How to Match Wall Color With Wood Floor: 6 Best Tips

Hardwood floors–you’ve got to love them, right? This luxurious, gorgeous, long lasting flooring option is a favorite of many homeowners and no wonder! Even though it might be more expensive than laminate flooring, nothing beats hardwood for quality and heritage. You may have recently moved into a home that has beautiful hardwood floors…and if so, you’re probably pretty excited and happy about that.

But hardwood floors aren’t an island unto themselves, so to speak. Even though they can make pretty much any room look even more incredible right off the bat, there are certain things you can do to make your floors really shine and coordinate with the room as a whole. One of those things is choosing a wall color that goes well with the hardwood flooring in a particular room.

There are so many different shades of hardwood to choose from, and so many different paint colors as well. How will you decide what’s best? We’re here with several tips for matching your wall colors to your hardwood floors. You want your house to look amazing…and we’re here to help. Below are the six best tips on how to match wall color with wood floor:

Tip #1: Match whites, creams, and greys with light hardwood floors

If you want to match the wall color with the wood floor, you can’t go wrong by pairing light and neutral colors together. Used commonly by professional painters and homeowners alike, this is a very popular paint color combination. It’s especially effective if the room you’re decorating and painting has a lot of natural sunlight shining in throughout the day.

With light hardwood floors and white, cream, or grey walls you’ll have a cheery, bright, sunshiney place in which to work, read, play, or do just about anything else. And you’ll love the light atmosphere and understated elegance.

Tip #2: Pair dark hardwood floors with light colors

You may want to go full drama queen (or king) and have everything in your dark hardwood-floored room be dark (maybe even black). While this could potentially work for a room that gets lots of sunlight (or an entertainment center where the lights will be off for watching a movie so you’d like that dim, cozy feel), it can definitely be overpowering. Of course, you’re the one who makes the final decision on what you want in your home…but think long and hard before having a dark-on-dark room.

Instead, give your dark hardwood flooring lighter walls–neutrals are always good, along with light pastels, or maybe even a breezy green or yellow. Yellow and/or orange walls can look stunning when paired with dark hardwood floors.

Tip #3: Try to utilize the same colors as much as possible

Yes, it may be tempting to use every single one of your favorite colors throughout your home–after all, it’s your home! And that might be okay if you only have one, two, or three favorite colors. But if you try to do too many different things, your home could end up looking like a patchwork quilt. Instead, try to coordinate the wall and floor colors to be the same throughout your home. (You can also try refinishing all your hardwood flooring to be the same color.)

Tip #4: Create an accent wall

Remember what we said about dark hardwood flooring not going well with dark walls? We still stand by that, but there may be a solution if you really have your heart set on that combination. Why not create an accent wall with the dark shade that you crave? You can still have the other walls painted a light, cool (or warm) color, but that one accent wall is all you! That could be the perfect way to let your creativity and personality shine through while not overpowering everything.

Tip #5: Know what to pair with red hardwood floors

If you have a red-toned hardwood floor, you can try white, muted green, blue, or even red walls. That last should probably be used more sparingly than the others, as it can end up making the room look weird with all that red. Deep–and light–blues can contrast beautifully with a red floor. Play around with paint swatches and see what you like!

Tip #6: Choose a neutral color palette

Are none of the above options really speaking to you? Well, that’s fine! You shouldn’t settle for something that doesn’t resonate with your soul and your innate sense of what fits you and your home. You want something to reflect your personality–and how, you may be wondering, does a neutral palette do that?

Are we saying that you’re bland and boring? Far from it! The beauty of a neutral palette is that it truly works both ways. Do you want your room to be a minimalist masterpiece with a focus on elegance and sparse (yet beautiful) touches of decor throughout? Then go for neutrals!

Or do you want a blank slate on which to showcase your love of color, travel, design, artwork, and so much more? Then go for neutrals again! While there’s a lot to be said for the minimalist approach, using a neutral palette as a canvas on which to ‘paint your personality’ can also work–and work well. Give a try!