Transformative Flooring Design Illuminates Home

Justin Boone of Middleburg, Fla.-based Boone Flooring was originally hired to refinish some worn-out parquet throughout this house, but as he discussed possible flooring designs with the homeowner, the two got excited about the idea of doing a complete transformation. “We kind of made it up as we went, but anything that I suggested or thought might look really nice, he was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’” Boone says. 

In parts of the house, Boone stuck to the homeowner’s original plan and refinished certain rooms, but throughout the rest of the home, he experimented with patterns and ideas he hadn’t tried before. In a bedroom, Boone installed white oak planks and added a walnut half-sphere along the wall, featuring maple stars and a moon routed into it. Down a hallway, Boone installed a sequence of sunbursts with white oak and framed each one with a 1/4-inch dark walnut inlay. A similar style was used in the home office, where a sunburst was installed inside of a cross, framed by another walnut border. Surrounded by wide planks, the starburst cross has the illusion of emerging from the floor. 

After finishing nearly all the floors, Boone had the idea to install color-changing LED lights in the flooring. LED inlays were new to Boone, but since the homeowner was keen to try his other designs, he thought this house might be a good space to give it a try. “Once we did the LEDS in one area, [the homeowner was] like, ‘Let’s just keep it going through the whole house,’” Boone says. To enhance the flooring designs, Boone routed 1/4 inch around the sunbursts and the bedroom border, then placed silicone-encased LEDs. Having a customer who was excited to let Boone showcase his artistry and permit him to try new features on the floor made the project worthwhile, Boone says, summarizing the job this way: “A ton of heart and soul went into this floor.”

SUPPLIERS: Abrasive: Norton | Adhesive: Bostik | Buffer, Edger: American Sanders | Finish: Heidelberg | Router: Festool, Makita, Shaper Origin | Sander (Palm): Mirka, Festool | Saws: DeWalt, Festool