Preparing to install a new floor is exciting, but there can be a lot to consider! Picking your material, brand, size of the planks or tiles, and pattern can be a lot of work. Another fact that you have to keep in mind is the colour of your floor!
While it may not always be obvious, the colour of your floor is a crucial choice that will create the backdrop to the rest of your space. It’s a big decision that will or should affect your choice of paint colour, furniture, furnishings, and more!
This post will give you some basic points to keep in mind when selecting your floor colour. Then we’ll look at a couple of different products and go over a few great colour choices.
How To Select The Right Colour For Your Floor
Size Of The Room
This is one of the most important considerations when selecting floor colour. Dark colours will tend to make your room feel smaller, with light ones having the opposite effect. In a larger room, you’ll be able to get away with a much wider selection of colours than in a small room.
As in most cases you’ll only have one or two types of material for the flooring on each level of your house, you will want to opt for a lighter material if you have a lot of small rooms, or experiment with darker colours in an open concept space.
Mood
An obvious one, as most people already realize how lighter or darker colours affect their mood. A cozy living room should usually have a different floor colour than an active kitchen.
Activity
Rooms that are going to see a lot of foot traffic from outside (which usually means dirt) usually benefit from a darker floor that conceals dirt better until you have a chance to clean. If you opt for a lighter floor, you’ll have to clean more frequently to keep the space looking neat.
Furniture
If you already know the kind of furniture that will be in your room, it’s a good idea to try to match it with the floor colour you’ll be going on to select.
Let’s discuss some of the colours available for different kinds of flooring materials.
Hardwood Floor Colours
When discussing the colour of hardwood flooring, there are two different things to keep in mind: species and stain.
Wood species vary from dark woods like mahogany or ebony, to light ones like white oak. Everything we’ve already mentioned about dark vs. lighter colours for your floor also applies to picking dark vs. light hardwood.
There’s also a choice of stain. Stain will either make wood darker, or just change its colour – for example, giving it a reddish or brownish tint. Stain won’t have as much of an impact as the actual colour of the wood, though, so it’s a secondary choice. It can be a great way to “tweak” the colour of hardwood.
When looking at hardwood floor colours, there’s one other thing to keep in mind. If you have a lot of wooden furniture in your room, it’s usually best to make sure that your floors do not match the wood of your furniture.
Common Colours For Laminate
As laminate is made to resemble wood, everything we’ve already discussed about hardwood floor colours also applies to laminate. The best colour for your laminate flooring is ultimately going to be the one that complements the rest of your room.
That being said, it’s also good to keep in mind that laminate does not usually look as good as real wood, meaning it can be a good choice to be more conservative with your choice of colour and style.
Mid-toned wood or something with a light stain is both good choices, as can be darker patterns.
Vinyl Floor Colours
When using a wood-imitating product like luxury vinyl plank, everything we’ve said above about laminate floors applies equally well.
However, as vinyl is also available in a wide variety of other colours, there’s more room to experiment with this product.
Brightly coloured or patterned vinyl can be a great choice when you need something a bit bolder in your room. This can be a great way to spice up spaces like bathrooms.
Patterned Flooring
If you want your room to truly stand out, colourful tiles for your floor can be a great choice. When picking out your tiles of choice, consult a colour wheel or designer to pick a few different tiles to create your pattern. A colourful, patterned tile floor is a bold statement and will dominate the room, so pick carefully!
Summary
Floor colour is a very important design choice that is sometimes overlooked by those in a hurry. This is a shade, because it can be tricky to change your floor colour later on if you don’t like it! We hope this post helps you pick out the right colour for your next floor.
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