Herringbone Interior Design Parquet Floor Modern

Bored with plain boards? Want flooring that leaves your guests floored? Brownstoner noticed a recent interiors trend that’s putting a modern twist on herringbone.

Read on for recent examples and a brief history of herringbone.

Photo by Andrew Cammarano
Photo by Andrew Cammarano

The subtle angularity of a herringbone- or chevron-patterned floor can add visual interest while bridging the gap between older details and contemporary furnishings.

In the Fort Green renovation shown above — designed by Jessica Helgerson — the diagonal slats of the chevron floor echo the dark red slash of the accent wall. Here, the floor feels homey and modern but also of a piece with the exposed ceiling beams.

Photo by Jason Schmidt
Photo by Jason Schmidt. Interior design by Kiki Dennis

This modern update on a classic 19th century limestone has a herringbone-floored dining room that helps bring together the room’s older and newer design elements. Though herringbone and chevron floors aren’t historically original to older Brooklyn town homes like this one, they don’t feel out of place.

Photo from Ensemble Architecture
Photos from Ensemble Architecture

In this farmhouse-inspired renovation by Gowanus-based Ensemble Architecture, shown above, reclaimed walnut boards were laid in a herringbone pattern — adding attractive detail to a purposefully sparse home.

Herringbone-patterned floor at Godolphin House in Cornwall. Photo via Apartment Therapy
A centuries-old herringbone floor at Godolphin House in Cornwall. Photo via Apartment Therapy

A Brief History of Herringbone

While the geometry of the herringbone pattern can look incredibly modern, it’s actually one of the oldest kinds of parquet flooring. Parquet-style floors are made with strips of wood arranged in a repeating pattern. They originated in 16th century Europe, and some of the oldest known examples of parquetry are in the palace at Versailles.

As Brownstoner’s in-house historian Suzanne Spellen has written, parquet floors became the go-to flooring style in America in the late 1800’s when tastemakers deemed rugs too dirty and average boards too plain. However, herringbone parquet wasn’t popular in Brooklyn, and it isn’t original to the borough’s brownstones.

Today, chevron floors are just as likely to be created out of full-thickness boards as they are a thin parquet overlay.

Herringbone Interior Design Parquet Floor Modern

The Difference Between Herringbone and Chevron

Okay, so we’ve really been looking at two different-yet-similar types of floor patterns: herringbone and chevron. Can you spot the distinction?

In the chevron pattern, the end of each board connects symmetrically with the end of the the next, creating a clean zig-zag. With herringbone, the ends are staggered in a more stacked-looking, interlocking pattern.

Samuel Morgan Photography
Photo by Samuel Morgan

But the herringbone pattern isn’t just for wood floors. Greenpoint-based residential architect Gerry Smith beautifully arranged blue ceramic tiles in a herringbone style in the remarkable Park Slope kitchen shown above.

Want to have the geometric interest of a chevron pattern without actually redoing your floors? You could do what Aussie expats Megan Mair and Jeremyville did for their parlor — just get a chevron rug.

Photo by Eve Wilson
Photo by Eve Wilson

Share your herringbone and chevron floors with Brownstoner readers by sending pictures to barbara [at] brownstoner.co. We’ll add them here.

Related Stories
“Modern But Warm” Duplex for a Prospect Heights Family
Family Funs Up Magnificent Bed Stuy Brownstone With a Speakeasy in Its Past
Opening and Overhauling a Cramped Concord Village Studio


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment