Should your walls be lighter or darker than your floors?
Many home experts agree that the floor color should be darker than the walls. The rule generally applies because lighter walls and a dark floor make the room seem larger. Most homeowners prefer a spacious looking interior.
Flooring Looks Lighter When Installed
Often, the small sample of flooring on a board looks darker than when it is installed. Once the flooring has been installed, it opens up in the room and looks lighter than what was chosen.
The truth is that light wood floors will never go out of style. However, some shades are more popular than others. One reason is that they are neutral, offering decorators more options when finishing a room.
Light color flooring tends to brighten up a space and make it feel larger. Bright and creamy floor tones can help modernize a small room, adding an element of airiness. Be sure to snag as much natural light as you can or install warm artificial lights to make your small space as attractive and inviting as possible.
- Lived-in Hardwood.
- Bleached and Blanched Wood.
- Wood and Stone Look-Alike Flooring.
- Hand-scraped Engineered Wood.
- Cool Tones.
- Distressed Concrete Tiles.
- Unique Prints and Patterns.
- Natural, Casual Carpet in Bedrooms.
1) Light and dark flooring
Think cream carpets, natural and neutral toned tiles and whitewashed wood flooring. These attractive, light and neutral colours give a room an open and airy feel, making it appear larger, whilst also drawing in the natural sunlight from outside.
It's unsurprising to us that the most popular color for floors is grey, and in particular, grey wood, like that shown above. Grey flooring is the ultimate neutral – easy to co-ordinate and color scheme around, dark enough not to show the dirt, and yet pale enough to reflect light.
Good news, they're not. Both light colors and wider planks have been the hardwood styles of choice with designers and architects for years, however 2020 forecasters predict that this will be THE hot look in flooring for consumers.
The overall feel of your room is vital to think about before deciding on a floor color. If cool-toned, darker flooring creates a formal feeling, while dark colors with warm tones can create a cozy atmosphere. Alternatively, pale, cool-toned floor colors will make your room feel airy and bright.
Today's homeowners lean toward a white, bright, and cheerful aesthetic. That's why white-stained flooring is expected to remain popular in 2022.
What type of flooring is popular now?
Gray Flooring
Gray has quickly become the most popular trend, not just for flooring, but for kitchens and homes in general. Designers have also started mixing gray with other neutrals like beige, creating popular greige tones that go with any style.
“Mid- to dark-brown wood floors are starting to have a moment,” says Marc Bacher, founder of Scandinavian hardwood floor company Stuga. While light-colored floors are beloved for their ability to make a space feel bigger and more open, darker brown hues have become more popular ever since the pandemic hit.
Gray flooring, particularly gray wood, has grown exponentially over the last decade and has quickly become the most popular trend, not just for flooring, but for homes in general. In addition to looking chic and trendy, gray floors set the tone of a cool, contemporary home.
Light hardwood floors have a distinct advantage here. They tend to show less dirt than dark hardwood floors.
So, what colors make a room look bigger? For an optimum effect, go with soft tones like off-white, blues, and greens, and always remember that brighter rooms feel bigger and more inviting. And here's another hack: Try painting your wall trim and moldings in a lighter color than your walls.
There is absolutely no need to change flooring from room to room. We often work with homeowners who feel the urge to pick a different flooring for every room of their home, but there is absolutely no need to do this. Your home will look best if you create one consistent look that travels from room to room.
French White Oak continues to dominate the market as the top choice for hardwood floors. This wood has been trending for several years, and is only getting more popular–so it makes sense that it has a place among the top 2022 hardwood flooring trends!
Grey wood floors have risen to the top of interior design trend lists. The modern, versatile color has become a favorite choice in home design, alongside “greige,” which, like the name implies, mixes in a hint of beige. In the last five years, neutral palettes have been all the rage.
Diagonal Dreams
The key to making rooms look bigger with flooring starts with the diagonal rule. Diagonal lines work to create the illusion of more space, because when a person enters a room, their eyes are drawn to the widest part of a pattern—the same is true in art.
Light, Airy Colors
Lighter shades of colors, such as blue, teal, and earth tones are possibilities as well, giving a more open, airy, and uplifting vibe than darker shades. Blonde, light brown, or even whitewashed hardwood flooring can also make the most of this technique.
Should floor and walls be the same color?
A wall color will only look good in your home if it relates well to the floor color. So hold paint samples right next to the floor, not just in the middle of the wall. Red walls will look totally different next to cherry stained floors than they will next to limed oak ones.
Should floors be darker or lighter than walls? In most cases, you'll want your floors to be darker than your wall color with a flat white ceiling. As a rule of thumb, go at least 3 shades lighter on the walls than the floors.
Deciding on floor color for the material
A good rule to follow is to keep the flooring darker than the walls and ceiling, but feel free to be adventurous and break away from this rule.
The darker the floor tile, the more spacious the room looks!
Darker shade floor tiles can make your room appear spacious and bigger. But the fact is you need to have light coloured walls for the combination to work well. The dark and light combination can make any space look classy and bigger.
