Dark-colored floors can make rooms seem darker and smaller. If a room doesn't receive a lot of natural light, a dark floor can make it appear gloomy and uninviting. When space is limited, as it often is in condos and apartments, dark floors can give the illusion of even less space.
Decorating Tips for Color
Generally, light colors make a room look bigger and brighter. Light and bright colored walls are more reflective making a room feel open and airy, and maximizing the effect of natural light. Dark colors, on the other hand, absorb light, making a room look smaller.
Which do you prefer – light or dark hardwood? Both dark and light floors work very well, and only you can choose which is best for you and your home. Dark floors tend to be more stylish and hide imperfections while light floors tend to show dirt less and last longer.
Dark floors will not automatically make your room look smaller. While overloading a small space with dark colors will absorb light and make the space feel even smaller, dark floors can actually help to open a space up, if done correctly.
A natural look: Dark hardwood brings out the richness of the wood's grain, enhancing its natural look and giving your home a visually stunning appeal. Higher property value: While both light and dark hardwood flooring can give your home a higher market value, darker grain is known to lend itself to higher rewards.
While dark hardwood flooring has a special beauty of all of its own and it has been fashionable for a while now, it's likely to fade out in favourability. Trend is going towards lighter woods such as natural oak.
A light-colored flooring such as light oak or a light-colored carpet will make the room appear brighter and more open. The same applies to the ceiling—use a light color or white to "open up" the space above. Increase the appearance of the size of the room by adding wall mirrors.
Big floral patterns make a room appear larger. Install wallpaper with horizontal stripes to make a room seem wider, or commit to vertical stripes to stretch the room visually and raise the ceiling. A busy pattern featuring chevrons, simple geometric designs, or a texture that mimics marble can make a room seem bigger.
The best way to compliment your dark floors is with light colored walls. The color contrast will offset your flooring and give you a nice balance of light and dark. Not only that, but the lighter color will cause more light to bounce around your room making it naturally brighter, and feel larger.
Dirt and dust will show up more clearly on dark wood floors. A daily sweep with a dust mop can keep the floors cleaner. Have your family take off their shoes at the door so that less dirt and grime gets tracked in the house.
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.
Choose Dark Flooring
Unless the room is also small, going with dark flooring can actually draw the eye away from the low ceiling. Why not go with an espresso stained hardwood or a Brazilian Walnut? Add a fun area rug to draw even more visual interest to the floor.
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. However, the rule can change with low ceilings.
Dark wood floors are perhaps the most stylish and eye-catching ones. Polished black wood floors are perfect for minimalist, modern, art deco or other interiors, they make a bold statement if the rest of the room is white.
Use contrasts and light colors that make rooms look bigger
Light and bright walls are more reflective, making a space feel open and airy, which helps maximize natural light's effect. Dark shades tend to absorb light, making rooms feel smaller. Accent walls to make a room look bigger is another way to go.
To Wrap Things Up
Among the options we saw, white, tan, gray, blue, and green walls all work well if you have brown floors. When it comes to designing brown flooring, try to keep your walls lighter in color to make your room feel open and inviting.
So, if you've got wooden floors and want to change their appearance and you want to know how to lighten wood stain, fear not. Dark, stained wooden floors can be lightened to give your home an exciting new look rather than having a darker color within your home.
Bright colors like orange, yellow, or even a grassy green can draw more light into a darker room. These bold tones shine in artificial light and are best for rooms with very little natural light. They are the perfect accent to mix up your space and build décor around.
Cool Gray. A great alternative to a white paint color is a light cool gray, which can feel fresh and bright without the starkness of pure white. Cool colors feel fresher and brighter than warm ones, so it helps visually create the appearance of more space.
Wider planks can work to make your room look bigger. They can also be more affordable because you need fewer of them. Larger tiles provide depth: A newly popular type of flooring is luxury vinyl tile (LVT). Whether you are sold on LVT or another type of tiled hard flooring or carpet, always pick bigger tiles.
When it comes to small-space decorating, the common advice is to go all-white on the walls to reflect the most light and make the space feel bigger.
Paler shades of wall and floor tiles reflect light which will visually open up a space, whereas darker tones absorb light which will make the room feel smaller.
While some people think that they should match the floors throughout their homes for a sense of uniformity and space, it is unnecessary to do this. At Classic Floor Designs, we recommend that you consider mixing different types of wood on the floors throughout your house for a stunning result.