I generally select neutral colors when I am painting a room with natural wood details, whether cabinets or stain-grade trim. Greens, grays, whites and beiges are no-brainers. Warmer colors, like orange, brown, rust and red, work too, but the deeper tones of these colors work best.
White is an obvious choice with wood trim. Stay away from bright white and look for something with milky undertones. My favorite neutral with wood trim is green. The olive-toned greens are the best.
A lighter neutral like cream or beige can create a cosy space, while darker neutrals like wild mushroom and shades of grey bring with them a moodier atmosphere. The best way to ensure your wood tones in your furniture, flooring and accessories coordinate with your walls is to choose the right neutral paint.
If you're going for a more neutral look, a lighter color like greige or beige will work best. To make more of a statement, paint your walls with a cool color like pink, light green, or liven up the neutrality of light wood floors.
I really like Burnt Sienna, Light Tan and Ochre. Another paint color that looks like wood is Umber. You want to make sure you have a mixture of darker colors and lighter colors to create highlights and lowlights on the project.
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.
An amazing thing about grey wall paint, the hue can change when paired with light or dark wooden flooring. Grey brings an elegant and timeless charm to any room, and since it leans more toward cool than warm hues, it goes with most wooden floor colors.
Lighter woods create a more open, airy feel that makes even smaller rooms feel spacious. The extra light that paler woods reflect also helps this. Darker woods, on the other hand, bring a weight to the room that can make the space feel smaller than it is.
'Olive greens or navys are easy to mix in with light woods,' says Amy Leferink, interior designer at Interior Impressions. 'We also love using black or charcoal paint colors in elements such as an island or beverage bar while keeping the rest of the paint choices more neutral.
Watch the undertones.
While wood finishes don't need to match, they should complement each other, Goerg says. Look at the color bias of each wood to see if it is warm or cool, then make sure their undertones match, regardless of finish.
The key to mixing woods is keeping the undertones consistent. Woods with warm undertones will look yellow or red - think Cherry, Mahogany, and Hickory. These woods will work well together, even if they vary in darkness and grain. Cool-toned woods will look a little bit grey, like Ash, Maple, Poplar, or Pine.
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These Uni-Posca paint marker pens are perfect for all surfaces but especially wood. They have a non-toxic formula and dry very quickly, which makes them perfect for use by children too. They are durable and waterproof and distribute ink smoothly and evenly across surfaces.
Oils, like tung oil, linseed oil, and danish oil, offer a more natural finish that greatly enhances the existing grain pattern of the wood. If you want the protection of a wood finish, but like the current appearance of the wood, try using a transparent polyurethane finish or a clear stain.
Varnishes and oils offer a natural-looking wood finish. Varnish, shellac, and lacquer are not easy to apply, but they do offer a deep and rich look. They will also deepen and darken over time. Varnishes are the best choice for high-gloss surfaces.
#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.
'What's old is new again,' agrees Etsy's 2023 collections curator, Martha Stewart, adding that 'brown furniture is alive and well'. But while dark wood appears to be on the up, Etsy has observed a 24 per cent decrease in searches for Scandinavian decor, raw or light wood (14 per cent) and beige decor (29 per cent).
Contrast is one of the core rules of any style or décor, making it one of the most important tips for matching wood floors with furniture. Darker wood floors can make lighter wood furniture pop and look extremely satisfying. Alternatively, lighter wood floors provide the perfect balance for darker furniture pieces.
Greige is a perfect choice to pair with wood trim because it looks fresh and organic but not stark, and keeps the wood trim from feeling too dark. Sherwin-Williams' Ice Cube (SW 6252) is a light gray with slightly cool undertones which looks lovely against dark wood trim.
Good options are Sherwin Williams Ice Cube (cool, slight blue undertone) and Sherwin Williams Aloof Gray (neutral). Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (slightly warm but quite neutral) is also a great paint choice to go with wood trim.
Pairing wood with anything other than white might feel risque at first. After all, a rich wood finish makes a real interior statement, requiring little else other than its strong stature to frame and finish a room. However, you can carefully place wood within a variety of colour palettes, including that of grey.
The trick to producing the look of weathered paint on new wood is to use two coats of different colored paints. Typically, the bottom coat is white or another light color—you can even use white paint primer. Then, a topcoat—often blue, red, or some other bold color—is added to the top and is partially removed.
PolyShades stain and polyurethane also allows you to easily change the color of your currently stained or varnished wood without stripping. Over old varnish you can change the color without removing the old finish or hiding the grain.
The consensus is that grey is out and warm neutrals will continue to dominate in 2023.