Installing hardwood floors is an investment in the value of your home. A big part of getting your money’s worth and improving your real estate value is choosing the best wood flooring color. So, how do you choose the right shade and what do you need to consider?
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Two Key Factors To Keep In Mind When Deciding Which Wood Flooring Color Is Right For Your Home
Two key factors play a major role in determining the finished \]wood flooring color. Those are the wood grain and the chosen finish or stain. The wood grain is a characteristic of your chosen type of wood.
To select a finish or stain, begin by considering the colors that seem most attractive to you at first. You want to choose a color that works well with your design scheme and other treatments in your decor, such as cabinetry. After you choose a color, look into finishes and how those affect the final look.
Consider Undertones
Most interior designers advise against red and orange wood finishes. These appear dated in most settings. But you can still create a sense of warmth through the wood flooring color by using warm gray. Today, gray is on trend and not as heavy as reds or orange tones of yesteryear. Gray also works well with many decor themes.
Your own style is actually more important than current trends, however. You want wood flooring color that helps you feel joyful when you walk in your front door. After all, the floor is the biggest element in your room. What colors, furnishings, accessories and floor treatments you use all work together to determine how your room looks and feels.
Consider Easy Care and Longevity
If you want to color your wood flooring according to trends, try to learn more about emerging trends, not current ones. Current trends will date your home and provide people who see it with an idea of what year you refinished or installed your floors. Talk to hardwood flooring experts to get on the leading edge of the next trends. This buys more time before your floors look dated.
Consider colors or styles that provide easy care. You can age your home through application of a trend, but you can also age it by using materials that quickly wear out. Choose wood stains, finishes and colors that will hold up. Talk to the experts about how much ongoing care the floors will require.
For example, an active family of multiple young children likely does not want to choose a light wood stain on walnut floors. This wood wears out quickly and lighter stains show more wear. The combination means you will be spending extra time on an ongoing basis caring for your floors and trying to prevent damage. A better choice of wood for a multi-child household is European Oak, as it can handle high traffic.
Test Your Stain Before Applying It at Large
For existing floors, you should apply test swatches of stains and finishes before completing the rest of the floor. How colors look in your home differs from how they look in a well-lit store environment. You need to see how the color works with other elements of your room, such as wall colors, furnishings and cabinetry.
Do not ever accept the color of a particular stain on a store swatch as being how it will look on your floors at home. Remember that your type of wood flooring causes the color to appear unique, when compared to another type of wood with the same stain applied. For example, pine stained with a color looks very different from redwood stained by the same color.
Should I paint my floors?
Painted floors are certainly on-trend now. If your wood flooring color shows decades of wear and tear, painting them can help conceal this damage. As well as provide a fresh look. Generally, painting your floor works well in beach or rustic decor. But it can also provide very elegant appeal in an upscale home.
The key to painting your wooden flooring is using floor or deck paint, not wall or exterior house paint. This type of paint withstands daily wear and tear that floors receive. If you choose to paint, consider that white paint seems between boards and in tiny cracks. So you cannot reverse this color once completed. It has to be a permanent decision.
Who are the experts for helping me decide which hardwood flooring color to select?
When refinishing your wood floors or seeking installation of new flooring, turn to the experts of Wake County in Cary, North Carolina. The experts of Tri Point Flooring know the ins and outs of all types of hardwoods, colors, stains and finishes. We can help you make the best decisions for your flooring and your lifestyle. Call us at 919-771-7542 for estimates and the advice you need for the hardwood flooring color of your dreams.
