Hardwood Floors February/March 2026

Wood Stock

By Burt Bollinger BY DESIGN TIMELESS uncommon challenge. The house needed to feel like it belonged. Jason Horn of Durham Designs Wood Floors understood what that required. His team, already familiar with the builder through previous collaborations, was brought in to install more than 4,000 square feet of flooring across both the main and upper levels. From the outset, the homeowner expressed interest in a patterned entryway. She shared a photo she had found online, featuring a classic basketweave layout with a border and a curved riser at the base of the stairs. The photo showed the curved pieces cut from a single board, but Horn believed the design would benefit from a different approach. “Cutting it works, but bending the wood allows the grain to follow the shape more naturally,” he explained. “It just looks better that way.” The entryway spanned more than 200 square feet, which raised questions about scale and proportion. Horn’s team settled on 6” blocks, a choice that struck the right balance between visual impact and restraint. Rather than calling attention to the pattern with contrasting species like walnut or purpleheart, as they had done in other homes, they opted to keep the look more cohesive. Everything was red oak, with 31/4” boards in the field and 6” blocks forming the weave. “Our goal was to make it look like it had always been there,” Horn said. “We wanted something that could have been installed 100 years ago.” In a neighborhood known for its 1920s and 1930s architecture, a new build came with an

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