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Flooring layout patterns are the cheapest design decision in a renovation and the one most people make by accident. The same boards, laid three different ways, produce three different rooms — and three different bills, because the pattern decides how much flooring you throw away. Here are the five layouts worth knowing, what each one costs you in waste, and which rooms they actually suit.
Straight Lay — The Cheapest Square Footage
Boards run parallel to each other in one direction, usually along the longest wall. It is the layout that disappears: no pattern to catch the eye, nothing to line up, nothing to get wrong.
Best for: small rooms and narrow hallways, where a busy pattern makes the space feel tighter. Also the right answer if the subfloor is slightly out of level — a straight run hides a small dip that a herringbone will exaggerate.
What it costs: the least. Around 5% waste, because almost every offcut at the end of a row can start the next one.
Watch out for: a straight lay in a long, narrow room emphasises the corridor effect. Run the boards across the short dimension instead of along the long one and the room reads wider.
Staggered Lay (Brick Pattern) — The Default for a Reason
Rows are offset so the end joint of one row lands near the middle of the board in the row before it. This is what almost every plank floor in the world is actually laid in, and it is the pattern that makes a plank floor look like a floor rather than a grid.
Best for: living rooms, bedrooms, open-plan spaces — anywhere the floor should read as continuous. It is also the most forgiving pattern to install, because a small error in one row is absorbed by the offset rather than running visually down the whole room.
What it costs: around 8% waste. Slightly more than straight lay, because the offset means fewer offcuts can be reused.
Watch out for: the offset should be at least a third of the board length, and never a repeating half. A consistent 50% stagger — sometimes called a “step” pattern — produces a staircase effect that looks like a mistake, because it is one.
Herringbone — The One That Costs You 20% More Flooring
Rectangular boards are laid at 90 degrees to each other, so the ends form a zigzag. The pattern reads as a diagonal across the room, which is why it makes a space feel larger and more deliberate than the square footage deserves.
Best for: hallways, entryways, dining rooms and anywhere you want the floor to be the feature. It also works well in a room with no obvious focal point, because the pattern supplies one.
What it costs: 15–20% waste. Every board end is a cut, and both ends of every cut are usually unusable. On a 200 sq ft room that is roughly 35 sq ft of flooring you buy and never see.
The honest caveat: herringbone needs boards of identical length, and it needs square-cut ends. If you are using a click lock floor, the end joint has to be cut off before the boards will sit at 90 degrees, and the cut ends have to be glued to the subfloor. That works, but it converts a floating floor into a glued one and voids the click warranty. For click lock, straight lay or staggered is the honest answer. For glue-down or tongue and groove — which is what most of our solid bamboo flooring is — herringbone is entirely doable.
Chevron — Herringbone With the Cuts Already Done
Chevron looks like herringbone from across the room and is a different pattern up close. The board ends are cut at 45 degrees, so the two boards meet in a continuous V rather than a stepped zigzag. The line never breaks.
Best for: large rooms and high ceilings, where the unbroken V carries. In a small bedroom it is a lot of movement for a small space.
What it costs: 20–25% waste, the highest of the five. Every board has two angled cuts, and the offcuts are too short to reuse.
Watch out for: chevron is usually bought as a pre-cut chevron floor, not made on site. Trying to cut 45-degree ends by hand across a whole room produces gaps that no amount of filler hides. If a supplier will not sell you a chevron set, that is a signal.
Patterned and Basketweave — For Small Rooms and Big Statements
Boards of different colours, widths or directions are combined into a repeat — basketweave, parquet blocks, geometric panels. The pattern is designed rather than derived from the boards.
Best for: a hallway, a study, a single feature room. It is a decision you make once and live with for twenty years, so it should be a decision you actually like.
What it costs: 15–20% waste, plus more installation time than any other layout, because every block is placed rather than run.
Watch out for: pattern repetition. A bold repeat in a large room shows the same motif fifteen times, which looks like wallpaper. Bold patterns work best in small rooms where the repeat is seen whole.
How Much Extra Flooring to Buy
Waste is not a rounding error — it is the difference between finishing the room and waiting three weeks for a second delivery, and a second batch can be a shade off. Order by layout, then round up to the next full case.
| Layout | Typical waste | Buy for a 200 sq ft room |
|---|---|---|
| Straight lay | 5% | 210 sq ft |
| Staggered / brick | 8% | 216 sq ft |
| Herringbone | 15–20% | 230–240 sq ft |
| Chevron | 20–25% | 240–250 sq ft |
| Patterned / basketweave | 15–20% | 230–240 sq ft |
Two things push you to the top of those ranges: a room with more than two doorways or a chimney breast, and any layout run diagonally across the room rather than square to the walls. A diagonal straight lay wastes like a herringbone, not like a straight lay — the boards are still cut at every wall, they are just cut at an angle.
Which Pattern for Which Room
- Small bedroom, tight budget: straight lay, boards across the short wall.
- Living room or open plan: staggered, one-third offset. The floor disappears and the furniture leads.
- Hallway or entry: herringbone. It is the one place the extra 15% of flooring buys something you can see from the front door.
- Large room with high ceilings: chevron, if the budget allows, because the unbroken V needs distance to read.
- Rental or quick flip: staggered. Cheapest to install well, hardest to get visibly wrong.
Common Questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Which layout wastes the least flooring? | Straight lay, at around 5%. Staggered costs about three percentage points more and looks considerably better in a room larger than a box room, so it is usually worth the difference. |
| What is the best layout for a small room? | Straight lay, run across the short dimension of the room. It has the least waste, the least visual noise, and it makes the room read wider than a diagonal ever will. Herringbone in a small room is a bold choice, not a safe one. |
| Can I lay herringbone myself? | With tongue and groove or glue-down boards, yes — slowly. The first three rows decide the whole room, so spend an hour getting them square and the rest follows. With click lock, no: the end joints have to be cut and glued, which is a different job with a different warranty position. |
Before You Order
Every floor on our bamboo range is 12–15 mm solid or strand woven, 18.3–20 sq ft per case, and priced from $7.00 per sq ft. Tell us the room dimensions and the layout you have chosen and we will work out the case count, including the waste — that conversation costs nothing and saves the most common and most expensive ordering mistake.
See all seven bamboo floors · Send us your room measurements
Choosing the right Hardwood flooring layout pattern depends on the size of the space, the desired style, and personal preference. Straight lay suits minimalist designs, herringbone and chevron add elegance, while staggered lay and patterned layouts enhance visual depth and artistic appeal.