I recently purchased an 1857 home with hardwood floors that appear to have been installed sometime between 1900-1930. The previous homeowners had large area rugs down in the dining and living rooms, and thanks to the very bright, almost constant sunlight coming in, the exposed floor became bleached and the part that was under the rugs is quite a bit darker.

The difference between the two areas is quite noticeable. I am not sure if I should leave it and let the floors even out in color on their own (all the rugs are gone and the floor is completely exposed now), or to hire someone to try and color match the bleached areas. I'm afraid the color match won't be exact and it will end up looking even weirder. I should probably mention that the floors appear to have been refinished recently with a clear coating, as it's so shiny you can see reflections in it.

I've attached a photo of the rugs that used to be down on the floor, so you can see the size of the area that is affected. Short of buying some really big rugs, I don't think I can easily hide it. :(

Has anyone else faced this bleached hardwood floor problem and if so, what was your course of action?

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: The old area rugs