1. Choose a complementary color palette.
One of the trickiest parts of decorating with wood floors is selecting the right color scheme. The best way to determine which colors go with your wood flooring is to look at the material’s undertone. Wood often features subtle hints of yellow, orange, red, gray, or brown within the finish. Once you’ve determined the underlying hue, apply the principles of the color wheel to select colors that complement your wood floors. Shades of blue help balance wood with yellow or orange tones, for example, while green looks gorgeous against floors with true brown coloring.
2. Vary materials across furniture and accessories.
A room completely clad in wood flooring and furnishings might appear too heavy for most people’s tastes. Balance the look by incorporating a variety of materials within your furniture and accessories. Wood floors pair beautifully with an array of other textures, including woven fabrics, leather, metal, concrete, painted surfaces, and more, which you can bring in through upholstered seating, accent furniture, and wall decor. Layer in wood accents in smaller ways, such as on the legs of furniture or with accessories like picture frames, to tie the room together.
3. Continue wood floors throughout rooms.
In homes designed with open floor plans, the flooring choice should typically remain constant between rooms. Avoid seams between spaces by installing planks that naturally flow from room to room without awkward dividers. Consistency in flooring makes for an appealing aesthetic and easier cleaning in the long run.
4. Soften wood floors with rugs.
Wood lacks the softness of carpet but is not nearly as hard as tile underfoot. Repeated footsteps over the course of a day can cause discomfort, so minimize the effect and any adverse impact on the body with area rugs that add comfort. Layering area rugs on top of wood floors helps define sitting areas in open spaces and anchor sofas and accent chairs into a cohesive group.
5. Accentuate modern wood floors.
Wood flooring is a natural pairing in traditional interiors, but it provides a welcome juxtaposition against sleek modern elements. It works especially well for injecting warmth into kitchens, which are otherwise typically covered in smooth, hard surfaces. Further the drama with contemporary cabinet choices, streamlined hardware, and lighting in a space that lacks frills and embraces clean lines.
6. Mix wood tones between floors and furniture.
Ignore any notion that requires wood tones to match. A modern approach to design purposefully blends the rough and rustic with the stained and polished in varied stains and grains for a collected-over-time look. Combine wood floors and furniture that feature diverse textures and stains, but aim to mix wood finishes with a similar undertone, such as gray or yellow.
7. Use texture to balance wood floors.
Balance the visual weight and firmness of wood with softer fabrics and area rugs. To contrast the hard surface, consider sheepskin or lambswool to add softness and incorporate airy textiles in the form of window treatments or cotton sheets. Glass lamps and metallic light fixtures and curtain rods also help to make this bedroom feel layered and cozy.
8. Lighten up dark wood floors.
In a home that possesses dark floors throughout, pull light into a room in clever ways with brighter cabinet choices, white painted walls, or patterned area rugs that provide rich contrast. At the same time, choose window treatments that allow natural light to wash into the space to showcase the beauty of the stained wood grain.
9. Consider wood flooring a neutral.
Treat wood floors that lack intense yellow or red undertones as a neutral. With this type of wood flooring, you can feel free to layer furniture and accents in your palette of choice. In this dining nook, the beauty of wood floors is exposed by the purposeful elimination of an area rug and the lighter upholstered chairs and unique rattan pedestal dining table that sit on top.
10. Bring in bright colors.
Take the spotlight away from wood floors by layering in painted pieces. In this cheerful kitchen, for example, a painted island and brightly colored bar stools pull the eye up and away from wood floors. This brings the focus instead on the colorful accents. Work around unattractive or damaged floors you might have inherited by employing the same tactics of artful distraction.
