Need help with wood flooring color

[Teaching3bears]

All of the upstairs bedrooms have wood floors that are honey oak with a bit of reddish tint.  They are the kind where slats fit together.  There has been damage/staining to half or a third of the floor in three corners of one of the rooms. It is the smallest room.  I am toying with the idea of either just replacing the damaged slats or replacing the whole floor in a different color.  Would it look a bit funny if one bedroom is a different color?  Which color would you choose?  It can’t be anything dark because the room gets a lot of sun and that would heat it up more.  I like gray though I know it is trendy.  
Any links to Home Depot/Lowe’s products are appreciated.  

[KSera]

Is the hallway the same wood as the bedrooms? What if you went with a different flooring material all together in that room with an area rug to break it up? There’s some nice cork flooring these days that is warm and nice on the feet as well as water resistant. 

[Teaching3bears]

15 minutes ago, KSera said:

Is the hallway the same wood as the bedrooms? What if you went with a different flooring material all together in that room with an area rug to break it up? There’s some nice cork flooring these days that is warm and nice on the feet as well as water resistant. 

The hallway is carpeted.  Cork sounds good.  Is it more expensive?

[KSera]

Just now, Teaching3bears said:

The hallway is carpeted.  Cork sounds good.  Is it more expensive?

Cork is frequently less than hardwood. With a carpeted hallway, you have a lot of options, since the wood flooring isn’t running up against the hallway. In that case, I think you could choose whatever you wanted.

Home Depot cork planks:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Heritage-Mill-Bombay-Plank-13-32-in-Thick-x-11-5-8-in-Wide-x-36-in-Length-Cork-Flooring-22-99-sq-ft-case-PF9658/204731710

[KungFuPanda]

I like white oak flooring. 😁

[Spryte]

We have cork in three bedrooms and a hallway.  Master, on same level, is different (hand planed and stained by former woodworking owner, really cool).  

I love the cork!  

Pros:  

It’s beautiful, easy on feet.  Easy to clean.  And my favorite - very little out gassing, which is our primary reason for loving it.
 

Cons:

Will you be installing it yourself or hiring?  Cork can be tricky to install without visible seams. Easy to nick edges while installing.

Also, no damp clothes should be left on it overnight.  It’s cork, right?  

ETA:  ours looks more like the Tuft color in the link above.  It doesn’t show dirt at all, and we do have few imperfections that don’t show either (I think someone dropped something and a sharp corner hit first?).

Edited June 19, 2021 by Spryte

[gardenmom5]

Wood can be stained. 

have you spoken with a hardwood flooring installer?  If it's possible, they should be able to replace the damage pieces, then sand the entire bedroom floor and refinish it.  A good installer will leave a floor where no one can tell the difference.

[gardenmom5]

On 6/18/2021 at 1:16 PM, Teaching3bears said:

The hallway is carpeted.  Cork sounds good.  Is it more expensive?

Is there hardwood under the carpet?  depending upon when the home was built, there may well be.  The house I grew up in had oak floors, including under the carpet in the hallway.

[Storygirl]

It may be easier and less expensive to put carpet in that one bedroom and just cover up the wood floor. I'm assuming you are okay with carpet, in general, since you have it in the hallway.