The Floors
Brazilian cherry can be taken considerably lighter
The floors are Brazilian cherry, also called jatoba, one of the hardest flooring woods in use (Janka 2,690, about twice red oak). It is photosensitive. Milled a light orange-tan, it deepens toward red-brown with exposure to light, and the floor today carries roughly eighteen years of that. Sanding takes it back to the lighter raw wood, and a non-ambering waterborne matte finish keeps it there far better than oil-based polyurethane would.
To go lighter still, refinishers apply a two-part wood bleach once or twice, neutralize it, and tone with a white-pigmented sealer or a greige toner. Greens and greys cancel red, which is why taupe reads as a true neutral here where plain whitewash can look pink. It is a job for a refinisher who knows exotic species, working from test boards on the actual floor, and bleaching adds about a day to a normal sand and finish.
Eighteen years of light on the wood.
Raw wood under waterborne matte; deepens a little in year one.
Red largely cut. Muted caramel, grain intact.
The Scandinavian direction. Pale greige, faint warmth.
A true mid neutral, close to smoked white oak.
The swatches are renderings, color-matched to a photograph of 4A’s own floor, for orientation only. I am glad to arrange access for a refinisher to put test boards down. Sources for the floor notes: The Wood Database (jatoba hardness, color and light sensitivity); Duffy Floors, Medford MA (sand, two-part bleach, neutralize, tone); Fournier Finishing (removing red and bleaching to achieve trendy neutrals); Basic Coatings (color-wheel toning); The Flooring Girl (waterborne finish, sealer caution).
In context
A modest job relative to the whole
Refinishing the floors changes the feel of the apartment as much as anything in the virtually staged photographs, if not more so. The staged photographs keep the floors as they are today; the swatches above show where they could go.
Next
Central Park
Directly across the avenue. The Reservoir, the East Meadow, the Conservatory Garden and Museum Mile, starting at the front door.
Central Park