Welcome, and thank you for looking. We would be glad to help with flooring for your home in Wellesley, MA, whether that is one room of carpet or new floors through the whole ground floor. We carry hardwood, carpeting and luxury vinyl, we measure and install, and we help you choose the floor alongside the window treatments, paint and wallpaper going into the same rooms.
Why a large Wellesley colonial needs its floors planned as a whole
Large older colonials and shingle-style homes make up much of the housing in Wellesley, and their size shapes every flooring decision. There are many rooms, and many of them connect: a front hall that opens into a living room, a dining room beside it, a stair that rises to a long upstairs landing. When the floor changes, you see the change from several rooms at once.
That is why flooring in these houses rarely stops at a single room. Whole-room and whole-house projects are the normal case here, and a floor that runs well through a hall, a stair and the rooms around them needs a plan for where each material starts and stops.
High window counts and a lot of light on the floor
These houses have a high window count, which means a great deal of daylight lands on the floor. Sun falling on a wood floor or a carpet for years will change its colour over time. The window treatments you choose for those rooms affect the floor as much as the walls, which is one reason we like to plan the two together. A shade or a lined drapery that can filter the afternoon sun protects the floor you have just chosen.
A designer’s plan may already set the direction
Many projects in houses like these already have an interior designer involved. If yours does, bring us the plan. We can work to the designer’s choice of colour and material, measure for it, and make sure the floor arrives in step with the treatments and paint in the same rooms.
The floors we offer
Hardwood
Real wood for living rooms, dining rooms, halls and bedrooms. Hardwood suits the formal rooms of an older colonial and can run from room to room without a break.
Carpeting
Carpet for bedrooms, family rooms, upstairs halls and stairs. It softens sound in big rooms with tall ceilings and is warm underfoot in winter.
Luxury vinyl
A practical floor for kitchens, mudrooms, laundry rooms and finished basements, the rooms that see water, boots and heavy traffic.
Chosen with the rest of the room
The same store sells window treatments, drapery fabric, wallpaper and Benjamin Moore paint. You can choose the floor while looking at the colours and patterns that will sit above it.
Matching each floor to each part of the house
A big older house is really several kinds of space under one roof. The right floor for the front hall is rarely the right floor for the mudroom. Here is how we usually help you divide the house.
The formal rooms
Living rooms, dining rooms, libraries and front halls are where hardwood is most often wanted. In an older colonial these rooms open into one another, so the boards usually run through without a change of colour or direction. When you choose the wood, think about the trim and paint colours already planned, and the rugs that will sit on it. A darker floor shows dust and scratches more, while a lighter floor shows less but makes a pale room feel brighter still.
Bedrooms and the upstairs
Upstairs, carpet is a common choice for bedrooms and for the landing. It is quieter, warmer and kinder underfoot first thing in the morning. In a house with high ceilings, carpet also takes some of the echo out of a large room. If you prefer wood upstairs too, rugs can do some of the same work.
Kitchens, mudrooms and back halls
The back of a large house works hard. Kitchens, mudrooms, laundry rooms and back halls see water, grit and constant traffic. Luxury vinyl is often chosen for these rooms because it handles spills and wet boots well and is simple to keep clean. It can also be chosen in a wood look, which helps when a kitchen opens straight onto a family room with real hardwood.
Finished basements and lower levels
A basement playroom, gym or guest room needs a floor that can cope with the cooler, damper conditions below ground. Luxury vinyl and carpet are the two floors most often considered for these spaces. We will ask how the room is used and what is underneath before we suggest one.
Stairs and long halls
Stairs are where flooring takes the most wear in any house, and a long upstairs hall is close behind. A stair can be left as wood or carpeted, and the choice affects both the look of the front hall and the noise in the house. We measure stairs carefully and talk through the options with you before anything is ordered.
Choosing between hardwood, carpet and luxury vinyl
Each of the three floors has its place in a large house, and most whole-house projects end up using two or all three. These are the questions we ask to help you decide room by room.
- What happens in the room? A dining room used for dinners and a family room used by children and a dog are very different floors to live with.
- What is underneath, and what is below? A bedroom over the living room may want carpet to keep footsteps quiet downstairs. A room over a basement may need a floor that copes with cooler air.
- How much sun does it get? A south or west-facing room with many windows will expose the floor to strong light for much of the day.
- What does it connect to? A floor that meets four other rooms has to agree with all of them. A guest room at the end of a hall can be its own thing.
- How will you clean it? Hardwood and luxury vinyl are swept and wiped; carpet is vacuumed. In a big house, the time this takes is worth thinking about.
There is rarely one right answer. We will lay out the options for each room and tell you plainly what each one is like to live with.
Colour and finish on a big older floor
Once the material is settled, the colour and finish of the floor shape the room as much as the wall colour does.
Wood tone and the woodwork
Many older colonials and shingle-style homes still have stained woodwork somewhere: a staircase, a banister, panelling in a library. A new hardwood floor is seen beside it, so the tone of the floor is best chosen with that wood in view. A floor close in tone to the woodwork looks settled and calm. A clear contrast, lighter or darker, can work well too, as long as it is a deliberate choice rather than a near miss.
Board width in older rooms
Wider boards tend to suit the proportions of large older rooms, while narrower boards can make a room feel busier. We will show you how different widths look across a room of the size you have.
Carpet colour across large rooms
A carpet colour that looks pale on a small sample can look much lighter across a big bedroom, and a strong colour can feel heavier. In a house with many windows, the carpet is also seen in bright light. We suggest looking at carpet samples on the floor of the actual room, next to the walls and under the window.
Luxury vinyl looks
Luxury vinyl comes in wood looks and stone looks. In a kitchen that opens onto hardwood rooms, a wood look in a tone close to the hardwood helps the two floors sit together. In a mudroom or laundry, a stone look can be a practical, quiet choice.
Rugs on new hardwood
Big formal rooms with hardwood often take a large rug, which sets the furniture in place and quiets the room. If a rug is part of the plan, choose the wood with the rug in mind: the floor shows mainly as a border around it, so its tone should frame the rug rather than fight it. Bring a photo of the rug, or a corner of it, when you come to look at wood.
Doing a whole house in stages
Many whole-house projects are done in stages, one floor or one group of rooms at a time. That works well, as long as the plan is made for the whole house at the start.
- Decide the materials for every room first. Even if the upstairs will wait, knowing what goes there stops the first rooms from boxing you in.
- Choose the joins once. Where hardwood meets carpet or vinyl, the threshold detail is easier to keep consistent if it is settled for every doorway together.
- Keep a record. Note the exact floor and colour chosen for each room, so a later stage can match it.
- Plan around the other work. If painting, wallpaper or new treatments are planned, set the order so the new floors are protected while the other work is done.
With that record in hand, the next stage can be matched to the first, even if it comes a good while later.
How we measure a Wellesley house
Professional measurement is part of what we do. A careful measure is the reason a floor fits well and the order is right the first time. When we come out, these are the things we look at.
- Every room on the list. We measure each room, including closets and alcoves, and note how the rooms connect.
- Where the floors meet. Doorways, thresholds and openings between rooms are where one floor stops and another starts. We plan those joins so they are neat and fall in sensible places.
- The stairs. Each stair is measured, along with the landings, because no two old staircases are quite alike.
- What is on the floor now. Existing carpet, old wood, tile or vinyl all affect how the new floor goes down. Tell us what you know about what is underneath.
- How the rooms are used. Pets, children, a home office chair, a busy back door: these steer the choice of material as much as the look.
- What else is happening. If painting, wallpaper or new window treatments are planned in the same rooms, we talk about the order so each trade is not undoing the last.
The measure is also a good moment to look at the light in each room and the treatments on the windows. With so much glass in these rooms, the two are best decided together.
Before we come to measure
A little preparation makes the measure quicker and the conversation more useful.
- Make a list of the rooms. Include closets, landings and stairs you want covered, and note any you are unsure about.
- Gather what has been chosen. Paint colours, drapery fabric, wallpaper or a designer’s board for the same rooms.
- Find out what you can about the floors now. If you know there is old wood under a carpet, or tile under vinyl, tell us.
- Think about the timing of other work. If a painter, a kitchen fitter or a contractor is due, let us know when.
- Note the rugs and furniture that are staying. A large rug or a piano changes what the floor needs to do in that room.
Installation, from order to finished floor
We install the floors we sell. Once you have chosen your floors and the measure is complete, we agree the rooms and materials with you, place the order and arrange the installation. Before the work starts, we will tell you what needs to be cleared from the rooms and what to expect on the day, so the house is ready when the floor arrives.
In a whole-house project, the order of work matters. As a general rule, flooring and painting have to be planned around each other, and we are glad to talk it through with you or with your designer or contractor. Large projects are often done in stages, room by room or floor by floor, and we can plan the measure and the order to suit.
Ready to Start Your Project?
Visit our showroom on Main Street in Natick, or book a free in-home consultation and we bring the samples to you.
Visit the store, or have us visit you
A Wellesley flooring project can begin in either place, and both have their uses.
At the store in Natick
Our Natick store has been selling for the home since 1947, and today it carries flooring alongside paint, wallpaper, fabrics and window treatments. Coming in lets you see hardwood, carpet and luxury vinyl side by side, and hold them up against paint colours, drapery fabrics and wallpaper samples for the same rooms. Bring photos of the rooms, any fabrics or paint colours already chosen, and a rough sketch of the floor plan if you have one.
At home, with a free consultation
Samples never look quite the same at home as they do in a store, because the light, the walls and the furniture all change them. On a free in-home consultation we walk the rooms with you, see how they connect, and look at the windows, the light and the floors you have now. The in-home design consultation page sets out what that visit involves. When you are ready, the measurement follows.
Floors, windows and walls planned together
The case for choosing flooring alongside everything else is strongest in a big older house, where a whole room or a whole floor is being done at once. The floor is the largest single surface in any room. The windows let in the light that changes it. The walls set the colour it sits beside.
- Blinds, shades and drapery that manage the sun on your floors are on the window treatments in Wellesley page.
- For colour on the walls and trim, read about Benjamin Moore paint in Wellesley.
- Find everything we offer for Wellesley homes on our Wellesley page, and our full range of floors on the flooring page.
Questions from Wellesley
We are doing the whole ground floor. Can the hardwood run through every room?
In most older colonials it can, and it usually looks best that way. We measure every room and the openings between them, and plan the joins so the boards run without awkward breaks. Where a kitchen or mudroom needs a more practical floor, we plan a neat change at a doorway.
Which floor is best for a busy mudroom or back hall?
Luxury vinyl is the floor most often chosen for these rooms, because it copes well with water, grit and constant traffic and is simple to clean. A wood look can tie it to the hardwood in the rooms next door.
Should we choose the floor before or after the paint and window treatments?
Ideally at the same time. Where daylight pours in from many windows, the floor, the walls and the treatments all affect one another. Choosing them together, in one store or on one home visit, saves second-guessing later.
Do you measure and install, or only sell the flooring?
Yes, we offer both: we take the measure and see the installation through. Get in touch through the contact page to arrange a visit, and we will take it from the measure through to the finished floor.
Talk to us about new floors for your Wellesley home
Tell us which rooms are on the list, what is on the floors now and what else is changing in the house, and we will help you choose and plan the right floors. Our contact page takes messages and requests for a free home visit, and the call button is there if a conversation suits you better.