Color is one of the cornerstones of interior design. You want to decorate your home with colors that feel pleasant, welcoming, and comfortable. This is easy enough to do with your furniture and décor, but what about the actual foundations of your room? Hardwood floor colors revolve around the wood’s undertones. If you fail to pay attention to the undertones of your flooring, you won’t be able to choose paint, furniture, and décor colors that look and feel right in the space. Before you grab a paintbrush or start shopping for furniture, check out this guide on understanding undertones in hardwood flooring.
The Different Wood Tone Types
When choosing engineered hardwood flooring for your home, the first thing you’ll probably think about is surface color. For example, maybe you’ve fallen in love with the rich dark brown color of walnut engineered flooring. While the surface color is brown, it has red undertones that create a warm and cozy appearance. There are three types of undertones in wood floors: warm, cool, and neutral. Warm undertones, like those in American Black walnut floors, have hints of red, orange, or yellow in the wood. Cool undertones contain hints of gray. Neutral wood floors might appear to contain both cool and warm tones, or they might appear to lack an undertone altogether.
The Foundation of Your Color Scheme
Why is understanding undertones in hardwood flooring so important? The color of your wood floors influences the entire look and feel of a room. If your design choices lean toward a rustic and cozy appearance, warm tones will complete your vision. On the other hand, a wood floor with cool undertones will enhance a sleek, modern design. Undertones in wood flooring change the way every other color in the room looks. While there are no hard and fast rules about mixing and matching tones, being aware of your wood’s undertones puts you at an advantage when designing a room. Once you know the basics of wood tones, you can successfully match or contrast colors to create the design of your dreams.