Does this mean that your gray floors are “out of style” now? Not to worry. Gray flooring will always have its place in modern homes and buildings, and shouldn't be thrown out just yet. That being said, if you are in the market for new flooring, you may want to consider a few things before making your color selection.
In past years we have seen gray become an extremely popular color for flooring. This seems to be continuing into 2023, but now we're seeing more of a broad interest in “smokey-toned” floors, which includes a lot of grays and browns (or a combination of the two).
In the past few years, gray flooring has become a default option among many developers. Designers and architects think the vast grayness is a result of the past decade's dominating minimalist aesthetic, as well as developers viewing it as a safe and inoffensive option.
Lighter, Brighter Wood Finishes
Wood flooring with character-rich, lighter stains shows no sign of waning in popularity, says Margaret Donaldson, founder of Margaret Donaldson Interiors. “Homeowners are primarily using white oak, but walnut is starting to surface more, especially with lighter finishes,” she says.
Another top flooring trend in 2023? Light and neutral flooring. Modern grey wood flooring continues to be popular, as are light floor colors like blonde and beige. A great way to add these lighter flooring shades to your home or business is to use bamboo flooring.
Classic medium-toned browns such as cherrywood, mahogany, oak, maple, walnut, birch wood, and hickory are all timeless colors that never go out of style.
Going gray
Gray floors are contemporary, modern, fresh, and calming. They pair well with a number of colors and home decor styles. Because of their flexibility, gray hardwood floors just might be the perfect solution to all of your interior design woes.
ARE GRAY-WASH WOOD OR WOOD-LOOK FLOORS STILL TRENDY? Heck no. The gray trend started about eight-ten years ago, and while it's had a GREAT run, its time is up. These days, instead of gray-wash floors, my clients are leaning into more natural woods in light to medium depths.
Gray And White Washes
Although gray is extremely versatile and perfectly complements any neutral décor, it is not as timeless as traditional hardwood tones.
What is the most timeless wood floor (or wood-look option)? If you've been following my work, you'll know that I often say that pale natural (oak or maple) or medium neutral brown (like oak or hickory) are the most timeless colour options for wood or wood-look floors.
Greige and white oak are two of the most popular choices for hardwood flooring when it comes to house resale. They provide timeless elegance and neutrality, making them ideal for any home.
You might think “gym floor” or the strip oak floors that graced so many homes over the last 30 years. Floors with a white finish go with almost everything. A light burlap-like color is a great choice because you still get a light floor, without installing a truly “white” floor.
As hardwood flooring trends go, don't worry. Gray is still popular for floors and will continue to be popular in the coming years. It provides an eye-catching neutral color for the floor and gives you tremendous range when decorating the rest of the room.
A con to using gray flooring would be the potential for gray flooring to go out of style if classic brown shades of hardwood come back on top in the future. Gray can also sometimes lack the warmth of wood colored flooring.
'I love pairing gray floors with rich jewel-toned colors in blue and green hues to create a sophisticated and modern feel, while adding drama and enlivening a room. Benjamin Moore In the Midnight Hour is one of my favorites,' says interior designer, Barbra Bright.
Drawing on the traditional neutral colors of carpet, choose a light or neutral tone for a timeless carpet. Choose from gray, white, or beige to match your interior design. When popular flooring trends change, you won't have to update yours!
Dark colored hardwood floors are highly sought after by home buyers because they match modern styles. Lighter hardwood floors don't have that same appeal to many buyers, but buying quality hardwood can help.
Hardwood Flooring
what's better than hardwood flooring? It's beautiful, it's durable, and it never goes out of style. Not to mention all of your friends, family, and neighbors aspire to have it, so you'll have your entire network envying your home's flooring design.
To complement your gray flooring in a way that enhances this style, include some natural wood finishes, stick to simple designs with just one more decorative element, and introduce a colorful accent hue. Some flowers or green plants would also help reinforce the familiar feel behind this interior style.
Introduce natural fiber rugs to warm up the floors: Natural jute rugs are the easiest way to bring loads of warmth into your room – especially if you are decorating around a lot of grey finishes.
Finally, given the tone of light floors, they tend to appear cleaner longer. Light-colored flooring often shows less dust, debris than do dark floors and pesky, inevitable scratches and damage will be less obvious.
Wide plank floors are making a comeback.
Wide plank is on the rise again, and Broxson notes that recent trends include red and white oak wide plank floors. She says we'll see more light and almost bleached tones and dark espresso colors coming back, as well.
Hardwood Floor Colors 2023
Those who adore pale, dark, and honey-colored wood have options among the "it" colors of 2023. Interior designers came through for everyone this year with an option for hardwood in every color scheme.
50 Floor researched the most popular flooring trends of the year, and we found that homeowners are choosing dark wood, light wood and grey wood flooring color options. Many flooring options, such as luxury vinyl and hardwood, give a classic and traditional look that is functional and aesthetically pleasing.