with origins dating back to the Roman Empire, is the in-laying of shaped wood forms into wood of another species or the in-laying of metals, mother of pearl or ivory into wood.