My Stuga Journey: How I Chose Our Floors

Photo: Sophisticated Small | Products: Shell flooring + Flush Stair Nosings

Choosing new flooring is one of the biggest decisions you can make for your home, not just for how it looks, but for how it supports your lifestyle, your health, and your values. Long before I ever joined the Stuga team, I experienced this firsthand.

In fact, my Stuga journey began five years before I started working here, when I was deep in the process of building our home in the mountains of Colorado. At the time, I was working at Avocado Green Mattress, fully immersed in the world of nontoxic, sustainable materials. Creating a healthy home was, and still is, incredibly important to me.

Here’s how I researched, evaluated, and ultimately chose our floors, and why I’d choose them again in a heartbeat.

How Stuga Became the Clear Winner

I knew from the beginning that I wanted real wood floors. LVP and other synthetic alternatives were never on the table for us, not only because they didn’t align with my aesthetic, but because they didn’t support my commitment to natural, environmentally responsible materials.

Living in the mountains means spending most of our lives outdoors, mountain biking, skiing, grounding ourselves in nature. I wanted the inside of our home to reflect the outside world: real materials, natural textures, and products that wouldn’t compromise our indoor air quality.

Before I began researching hardwood flooring, I thought engineered wood was simply a lower-cost alternative to solid hardwood. In my research, I learned that it was designed in Sweden in the 1940s. They wanted to create hardwood flooring in a more sustainable way. In doing so, they built a more durable product that has stood the test of time. Thanks to its layered construction, engineered hardwood handles humidity and temperature fluctuations more effectively. This makes it a smart choice for kitchens and basements. We wanted the same floor throughout our home so this made it a great option for our needs.

This mattered to me for a few reasons:

• Sustainability: The layered construction allows mills to use wood more efficiently. Slow growth trees like Oak are used as the top layer with fast-growing trees like Pine and Spruce as the middle and bottom layers. Nothing is wasted, and the result is a floor that is both natural and environmentally responsible.

• Durability in Real Life: Engineered hardwood performs better in homes like ours, places with big temperature swings and fluctuating humidity. Between dirt roads and Colorado winters, we needed a floor that could handle it all.

• Consistency Throughout the Home: We wanted the same floor in every room, including the kitchen. Engineered hardwood made that possible.

The more I learned, the clearer it became: engineered hardwood wasn’t just the right choice, it was the best choice.

The Floor We Chose: Shell

Shell is the floor that I had been converting for a long time for our home. Long before we even started the building process. 

Our house is mountain modern:

• Shou Sugi Ban exterior

• Tall, sloped roofline (best for snow)

• Lots of windows
  

• Cozy, minimalist footprint

With all that natural light and openness, I wanted a floor with warmth and personality, something that grounded the space and connected it back to the forest surrounding us.

Trees have always been special to me. They’re where we spend family time on weekends, and where I feel the most calm and connected. Shell’s natural variation and character reminds me of that feeling. Each plank tells a story, unique knots, grain patterns, subtle shifts that feel alive.

When the floors were finally installed, the transformation was immediate. Shell brought warmth, depth, and soul into our home. Five years later, I love it just as much as I did on day one.  If we had to do it again I would choose Shell for this home every single time.

(Right now I'm also swooning over Happy Hour and Low Tide.)

Five Years Later: How Our Floors Are Holding Up

We live in a small home, under 900 square feet, with one staircase (flush nosings). We both work from home, we have long winters, and we welcomed our daughter not long after moving in. These floors have been lived on.

Here’s the honest truth:

• The floors still look beautiful.

• Guests comment on them every single time they visit.

• Two friends bought Stuga floors after seeing ours in person.

• The wear feels natural, never damaged, just loved.

Stuga was the right choice for our lifestyle, our climate, and the values we bring into our home.

Finding the right floor can feel overwhelming, there are endless options, and it’s a big investment. But after going through the process myself (long before I ever worked at Stuga), I can confidently say these floors will be beautiful in your home, too.