It’s no secret that rustic hardwood flooring is trending all over the world. Rustic looks are trending in more than just flooring as well. Homeowners are looking for different sources of inspiration for their floors. Wine cellars are providing the sort of inspiration that many homeowners are looking for. More specifically, old European cellar floors are the inspiration.
Old European Cellars
Wine and fruit cellars have been in use for hundreds of years; they predate refrigerators and other ways of preserving food. To preserve food and wine, Europeans would dig their cellars into the ground. The ground would act as the insulation to keep things cool. They had dirt floors though. As the homeowners expanded the cellars and made them more permanent, they would often lay down wooden floors. Businesses that received lots of wine and fruit would also make permanent cellars.
Instead of buying hardwood for use as the flooring, the dirt floor would be covered with the wood from the wine and fruit crates. The wine and fruit crates would be disassembled and then laid as wooden flooring. The wood was often unfinished. Also, it was stamped with shipping information and company information. Oftentimes, this information was burned into the wood.
So, the result was a rough sawn wooden floor with burned-in stamps. The look is very distinct, and many find it very attractive. Those cellars were also popular in New England and other colder parts of the United States. The look is still fairly distinctly European.
Recreating the Look
There are a couple of ways to recreate the look of the old European cellars. The most authentic method is to find wine and fruit crates. Fruit and wine are still shipped in wooden crates in many instances; thus, you can often find them secondhand. However, some of the newer crates are softwood. You definitely want hardwood to create the best possible floor.
If you want to make the process easier and more straightforward, you can buy hardwood designed to create the cellar look. The companies supply hardwood planks that are finished and stained to look rustic. They’re also burned with shipping information to fully recreate the look. These floors look great in kitchens and in homes with rustic decor. Also, many bars are utilizing the look to mimic European pubs of the era before refrigeration. Whether you choose authentic crate wood or a recreation, you will have a unique and interesting hardwood floor.