Earthen Hickory Floor Collection An Excellent Option to White Oak

This month marks the launch of our newest Collection, Earthen.  Earthen is a Collection of 6 Hickory floors that reflect some of our most popular color trends.  At Carlisle, we have the luxury of working with some of the top designers in the industry and we get to see firsthand the colors, sheens, dimensions and character of the flooring they are choosing for their latest projects.

In the Concepts side of our business, where we develop flooring specifications from scratch on a per customer basis, we are beginning to see a slight shift away from White Oak as clients continue to strive for uniqueness in their design visions.  While White Oak is still extremely popular, and with the variety of specialized finishes and textures that we can apply it still provides an incredible opportunity for unique design; however, Hickory adds a new layer of interesting complexity to flooring to expose that complexity in our Earthen Collection.

The Earthen Collection is meant to ground you, to connect you to a natural place.  Sheen levels are kept low to create an organic feel. The tones are meant to remind you of what you see in nature, where variation is the foundation upon which harmony is built.  The product names in the Collection are different types of soil, bringing the rich life force into your home in a form that can be revered for generations to come.

Wood Sourcing of Earthen Collection

The Hickory we use to craft this Collection is sourced from more northern climates, focusing on Shagbark and Bitternut versions of the species.  This creates a dense grain and richer beige to brown tone in the heartwood.

We highlight the unique character of Hickory in the Earthen Collection by using our Signature Grade.  This will have some boards with knots, ingrown bark and mineral streaking, while other boards will be the more clean/clear version taken from our Heirloom Grade.  This unique combination is a true reflection of the life that the timber lived and used all of the wood at the tree’s base to tell the story.

The floor can also be customized by altering the grade to meet your design specifications.  In addition to altering the character, you can further customize this Collection by choosing alternate face widths or adding a texture to any of these beautiful colors.  With the options available, we are certain you can create a combination of features that fits perfectly into your interior.

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Wood Color Tones

The Earthen Collection begins with some of the more trending color tones and alters them slightly to embrace Hickory’s natural variation better. These tones are often meant to highlight the heart sap variation inherent in Hickory, bringing a more contemporary feel to the floor. In contrast, the color is meant to subdue the variation at other times, leaving only subtle shifts in color that create a more aged and organic appearance.

Chalk

When laid over the stunning color variance naturally found in Hickory, the warm shades of Chalk softens the strong grain patterns.  The character of the wood seen through a white veil creates a sense of mysticism that keeps the eye looking continuously at the unique movement of color.  If you are tired of traditional Oak flooring and want something subtle but lively, this is the floor for you.

Argil

Argil is a timeless color with the flexibility to be used in a variety of design themes.  This unique pastel tone was created by mixing hints of brown with touches of gray, making the wood appear aged without looking old.  This subtle overlay adds just a tint of color to the whiter sapwood lending a slightly more even tone to the standard heart and sapwood contrast.  You will look at it and be unsure of what to call it, and that is why it is so beautiful.

Kaolin

Imagine millions of years ago standing by a river and watching the sediment of eroded rock spinning in the ebbs and flows at the river’s edge.  You are witnessing the beginning of Kaolin.  Deeper grays with shades of brown pushing to the surface define Kaolin, creating a subtle range of color that flows across your floor.  The movement of grain and warm color tones creates a visible combination that may have you staring for hours.

Regur

Typically found in the lava-covered valleys surrounding a volcano, Regur is partly born of fire.  Gray is typically considered a cooler color, but with the brown tones of the Hickory heartwood pushing to the surface, Regur creates the warmth imagined in slowly flowing lava.  With hints of black in the more open grain, creating a touch of the dramatic, this floor will be a supportive statement piece to all the architectural elements in your home.

Alluvium

Made up of fine particles of silt and clay, eroded and redeposited by water in another form, Alluvium brings all the rich soil tones together.  Alluvium is an overall more traditional color but different when laid on the more interesting backdrop of Hickory.  Rather than a standard stain on a standard Oak, this floor comes alive and turns a true brown stain into a palette of shades, adding more interest to every plank.

Humus

Inspired by the natural beauty of Walnut, Humus was created.  With its rich-reddish brown color over the extremely hard substrate of Hickory, this dark wood floor with its deep brown undertones is an excellent alternative to Walnut.  Uniquely fashioned to leave the prominent Hickory grain patterns visible, the overall color palette covers most of the wood’s natural variation.  Fortunately, this variation is not all gone and hidden shades come to life as the afternoon sun rakes across your living room floor, revealing characteristics you had not seen before.

We hope the Earthen Collection opens up new opportunities to bring unique designs to your next project.