When it comes to decorative options for making one's home look beautiful, few things top beautiful wood floors. While the range of wood colors one can use is expansive, dark wood floors never go out of style. They provide instant elegance and class to any room. But such an important part of the decor must match with the rest of the design, especially the walls. This can prove a lot to coordinate successfully. Thankfully for you, we've researched just what wall colors go best with dark wood floors in this article.
Interior design is, in the end, a matter of personal choice, and each interior designer you consult will have their own opinions to give on the subject of wall color and dark floors. Generally, however, contrast provides a great way for your walls and floor to complement one another. Depending on the mood you're aiming for with your design, certain lighter shades of colors may go best with your floors. The name of the game is complementary colors and contrasting shades, but do consider:
- Light grays
- Greige
- Beige & off-whites
- Light blues
- Light greens
While it's ultimately up to you the direction you take your room in, contrasting and complementary colors are widely considered a winning combination. This allows the eye to enjoy its trip around a room as it takes in your interior decoration choices. Walls and the floor will take up most of the visual space in a room upon first glance, so their colors are important when making good first impressions. Read on as we break down the appeal of wood flooring and how color options can work to enhance dark wood floors.
Dark Wooden Floors and Interior Design
Wooden floors are an instant elegance boost to any interior space in the home. The classiness they instantly instill in any living space will enrich any room's visual appeal. While there is a range of woods in various colors to choose from, dark wood offers an attractiveness you can't get anywhere else. Dark wood evokes a classical mood the moment you walk into a room with them.
Your floors should serve as the base for your interior design. While they are undoubtedly an important part of a home's decor, our eyes are generally not at ground level as we walk around. Walls are what we tend to focus on at eye level. Thus their color serves as a critical part of a room's appeal, and you should put thought into how they work with your overall scheme. Add on top of this your furniture, your additional decorations, and you'll have the cozy room of your dreams in no time.
How Do You Brighten A Room With Dark Wood Floors?
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Wall colors will always serve as the first way to brighten a room. They're what fills most of our 360-degree view of a room when we walk in, so the color is important. A classic, comfortable shade of gray is a favorite of many decorators for providing a brightening contrast with many kinds of dark wood. It also provides a neutral yet pleasing palette for an array of furniture schemes to be brought in to add to the decor.
One potential issue with gray as a base color is finding the right shade to go with your floor's undertones. There isn't one kind of dark wood for purchase to then call it a day. Red and brown undertones can make it hard to match a gray to these tones. A compromise to this issue is using greige.
Greige, as the name suggests, is gray mixed with beige. The added beige mellows the shade out even more and helps it fit with most undertones found in your wood. While the versatility of gray allows for a tone to exist for just about any dark wood floor, greige is also an option. Accent colors in other soft colors such as light shades of green and blue can further brighten a room with dark floors.
Color options often depend on the type of mood you want to evoke. Light blues can create cool and soothing effects. Light greens, particularly those with subtle tones of gray or blue, can balance out the dark of the wood. A timeless white or gray shade can give a clean and crisp contrast that will never go out of style. Consider what atmosphere you want your room to have, and go with a contrasting light shade that hits the mood.
What Color Furniture Goes Best With Dark Wood Floors?
After the walls and accent colors, furniture is the next step towards tying a room together. Rugs can break up the solid dark color blocking of wood floors with color. Play around with shapes and patterns and see what complements the color schemes you've set up. You can go with several options for the furniture in a room with dark wood floors.
Light wood furniture can be added into a room with dark wood flooring to offer a striking contrast and draw the eye. This will give you the appeal of both kinds of wood within one room and allow you to indulge in various forms of wood should you desire it. Light wood legs on this gray couch break up the monotony of dark wood flooring, yet contrast nicely with lighter gray walls for a standout piece. Click here to see it on Amazon.
You can take this a step further and purchase furniture with multiple kinds of wood in one piece. For example, you can buy chairs with dark wood bodies and light wood legs. Remember, for every bit of darker furniture you add to your room, add some light to keep the contrast balanced.
Rugs of various colors can help add splashes of color and break up monochrome color schemes, and wooden furniture will match well with them. Below, the vibrant rug on dark wood flooring adds visual appeal to an otherwise, neutral room. Click here to see this abstract area rug on Amazon.
A third option is to go with stark white furniture in your room. This instantly brightens up a living space and provides a pleasant and clean visual look. White furniture will also pair well with any color choices you've gone with, in terms of rugs to add needed splashes of color. This strikingly white accent chair features solid wood legs; a statement piece atop a dark wood floor. Click here to see it on Amazon.
Don't be afraid to experiment; the choices are ultimately yours. Want more info on furniture that matches your dark wood floors, HomeDecorBliss has you covered!
Are Dark Or Light Wood Floors Better?
Better is a difficult concept to quantify, particularly when it comes to taste. Interior design is ultimately a series of highly personal choices and shouldn't be treated as anything else. Designers have informed voices that can be listened to as a guide and can inform you, but you're the one who will live in the space. Make your house the home you want to live in.
Dark and light wood floors offer very different moods and aesthetics to design. Light floors brighten up space and open up a room, while dark floors provide a cozy atmosphere and intimate feeling. The location of your home, the mood you are aiming for, and personal taste will all play into which color flooring is better for you.
Are Dark Wood Floors Timeless?
Timelessness is another tricky concept to pin down, especially in the world of design. Trends will come and go with such relative quickness; it can be hard to keep up. Light shades of wood are definitely seeing a surge in recent design trends, but certain tastes will always remain.
Dark wood floors will always offer certain benefits to a home, whether you're looking to settle in or sell. Their hues will always work well with many popular shades, such as the aforementioned grays and light blues. They can also instantly make a room look cozy and contained.
If your heart is set on dark wood for your floors, you should go for it. Dark floors allow for changes in decor from the vintage to the traditionally Victorian. Trends should never be what keeps you from what you feel would look best in your own home.
Click here for "17 Stunning Hardwood and Floor and Wall Combinations."
Final Thoughts
There's a lot to take in when it comes to decorating your home, and it can be overwhelming when you're first starting. Keep in mind, however, that suggestions are just that. Suggestions. Your living space should enrich your life from the floor up, whatever that means in terms of decor. Your floors, your walls, your furniture should all have something to say about who you are, and in the end, make you happy.