I was racking out my horizontal natural bamboo flooring planks for a DIY job in my home, when I noticed that exactly 1/3 of the opened boxes contain planks with a generally slightly lighter shade than the other 2/3 that I opened. Yes, all the boxes have the same date code.

Return is not an option, as the retailer says “color variation in bamboo is natural” and “the lighter stuff will darken over time,” etc.; and, of course, the topper, “oh, the boxes are opened…no returns.”

The darkening over time I can put some belief in, as I have read testimonials to that effect on various internet forums. Maybe it’s oxidation or maybe it’s UV exposure, I don’t know. And perhaps the box-to-box color variation is due to how the boxes were palletized, I don’t know. I did take a lighter shade plank and set it out in the sun, and it is noticeably darker after only one day of exposure than the rest of the planks from that box.

In any event, the pros and cons of bamboo are not my specific issue here. What I want to know is, am I better off randomizing the placement of light vs. dark planks, or in creating some sort of repeating pattern?

The wife is arguing for a repeating pattern. Arguments in favor of that approach:
-It would be “neat” (her sole argument “for”)
-I have to live with this woman (my sole argument “for”)

I argue for randomizing the planks; my arguments in favor of randomization:
-I can randomize the length of the starter in each course, thus increasing the number of seam offsets across the floor (I assume this will reduce the potential for propagating gaps and/or other fitting errors?)
-Less waste, as I’ll be able to re-use cut planks from the end of one course as starters for the next course
-Less time and effort spent ensuring I’m following the pattern
-One misplaced plank doesn’t screw up the whole pattern (because there is no pattern)
-There is some variation even amongst the light planks and amongst the dark planks, so, unlike say with vinyl tiles, a “perfect” pattern isn’t even possible
-If the light stuff darkens to match the dark stuff, all the extra effort is wasted anyway
-If she chooses to go with more of the same surface in other rooms of the house in the future, there’s no way we will be able to guarantee a continuation of the same pattern
-With less waste, we could end up with a few unopened boxes we CAN return, thus saving some $$

So, without making this a poll, which is the better option in general in a case like this: pattern or randomized?

I'm in the final stages of laying a new bamboo (horizontal carbonized) floor. (400 sq ft)

Definitely randomized. Besides your reasons, these type of floors are usually random. Notice that you randomize the lengths to stagger them. You don't pick a pattern. In fact you try to avoid patterns.

Our boxes were fairly consistent although we ran into a box or so that were darker, and a box or so that was lighter.

In my finished floor, we have everything mixed together randomly. It looks really good.

There are enough other DIY concerns than to worry about whether you have the right "color" board. And then there's the fact that there might not be enough of a certain shade, too much of another, and so on. You can't even "request" certain shades, so ordering more is impossible.

Unless you were specifically doing a pattern, with different type of flooring, like patterned tile, etc randomize the heck out of it.

I noticed that the randomness actually creates interesting sections of color. I drew from 2-3 boxes at a time to make sure I spread the color variation across the whole floor.

While I'm sure personal preference is important, this isn't even a close call in my opinion.

Ah, the logic of a woman. It's a good thing God granted them so many other redeeming qualities.

kbamboo,

Thanks for the validation.

I am totally with you on the visual interest of randomization. Thing is, I dry-layed some 60 sqft of a randomized pattern in the hallway to show her what I was talking about...before I could open my mouth to say "notice the organic interplay between larger and smaller sections of shade variations, and the way the eye is not drawn to fixate on the flooring," she says, "ick, why does it have those big blotches of the lighter shade?"

Now I am torn between reasoning this out with her, or just going ahead and doing it my way (the "forgiveness" versus "permission" thing).

I suppose I could say, "sorry honey; I noticed after the very first course I laid that I had already messed up the pattern...the only way to continue was randomization..."

My backup approach is, after the install, to get her best friend to convince her that the randomized pattern looks good. That should cost me no more than a 6-pack.

You could try the "trust me" approach.

Offer to lay your butt out for sacrifice if it turns out bad.

It won't. You'll get tons of compliments on the floor. And she'll be happy.

If it helps your case, my wife(who works in interior design) is very picky about aesthetics, and she really likes the randomness.

Good luck!