What
Color Flooring Should I Choose?
Watching flooring trends is a bit like
watching clothing trends. There are some
innovative ideas that come around every once in a great while such as
strand woven bamboo or the wrap dress... but mostly there are the tried and true
flooring options that stylistically cycle on and off again.
We have a lot of customers that come into
the
Seattle simpleFLOORS showroom and ask for help deciding on the
"color" of their flooring. Homeowners
want to feel that not only will the color coordinate with their personal style
and the type of home they have, but also that the color will stand the test of
time.
This is a great question and definitely
should be considered before any purchase is made. Here are some things to think about in terms
of the color of your
flooring:
1. How much light do you have in the
home (natural and artificial)?
The more light you have in the home the
darker you can get your flooring without feeling the walls are closing in on
you. That being said, you can still
choose dark floors in a small room as long as you want the more intimate
feeling. A dark floor can also make a
room with a lot of light feel warmer, cozier.
Make sure to test samples of the flooring in your actual lighting and at
different times of day as it can change how the flooring looks.
Laminate can come in any shade or tone
imaginable as the colors are put together by graphic designers and marketing
teams. You can get tones not made in
nature or laminate that looks very close to the real thing. Natural products such as hardwood are going
to either have clear coats of finish to showcase the natural beauty of the
wood, or a stain to showcase the grain but have a more consistent look.
3. Is this for a home you plan on
staying in or do you plan on selling the home/condo soon?
If you plan on selling the home within a
few years the safest bet is to get something with a medium tone that everyone
can walk in the home and imagine putting their furniture on. Colors that are very light, very dark, or
floors with a lot of variation will definitely be noticed - but will put many
people off although the right buyer will "have to" have the house
because of the unusual floor.
4. Do you like variation or a more
consistent coloring?
The floors that have more variation tend
towards the
exotic species (
Tigerwood,
Brazilian Walnut) and will make more of
a statement. The varying colors in a
natural floor (with clear coat but no stain) typically can work well with many
tones of furniture and in homes that don't have consistent colored
furnishings. Negatively if the floor
has a lot of variation it can be very
busy and can compete with artwork or furnishings so is best left with simpler,
cleaner decorating styles.
5. If for a kitchen or great room,
what color are the cabinets?
Design-wise it is best to have a bit of
a contrast from the floor to the cabinets since if they match too much the
whole room blends into one big blob. If
you have new construction it is best to pick your floors out first as there are
so many natural options where most cabinets are stained. If you have existing cabinets taking a door
off and bringing it with you while floor shopping is your best chance of
finding a good color pairing.
6. What type/color of furniture do
you have?
Flooring can vary from the rustic
heavily
handscraped to a very smooth and modern with many options in
between. Using your existing furniture
and home style (even if it is just a picture in your head) as a guide will
allow you to maintain or achieve a harmonious setting. Clipping photos from magazines and/or using
design services are another option to discover what style appeals to you.
7. Do you want the floor to be a
"statement" or are you looking for them to blend in to the
environment?
The flooring with heavier grain
patterns, very dark/very light shades, or extreme variations are going to
become more of a showpiece in your home than the traditionally toned browns.
8. What color are the walls in the
room(s) the flooring will go into?
Standard off-white walls can go with just
about any type of flooring but many people are highlighting rooms with accent
colors (and also remodeling their existing homes vs. moving!) and carrying
paint swatches and getting flooring samples is really the only way to ensure
you don't end up with a patchwork look.
9. Do you have pets?
Keep in mind what type of environment
you live in. If your five white Persian
cats shed like crazy a very dark floor will not be a good fit unless you don't
mind dust mopping daily.
Trend-wise in the past 10 years I have seen
colors go from very light (
Natural Maple,
Natural Horizontal Bamboo) to very
dark (
Sambuca Maple,
Iron Wood) and then settle back during the past two years
into a medium tone (
Strand Carbonized,
Arpeggio). I think there will always be people that choose
the bold and beautiful for their flooring but the "middle of the
road" coloring is here to stay for quite some time. Traditional warm toned flooring in varying
shades of brown lend itself to all types of furnishings, home styles, and also
work with today's economy.
