Dark Wood Flooring | From the Floors Up

With wood floors being so popular in homes these days there is a new discussion about matching or mixing wood tones between flooring and furniture. Having all the same type of wood furniture in a room is an older way of approaching design. Very formal rooms, such as dining rooms, often had all mahogany or cherry furniture. Today’s design style is more apt to mix one or more woods in a room’s design, including the flooring.

If you have light floors like maple or dark floors like ebony stained hickory, you are not held to only have light or dark furniture to match the floors. Placing dark wood furniture on light floors and vice versa can make the wood of both pop. Using similar wood, dark on dark or light on light, will cause your furniture to blend in more with the flooring. This can be remedied by using a colorful or patterned area rug to break up the unified wood tones.

The contrast between light and dark has a more modern and contemporary feel than the traditional style of using similar wood tones. Using different wood tones can give your space more visual interest while also creating a more eclectic style that is favored by many designers today.

When mixing woods, pay attention to the undertones of the color just as you would when mixing paint colors or fabric colors. Cherries and mahoganies have red undertones while maple has a more yellow undertone. These undertones will be more noticeable when you mix your woods.

When a small kitchen sits to one side of an open living space, the general tendency is to hide it with neutrals. This kitchen breaks that rule and the design decision works.

Red cabinets grab and hold the eye when you first look at this kitchen, but there’s more happening than red. White, silver and green with touches of yellow also help this kitchen to stand out.

The extensive use of white keeps the red cabinets from overwhelming the space. White and silver are the only other tones that play permanent roles in the space, and silver is the unifying element. If you count, there are nine stainless features in this kitchen, scattered throughout, particularly around the boundaries.

Ebony wood flooring always works well with a contemporary environment. Its rich dark tones support the other color choices while grounding the room. This choice will also work well in the rest of the living space due to its versatility and automatic style.

The plant styles and positions are cleverly planned to add another color and also as a connecting feature. At first glance, the vases of greens above the sink appear to be an image or perhaps a tile backsplash. In reality, they are real plants set in an opening over the sink. The consistency of size, material and spacing turn houseplants into art. You can do the same thing if you use the same vases or pots and space them evenly.

Altogether, this kitchen invites you to cook, despite its small space. What can you do to your own kitchen – of any size – to add to its warmth and charm?

Mixing Light and Dark Woods

Let Your Small Kitchen Sparkle

From the Floors Up

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