Interior Design That Suits Gray and Light-Colored Floors

Sure—there’s something to be said about dark, wooden floors, but gray and light-colored floors exude elegance and sophistication that’s quite hard to replicate. Hues in the gray family blend well with a range of colors, giving decorators quite a bit of flexibility while decorating—one of the many reasons, along with the subtlety, quiet depth and tone that the color brings, responsible for having designers singing gray’s praises and swearing by it!

Of course, just because you have a gray or light-colored floor doesn’t mean that your space is going to look like a million dollars by default—at best, it’ll look great, but you still need to decorate it right to truly bring out the best features of your light floor and ergo, your room.

Well, we’ve got you covered—here’s a 101 on interior design that goes with gray and light-colored floors like PB and J!

What Color Scheme to Use to Decorate a Room with Light Wood Floors?

Whether you have a gray carpet, distressed laminate or slate flooring, the number of colors that can match your gray/light floor is many. However, not all grays are equal, so know your grays!

Gray floors are generally available in 5 shades—red, brown or beige, blue, green and yellow. The brown/beige and yellow floors lend a comforting, subtle vibe to the room, whereas blue or repent tints transform the space to leave it looking contemporary and cool. Ultimately, light gray floors give the impression of an open, airy room. Starting by understanding these undertones in your gray floor will help greatly while decorating a room with them.

Depending on the undertone, you can use the following color schemes to decorate a room with light wood floors:

Red

If your floor has red undertones, pink and cream are excellent colors to use as companions. The warmth of these two hues will work to counter the extreme coolness of the gray. Salmon, especially, is a superb companion to gray—a subtle shade to match your subtle floor and provide a lovely, subtle elegance to the room!

Green

For gray floors with a green tint to them, warm colors are a great idea. This is because both green and gray are considered cooling colors in the spectrum; adding warm colors such as yellows and reds, right at the opposite end of this spectrum, will help offset some of this coolness. Red, especially, is a directly complementary color; use a shade that is lightened using white or matches the undertone in your gray flooring.

Light Gray

If you have a solid light gray floor with no or minimal undertones, colors such as silver, beige, cream and sage are excellent companions. These colors add to the serenity that your gray floor provides.

Blue

For gray floors with blue undertones, such as slate-gray floors, shades such as teal and cerulean add to the coolness in just the right amount. If you want to directly complement the blue undertones,  instead of complementing them with teal and cerulean, use shades such as gold and yellow. To neutralize the effect of your gray, use creamy white. Bringing in some brown will make your room warmer.

Brown

Gray or light floors with brown undertones go well with neutral shades, tan shades and black, leading to a warm, sophisticated end result.

What Color Wall Paint Goes with Light Gray and Dark Gray Floors?

For a light, airy room, a wall that matches the gray of your floor is a good idea; you can also move further up the spectrum to shades that are much lighter. Gray is a color that looks great with natural light, so use wall colors that also look great in sunlight, such as cream, pale yellow, sage, honey, sand and very pale pink—these work excellently with light gray floors and can really add new aesthetic dimensions to your room. Try staying away from pure white; off-white and cream are better options.

For a dark gray floor, consider colors such as black and sage. Alternatively, you could have one wall painted in the same shade as your floor, making it the focal point, and the other walls with grays that are several shades lighter. Of course, decide which wall will be your feature wall based on the light that enters the room. Hang black and white pictures with a matte finish, framed in black or white, to further enhance the beauty of your focus wall.

What Color Furniture Looks Good with Light Hardwood Floors?

The job may seem half-done with a gray floor and complementary walls but we’re just getting started! The next aspect to tackle is the furniture that’ll match your gray/light hardwood floors. Here’s a breakdown of what color furniture goes best with such floors:

• Brown: For gray floors with brown undertones, consider tans, black and neutral shades, as mentioned earlier. Camel brown upholstery with dark gray piping can add a super-luxurious look to the room. You can also get gray tweed sofas and upholstery. Animal prints go really well with brown undertones.

• Blue: For cool blue undertones, keep it warm with yellow or gold decor and furniture, drapes or upholstery. Cream white is a great neutralizer, as mentioned earlier, and bronze/brass and brown accessories and decor objects will bring in warmth, too. If you want to keep it cool, stick to blue shades for furniture and decor.
• Light Gray: Subtle, light colors should be used and strong, dominating colors avoided. Green and silver go really well with light gray; use this combination with pewter accessories for a royal finish to the room. You could also choose to stay more subtle and go with cream-colored or beige furniture.
• Green: If you want to go all guns blazing for a bold, dramatic look, choose red—a direct complement—for your furniture! Sage and red furniture with sage walls will work wonders for your gray floor. To play it more subtle and infuse some warmth in the room, use shades of honey or gold.
• Red: Bring in some honey and gold furnishing and drapes to get your room shining, or go for subtle salmon for a muted yet lovely look. Adding accents of desert colors, like sky blue and turquoise, will elevate the beauty of the room and provide some much-needed focal points that admiring eyes can rest on!
• Dark Gray: Dark gray works unbelievably well with light gray and red—you’ll have a stylish, bold and urban room on your hands. Choose red velvet for some drama, or stick with gray for a classy look. Gray and red tweed upholstery is also a good option.

Does Brown Furniture Go with a Gray Wood Floor?

Long story short, yes! Brown furniture goes super well with a gray wood floor. In fact, this is a highly common and beloved combination. Since both shades are neutral shades, they work perfectly well with each and the best part is that they also work well with other colors. Therefore, you can stick to your room being a mix of just brown and gray, or add in a third and fourth color without the fear of the colors clashing and making your room look gaudy.

The Final Word

Are gray wood floors too trendy? Absolutely, and in the best way possible! To summarize, decide whether you want a complementary color or a contrasting color; shades such as pink, cream, yellow, gold and brown are complementary colors whereas reds, greens, teal and black are excellent contrasts. You can also decide the shade to use based on whether you want a cool or warm feel to the room; blues and silvers are cooling whereas reds, yellows and golds are warm colors.

Remember, you don’t have to completely stick within these palettes; it ultimately boils down to what you like and prefer, too. Gray in itself is a delicate, airy and timeless color, letting stains and scratches blend right in; additionally, it’s super flexible as it goes with a huge array of colors, so you can rest assured that it’ll still look great when you’re through!