How to Order Free Flooring Samples (and Why You Should)
A floor is one of the largest surfaces in your home and one of the most expensive things you’ll install in it. Yet most people choose the color from a photo on a screen - a screen calibrated differently from every other screen, lit by whatever light happens to be in the room, showing a single plank rather than a whole floor.
That’s how people end up with a floor that looked perfect online and feels wrong the day it’s installed. Ordering samples first is the single cheapest way to avoid the single most expensive flooring mistake. Here’s why it matters, and how to do it properly.
Why a Sample Beats a Screen Every Time
Lighting changes everything
The same floor looks different under warm incandescent bulbs, cool LEDs, and natural daylight - and different again at 9am versus 5pm. A honey oak that looks warm and inviting in a showroom can read orange in a north-facing room, or washed-out in bright afternoon sun. No photograph can show you this. Only a physical sample in your actual room, viewed at different times of day, can.
Screens lie about color and texture
Every monitor and phone renders color differently. A floor photographed under studio lighting and displayed on a saturated phone screen is not the color that arrives at your door. And a screen can’t convey texture at all - the wire-brushed grain, the bevel depth, the matte versus satin sheen that define how a floor actually feels and reflects light.
One plank isn’t the whole floor
Quality flooring is designed with natural color variation across planks - McMillan floors include 10 unique grain variations on low-variation styles and up to 12 on higher-variation ones. A single product photo shows one plank. A sample lets you see the real range of tone and grain you’ll actually be living with across the whole floor.
The bottom line: a floor is a years-long, whole-room commitment. A sample costs you a few days’ wait. There is no version of this math where skipping the sample makes sense.
How to Order Samples: The 4-Step Method
McMillan’s own recommended process is simple and works for choosing any floor:
-
Make a shortlist of your favorite colors. Browse the full range and note every color that catches your eye - don’t narrow too early. It’s common to be surprised by which one wins once samples are in hand.
-
Order samples to see them in person. Order the shortlist as physical samples shipped to your door. Ordering several at once lets you compare them side by side, which is far more useful than evaluating one at a time.
-
Place the samples around your space. Lay them on the floor in the actual room, against your cabinets, walls, and furniture. Compare them in the room’s real lighting and decor, not under a store’s lights.
-
Choose your favorite and order. Once you’ve lived with the samples for a few days, the right one usually becomes obvious. Then order the full quantity - with overage - for the room.
McMillan samples ship straight to your door. Order from the samples page, and use the email signup to check for a current sample discount. Samples are cut from real McMillan planks - the same wear layer, texture, and finish as the full floor - so what you hold is exactly what you’ll install.
How to Evaluate a Sample Like a Pro
Getting the sample is half the job. Evaluating it properly is the other half. Once your samples arrive:
-
View it at three different times of day. Morning, midday, and evening - and with your lights both on and off. The color that works in all three is the safe choice.
-
Lay it flat on the floor, not held at an angle. Hold a sample vertically and it catches light differently than a real floor. Put it where the floor will actually be - underfoot, flat, in context.
-
Place it against your fixed elements. Cabinets, countertops, trim, and any wood you’re keeping. The floor has to live with these for years - a slight, intentional contrast usually works better than a near-match that looks like a mismatch.
-
Walk away and come back. Leave the sample down for a few days. First impressions can mislead. The floor you still like on day three is the one to buy.
-
Test the surface. Run your hand over the texture. Check the sheen in your light. If durability matters, there’s no harm in testing scratch resistance on a sample you own - better to learn now than after installation.
Order more than you think you need. If you’re torn between two or three colors, order all of them. The cost of an extra sample or two is nothing next to the cost of installing the wrong floor across a whole room.
What McMillan’s Samples Include
-
12” real plank cuts. Samples are cut from actual production planks - same 27 mil wear layer on SPC vinyl, same matte ceramic UV finish, same wood-textured beveled edges as the full floor.
-
Sample bundles. Curated bundles - including a best-sellers bundle - let you compare popular colors together if you’re not sure where to start.
-
Ships to your door. Samples are delivered straight to you, with an estimated delivery window so you can plan. Check the email signup for a current sample discount.
-
The same certified materials. Every sample reflects the real product: GREENGUARD Gold and FloorScore certified, the same specs you’ll install.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many flooring samples should I order?
Order every color on your shortlist - typically three to six. Comparing several side by side in your own light is far more useful than evaluating one at a time, and the cost of an extra sample is trivial next to choosing wrong. If you’re torn between options, order them all.
How long do samples take to arrive?
McMillan samples ship to your door with an estimated delivery window shown at checkout. Order them well before you plan to install so you have time to evaluate properly - viewing samples across a few days in different light is the whole point.
Are the samples the same as the real floor?
Yes. McMillan samples are cut from real production planks - the same wear layer, texture, finish, and certifications as the full floor. What you hold is exactly what you’ll install, which is why a sample is a reliable basis for your decision.
What should I look for when evaluating a sample?
Color in your room’s actual light at different times of day, texture and sheen up close, and how it pairs with your cabinets, trim, and furniture. Lay it flat where the floor will go, live with it for a few days, and choose the one that still looks right on day three.
The Bottom Line
Samples are the cheapest insurance you can buy on a major home investment. They turn a guess made on a screen into a decision made in your own room, in your own light, against your own furniture. Shortlist generously, order samples, live with them for a few days, then buy with confidence.
