Contemporary Endurance

You don’t have to sacrifice beauty for durability, as this handsome floor demonstrates. Wide plank American oak was wire brushed, inlaid in stone, then finished with a European colored oil sometimes referred to as "hard wax." The protection is embedded in the pores of the wood, which means there is no surface finish to maintain. Even better, the vegetable-based system is very green, emitting no VOCs. Photo courtesy of Bordelon Design Associates