You may be surprised to learn that dark wood flooring can help to make your room look bigger too. Darker flooring offers an inviting feel and opens up a space.
Wide Planks
Selecting wide floor planks is one of the easiest and most effective ways to make a room look bigger. Instead of thin strips, go for boards at least seven inches wide. Longer planks (four or more feet in length) can help as well.
Don't Fear Dark Wood Colors
It's a misconception that dark wood floors constrict our sense of space. Paired with the right combination of wall color, trim, and molding, darker species like walnut and exotic Brazilian cherry can, in fact, make a room look bigger.
Floor color plays a major role in making your small space seem larger. We often recommend light colors to give the room an airy feel. For example, blonde, light brown, or whitewashed hardwood can make the room seem more open.
A light, neutral carpet color will also make an interior seem lighter and brighter. Tans, greys, and creams will go with any décor and add a classic appeal to your living room, bedroom, or any room that needs some lightening up.
Timeless hardwood floor colors are typically the natural hues that are found in the hardwood species that are most often used for flooring. Walnut, for example, is renowned for its dark, chocolate hues while Cherry is prized for its deep red tones.
Neutral shades such as light brown, gray, and black are timeless classics that will look good for years to come. These hues make a great backdrop for any room in your home, so you can easily accessorize the space without worrying about the color clashing with your floors.
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. However, there are instances when you can add accent wall colors or paint in darker shades.
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.
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. Greige is a mixture of gray and beige, creating a subtle tone that can fit into any color palette or design style.
Choosing lighter coloured flooring to compliment your furniture can expand the perceived size of any room and can open the space right up. Think cream carpets, natural and neutral toned tiles and whitewashed wood flooring.
Smaller spaces: Darker floors can make a room feel smaller than it is, so it is important to have light-colored walls to offset this. No hidden debris: Dust, dirt, and debris are more visible on dark colored flooring, meaning you'll have to clean them more often.
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.
The best flooring for resale value: The ROI on wood floors
They're durable, versatile, and most buyers love them. According to real estate experts, the average ROI for installing hardwood floors is about 70% to 80%, and wood floors can boost the sales price of your home as much as 2.5%.
Mouldings and other floor accessories can make the floor look expensive with an inexpensive price tag, which is a great option to achieve a “luxurious” look and atmosphere without spending a fortune.
When it comes down to finding the best flooring to increase home value, it all boils down to your market. Hardwood will likely give you the highest return, but laminate and luxury vinyl plank flooring also offer plenty of perks to buyers.
#4: Light Neutral Colors
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.
If you'd like to feel less cramped in a smaller room, try breathable light colors to create openness. For a sunny, happy feel, try a floor color with shades of yellow. If you'd like a relaxing, peaceful environment, try light gray or light-toned wood. To emulate class and elegance, black or red are great options.
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.
Matching Furniture Colors with Hardwood Floors
Because having the same look on both the floor and furniture can leave a room looking too uniform, giving it a “flat” look. The best way to go is to pick contrasting pieces - furniture pieces that may reflect what is in the floor but do not match it completely.
There are many things that DO make a room look smaller. Dark walls can. Large furniture definitely does. But dark floors add a richness to the décor and if played right, can actually make a room look more spacious.
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. And, of course, it's the perfect complement to grey living rooms, which have become enduringly popular.
If you're looking for cool shades for your hardwood floors in 2023, look no further! Light tans, and browns with hints of grey or white will be popular as well as whitewashed finishes. Meanwhile, yellow-toned shades are moving out of favor.
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.