What Color Wall Paint Goes Well With Oak Hardwood Flooring?
Lucky you: You’ve oak hardwood floors throughout your ungracefully aging fixer-upper. Once you’ve polished those stunning floors, then choose wall paint to maximize the impact of the natural material and your own decor design. The colour field is wide open; choose hues, intensities and finishes to get a costume party of period decors or subdued classic interiors, such as dove grey walls, oak floors and contemporary Italian furnishings.
Red, White and Wood
Floors of red oak and white oak influence the colour mix in a space. Red oak is warmer and reflects the sunny tone of apricot or sunflower yellow walls and the vivid heat of crimson walls. White oak may choose a yellow cast, depending on its finish, and will sprinkle the yellow in a pale chartreuse wall or even a deep horizontal maize. When white oak is sanded and finished to keep its dusty light shade, or if it’s lightly whitewashed, it may seem nearly bleached and makes a foil for charcoal walls or even a extension of chalky white.
Period Romance
Drift back in time with oak plank floors, waxed or matte-finished, and Provencal stucco-style pink walls. The textures of the walls and wood floor make the room inviting, and the deep rose pink throws flattering light in a bedroom or dining room. Cover only part of the floor with a pale oriental rug — a faded and worn carpet indicates long residence, even when the house and decor are new to you, and integrates antique wood furniture while still revealing the oak flooring.
Wood and Blues
Try a deep medium blue — not as dim as navy — on the walls and trim of a room with oak floors. Blue pairs nicely with either red or white oak, and much more pronounced shades of blue are an assertive decor choice for a family room or bedroom. Kick it up a little with accents of orange peel or cinnamon. Pale blue, the colour of sandstone or water, gem-like aquamarine, is just a subtle backdrop in a living room or hallway with oak floors. Ivory trim and the shine of a pastel silk rug are delicate and elegant against the classic hardwood flooring.
Cloudy With a Chance of Oak
Paint the studio, kitchen, modern living room white around and maintain the oak floors nearly bare and bleached looking. The room will shine as a cloud in the sun at cruising height — the great minimal backdrop for bare furnishings and a lack of clutter. Insert butcher-block counters into the kitchen and a rack of brushed aluminum pots. Keep the bedding and curtains white in a tranquil bedroom. Treat the living room like a gallery with more empty than furnished area, white veneer pedestals for demonstrating sculptures or pottery, and a few contemporary paintings around the walls.