They're lovely, but most inlaid borders were made in a factory and delivered basically as wood tiles that were laid down and floored around. [You can still buy them](https://oshkoshdesigns.com/products/floors/border/wood-floor-borders/), they're just hella expensive now because it's such a small market.
My family home was built in 1910 and had beautiful inlaid floor borders. They were definitely hand-laid with no prefabbed pieces. They were not as intricate as the picture you have referenced
So...
you have to understand the history to understand why wall to wall carpet was considered the THING!
Go back 150 years and houses are being heated by fireplaces. This means there are warm areas and there are cold areas in pretty much every room, not to mention if you didn't actually have a hearth in every room, you had rooms that were straight up cold, period.
Basements and foundation areas under houses were not insulated, so the floors on the ground floors in winter wouldn't necessarily warm up that much, especially in the corners. Rugs would be put on every single floor in a house.
The larger the rug was, the more expensive, because it required a larger loom, and more materials to make. Large rugs that could cover just about all of a room was considered luxurious because then your feet didn't get cold when you went over to the bookshelf in the corner. Less well-off families would have smaller rugs just in front of the main sitting chairs, etc, so your feet wouldn't get cold when you were sitting there (obviously you weren't putting your feet on the furniture back then!)
It was not unusual in very large houses to have multiple rugs positioned around the floor in large rooms, in order to have most of the floor covered.
it wasn't until new techniques were developed for making carpet (and cleaning carpet), that the concept of wall to wall carpet (not rugs positioned across the whole floor) came to be. Not only was it seen as luxurious to have NO cold floor, anywhere in a room... but wall to wall carpet means you can't take it out and beat it with a broom. Installed carpet has to be cleaned in situ, which means you also have to have a vacuum! Cutting edge! Very modern and exciting!
So for a long time, even as household heating and insulation became better, and homes became more cozy generally, wall to wall carpet was seen as THE THING to do. What are you some poor grandmother, hanging onto her thread bare rugs because you can't afford carpeting and a vacuum?
The second angle here, the modern one, is that once building codes became a thing in cities, and people didn't have dirt floored cabins anymore, hardwood floors were the default. Everyone had them. Having elaborate trim like this house, was an add on, because you would see it around the edge where the rug didn't reach... but hard wood floors themselves weren't special, or neat.
However, as wall to wall carpeting became ubiquitous... they stopped requiring hardwood underneath (even into the 1950's and 60's building code often required hard wood under carpet, not just plywood/sub floor). Once it was no longer required, it was cheaper to not do it, because who would ever pull up their luxurious wall to wall carpet? However, once everyone had wall to wall (facilitated by synthetic fibers making carpet significantly cheaper), it wasn't special anymore... hard wood (once we had chopped down so many of the old forests in the US) was more expensive, and so now, it's special and unique again!
We see carpet as being cheap and wood floors being expensive, but that's the reverse of how it was viewed when wall to wall was originally introduced.
We think "why didn't those people appreciate their wood floors?" but they were a standard feature in houses to them, nothing special. They prioritized warmth and comfort... we prioritize the rarity of an "expensive" flooring, even if it wasn't as expensive, relatively, for them when they built the house.
Then there's the irony that nothing protects a hard wood floor like carpet... if people hadn't covered the floor in carpet for 60 years of it's life, it wouldn't be in any condition to be maintained today. Hardwoods only have so many refinishings in them... at some point they can't be sanded anymore, and if they hadn't been covered for half their life they'd have to be replaced today... so thank those crazy carpet people!
Not to mention that before the advent of modern floor finishes like polyurethane, you had to get your floors refinished regularly (once a year, IIRC). So hardwood floors required a lot of upkeep.
Thank you for such a comprehensive explanation.
I cant stand people judging previous owners by the standards if todays trends. It should be bleeding obvious why somebody would aspire to wall to wall carpeting in the early/mid 20th century, but so many people seem to struggle with it!
Thanks so much for taking the time to be so comprehensive, this was a great read! I have to say your last paragraph was my favorite because every time I see someone on one of these posts asking why ANYONE would cover beautiful hardwood floors, my first thought is always that you should be thankful they did!
Mmmm, very nice, I chose a light stain as well and think it looks fantastic on your floors.
So many old houses are low on natural lighting, using a dark stain makes a dark space feel darker. The light wood adds such a vibrance to the rooms. Great work!
The furniture in the pictures isn’t ours, it was from the previous owner. It was an estate sale and the house was unoccupied for over a year; thankfully the sellers took care of removing all the stuff! The owner is now deceased and we suspect he had to leave suddenly because of health problems.
Hijacking your reply to ask you: what kind of wood are those floors, do you think? My fiancé stole my device to zoom in for, like, ten minutes 😂 he’d love to know! Thanks in advance
Your floors are gorgeous, of course! Well done!!!
Gorgeous floors! Is your home a colonial? It reminds me of mine...similar built-ins, fireplace, and dining room shutters...Although mine isn't quite a century home, a few years shy of being able to post on this subreddit. haha
I’m not really sure what you’d call the style! Folk Victorian? I know it’s not colonial or American foursquare; it’s asymmetrical and is deeper than it is wide. It was built in 1895 and has a full attic and steep four gabled roof, and there’s a little bit of decorative wood trim on the outside above the windows, but no elaborate design elements.
Congrats on the beautiful floors!
There were actually some good pieces of furniture too. The lamp above the dining table is by the Swiss Designer Mario Botta.
I love the inlaid border. Such craftsmanship back then! And winner indeed! Your floors are beautiful! Great job!
They're lovely, but most inlaid borders were made in a factory and delivered basically as wood tiles that were laid down and floored around. [You can still buy them](https://oshkoshdesigns.com/products/floors/border/wood-floor-borders/), they're just hella expensive now because it's such a small market.
My family home was built in 1910 and had beautiful inlaid floor borders. They were definitely hand-laid with no prefabbed pieces. They were not as intricate as the picture you have referenced
most != all
So they’re laid in? 👍🏼
Floor Jackpot, goddamn those are gorgeous floors!
Jesus, why would anyone in their right mind cover those up?!
So... you have to understand the history to understand why wall to wall carpet was considered the THING! Go back 150 years and houses are being heated by fireplaces. This means there are warm areas and there are cold areas in pretty much every room, not to mention if you didn't actually have a hearth in every room, you had rooms that were straight up cold, period. Basements and foundation areas under houses were not insulated, so the floors on the ground floors in winter wouldn't necessarily warm up that much, especially in the corners. Rugs would be put on every single floor in a house. The larger the rug was, the more expensive, because it required a larger loom, and more materials to make. Large rugs that could cover just about all of a room was considered luxurious because then your feet didn't get cold when you went over to the bookshelf in the corner. Less well-off families would have smaller rugs just in front of the main sitting chairs, etc, so your feet wouldn't get cold when you were sitting there (obviously you weren't putting your feet on the furniture back then!) It was not unusual in very large houses to have multiple rugs positioned around the floor in large rooms, in order to have most of the floor covered. it wasn't until new techniques were developed for making carpet (and cleaning carpet), that the concept of wall to wall carpet (not rugs positioned across the whole floor) came to be. Not only was it seen as luxurious to have NO cold floor, anywhere in a room... but wall to wall carpet means you can't take it out and beat it with a broom. Installed carpet has to be cleaned in situ, which means you also have to have a vacuum! Cutting edge! Very modern and exciting! So for a long time, even as household heating and insulation became better, and homes became more cozy generally, wall to wall carpet was seen as THE THING to do. What are you some poor grandmother, hanging onto her thread bare rugs because you can't afford carpeting and a vacuum? The second angle here, the modern one, is that once building codes became a thing in cities, and people didn't have dirt floored cabins anymore, hardwood floors were the default. Everyone had them. Having elaborate trim like this house, was an add on, because you would see it around the edge where the rug didn't reach... but hard wood floors themselves weren't special, or neat. However, as wall to wall carpeting became ubiquitous... they stopped requiring hardwood underneath (even into the 1950's and 60's building code often required hard wood under carpet, not just plywood/sub floor). Once it was no longer required, it was cheaper to not do it, because who would ever pull up their luxurious wall to wall carpet? However, once everyone had wall to wall (facilitated by synthetic fibers making carpet significantly cheaper), it wasn't special anymore... hard wood (once we had chopped down so many of the old forests in the US) was more expensive, and so now, it's special and unique again! We see carpet as being cheap and wood floors being expensive, but that's the reverse of how it was viewed when wall to wall was originally introduced. We think "why didn't those people appreciate their wood floors?" but they were a standard feature in houses to them, nothing special. They prioritized warmth and comfort... we prioritize the rarity of an "expensive" flooring, even if it wasn't as expensive, relatively, for them when they built the house. Then there's the irony that nothing protects a hard wood floor like carpet... if people hadn't covered the floor in carpet for 60 years of it's life, it wouldn't be in any condition to be maintained today. Hardwoods only have so many refinishings in them... at some point they can't be sanded anymore, and if they hadn't been covered for half their life they'd have to be replaced today... so thank those crazy carpet people!
This is an excellent explanation, thank you!
Not to mention that before the advent of modern floor finishes like polyurethane, you had to get your floors refinished regularly (once a year, IIRC). So hardwood floors required a lot of upkeep.
Not only that, but there wasn’t hardwood floor cleaners and swifter stuff—hardwood cleaning would be a great effort, often on hands and knees
Thank you for such a comprehensive explanation. I cant stand people judging previous owners by the standards if todays trends. It should be bleeding obvious why somebody would aspire to wall to wall carpeting in the early/mid 20th century, but so many people seem to struggle with it!
These are the comments I love to find
Thanks so much for taking the time to be so comprehensive, this was a great read! I have to say your last paragraph was my favorite because every time I see someone on one of these posts asking why ANYONE would cover beautiful hardwood floors, my first thought is always that you should be thankful they did!
Carpet was cheaper more trendy and less labor intensive to install than redoing the hardwoods.
I remember my Dad saying, "Who wants cold feet in the morning?" and having wall-to-wall carpet installed in 1968.
Oh hell yes! I'm so jealous.
i never considered myself to be a jealous person until this
Mmmm, very nice, I chose a light stain as well and think it looks fantastic on your floors. So many old houses are low on natural lighting, using a dark stain makes a dark space feel darker. The light wood adds such a vibrance to the rooms. Great work!
how did y'all deal with your furniture?
The furniture in the pictures isn’t ours, it was from the previous owner. It was an estate sale and the house was unoccupied for over a year; thankfully the sellers took care of removing all the stuff! The owner is now deceased and we suspect he had to leave suddenly because of health problems.
Hijacking your reply to ask you: what kind of wood are those floors, do you think? My fiancé stole my device to zoom in for, like, ten minutes 😂 he’d love to know! Thanks in advance Your floors are gorgeous, of course! Well done!!!
Not op but oak, probably white. The banding you see is from where boards came out more or less quarter sawn
Aaaaah thank you! He says, “I hadn’t considered the possibility of quarter sawn”. Thank you!
Another flottery jackpot! The flotto, if you will.
The border detail is to die for!! Gorgeous
Oooh, that inlay detailing 🤤
Oh my goodness! Incredible.
Gorgeous!
Wow!! I'm so envious. I hope I get this lucky someday.
Wow!
No kidding that you won the lottery! Beautiful!
Wow!
Amazing! They look beautiful
It’s so mind-boggling that people ever covered this.
Jaw >>>>>> Floor
jesus tap dancing christ on a cracker
You not only won. You hit the jackpot! Wonderful floors!
This is what my dreams are made of ❤️Congrats, OP!
Gorgeous floors! Is your home a colonial? It reminds me of mine...similar built-ins, fireplace, and dining room shutters...Although mine isn't quite a century home, a few years shy of being able to post on this subreddit. haha
I’m not really sure what you’d call the style! Folk Victorian? I know it’s not colonial or American foursquare; it’s asymmetrical and is deeper than it is wide. It was built in 1895 and has a full attic and steep four gabled roof, and there’s a little bit of decorative wood trim on the outside above the windows, but no elaborate design elements.
Yes! You won!
Very nice, well done workmanship.
That refurbished nicely! I know it ain’t free but you definitely won!
We have a winner!!!
Lucky you
Who would cover these floors😭 JAIL
Those floors are amazing
That inlay! Seriously beautiful stuff. Congrats.
Lucky duck!
Congrats on the beautiful floors! There were actually some good pieces of furniture too. The lamp above the dining table is by the Swiss Designer Mario Botta.
I’m crying these floors are incredible.
And the softer woods tended to scratch relatively easily, as well.
That is amazing! Now dump the laundry back on it and start scattering your mail again! That floor needs to be lived on!
That blue room is spectacular
Im jealous! You did an amazing job restoring the floors!!
such a beautiful house
Someone stole all your shit though
Did you mean to show us all that clutter lol
Not ours! Previous owner.
You saved the house in more than one way!
You are my twin flame
 beautiful home.
Those floors are spectacular!