Herringbone floors are having a surge in popularity at the moment but that’s not to say that its just a current trend, very few (homeowners) ripped them up only to replace them with a standard plank floor – they have been kept, lovingly restored and re-loved through generations and different home owners.
My first memory of a herringbone floor was in my grandfathers house, the house was sold many many years ago but to this day I can still hear the sound of footsteps down the corridor and into the room attached to it. Being an old solid parquet some of the pieces had inevitably loosened over time but it gave it a wonderful character. These days, there is an extensive range of options to choose from that don’t have the same lifting issues but I for one just loved the oldie worldie feel.
#1 The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
Photo Credit: Ebony Rose Interiors
The most recent inspirational herringbone project that we completed was the Pillar room in the Mater Misericordiae, with its high ceilings and stunning floor to ceiling dome shaped windows, the hospital itself dates back to 1861 so it deserved a bit of royal treatment.
#2 Lucy’s stable, Barn conversion Project
Photo Credit: Grain & Groove
This was a labour of love. (sweat & tears) Having sourced a salvaged herringbone floor back in the days before Grain & Groove existed, we got to work on our own hall. We bought a few ton bags of the filthy stuff and saw the potential and got to work painstakingly cleaning each individual piece which was no easy task let me tell you. Each piece had bitumen stuck to the back, and when I say stuck, I mean STUCK.. The result speaks for itself and we were even more thrilled when we came to sand the floor to realise that a few of the pieces were discoloured all the way through.
#3 The Grain Store, Barn conversion Project
Here, the customer brief was simple, they were looking for a herringbone with a more modern appeal but one that would still keep the character of their building so not too contemporary. This was achieved by a natural oil finish but choosing for a slightly larger format herringbone with no brushing or bevels.
#4 Blackrock Residence
On this project, we went through a process of sourcing a floor that our customers in mind but didn’t see in our shop, a few samples later and were delighted when we showed them the Solid Merbau. The beautiful variation and tones came up fantastically when the floor was lacquered, having an oiled finish would have given a matt appearance and although would still look great, the lacquer suited this house perfectly.
#5 Killester Residence
The brief on this project was a limed or white oiled herringbone ideally in a smaller format which worked well to achieve a contemporary feel to this house whilst adding character.
Laying herringbone is definitely a job best left to the professionals, quite a bit of measuring is required to get the exact center of a room to start the spine of the herringbone. Just one badly laid plank can have a knock-on effect of an entire room.
#6 Grain & Groove, Shop Display
Once we completed project #1 in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, we just knew we just HAD to have the solid oak herringbone on display in the shop – we decided to go with a different finish so we chose Aged Peat from our new range of colours that we just launched. This floor has been amazingly easy to maintain so it comes highly recommended!
#7 Leo & Cici, Clontarf Project
When the lovely Elaine from Leo & Cici walked into Grain & Groove, she spotted this floor instantly. She fell in love with the tone variation in the Casilean Oak Silver Grey. It looks natural, will stand the test of time and most importantly, her client absolutely LOVED it!
