Brown? Gray? Greige?! Here’s how to tell what’ll work best in your space.
Updating your flooring? If you’re looking for the perfect hue to complement your space and style, you’re in the right place. In addition to what’s trending and what’s not, there are several important factors to consider when choosing the perfect floor for your space.
Start by deciding if you want to have one color throughout your space or if you want to change it up depending on the room. There’s no right answer here. Some people prefer a seamless installation (no transitions) while others want to create a different feel in each room. For example, the sultry, spa-inspired bathroom trend works best with a bold, dark floor like Oxden, Queensbury or Madeira from the Modin Collection but that look might not be a perfect fit for your open, airy living room.
Take the size and shape of your space into account and consider how much lighting (natural or otherwise) that area gets during different times of the day. You can use a light-colored floor like Lato or Lachlan to open up smaller spaces and help areas lacking natural light feel brighter. For larger spaces, mid-range and darker, warm tones like Arbor, Raeburn, and Catura help make the space feel cozier.
Consider your overall interior design style. Going for a modern look? You can achieve it with lighter colors like Lato, Soho, Palka, and Yuzen or with bold, striking colors like Queensbury and Madeira. Looking for something a little more rustic? Higher variation colors like Kingswood, Dimalo, Elmstead, and Raeburn or classic, warm browns like Arbor and Brenwick work well. Whatever style you’re going for, consider your flooring hue of choice as part of a larger palette that includes paint colors, furniture styles/materials, and any statement pieces you’ll have in the area.
If you’re concerned about pet hair or dirt, it’s worth noting that light floors generally hide that better than dark floors. You can test this out for any flooring shades you’re considering by placing a few sample planks in a heavily trafficked area for a couple of days. A robotic vacuum is a great way to keep your new floors looking pristine regardless of their color.
Use a room visualizer tool (available here) to get a general idea of how each color you’re considering will look once it’s installed in your space. Try repeating this process at different times of day to account for changing lighting conditions and remember that it’s only a simulated installation so it won’t be 100% accurate.
Getting samples is key to see how the flooring will look in your space. Lighting conditions can vary drastically from room to room and from one time of day to the next. Place your samples in key areas around your home and take a look at them with the lights on and off at different times of the day. If you’re installing new floors in an incomplete construction project, you can try to replicate the lighting conditions that the new space will have by noting the amount of natural light it will get and the direction it will come from as well as the type of lighting fixtures that will be installed.
Remember, lighting makes all the difference in how a color appears. What looks like a cold gray in one room can appear as a warm greige in the next. Make good use of your samples by making sure that the color you choose works well in every lighting condition that your space will experience.
