What is Herringbone?
Herringbone flooring and Chevron are two of the earliest and most enduring parquet patterns. Both herringbone and chevron floors are composed of pieces of wood of equal size arranged in a zig-zag pattern.
Herringbone is when the planks are cut in perfect rectangles and then staggered a bit, so the end of one plank meets the side of another. The chevron pattern occurs when the wood planks are cut on an angle so the ‘zig’ meets the ‘zag’ along a perfectly straight axis.
Herringbone past and present
Herringbone floors may have been the first parquet pattern developed in Europe, perhaps because it simply involved turning the wood planks at an angle, and it also echoed zig-zag brickwork that had decorated churches and other buildings for centuries.
One of the earliest works of wood herringbone is in France. The floor was installed in 1539 and it was designed and produced by Italian craftsmen who had been hired away from Italy. However, today the style is less current than simple plank floors in different finishes, but for MR FLOOR it will always be the height of beauty.
Once it comes to selecting the right flooring pattern; it depends on client’s personal preferences to either choose herringbone for its more dynamic texture or chevron for the structure and regularity of the pattern.
