How to Select a New Paint Color that Matches Your Floors

A fresh coat of paint can breathe new life into any room, transforming your entire indoor environment. If the upcoming spring season is inspiring you to complete a design refresh for your familiar spaces, a new wall paint color will certainly make your rooms come alive. We’ve already written about how spring cleaning your floors will brighten and revitalize the household. Now it’s time to take the next step and truly create new appeal!

Flooring is the foundation to your home’s design aesthetic, and selecting a new paint color is more practical than selecting new flooring every time you want an update. For best results and achieving a harmonious look that lasts, selecting a new paint color that complements your existing surfaces will be the biggest key. Find out how to select a new paint color that matches your floors with these helpful tips:

How to Balance New Paint Colors with Flooring

The key to successful color pairing between your flooring and new paint shade lies in creating balance and contrast. Here are some valuable points to keep in mind:

• Avoid a monotonous look by choosing paint colors that offer a visual distinction from your floors.
• Steer clear of clashing colors that can disrupt the room’s overall aesthetic.
• In kitchens and bathrooms, consider the interplay between the major design elements including paint, flooring cabinets, countertops, and backsplashes.
• Light-colored floors and backsplashes are often beautifully balanced with a bolder wall color.
• Matching cabinet and wall colors can create a modern, spacious feel, while contrasting floors will add depth and prevent a sterile appearance.

As a general rule, start by identifying complementary paint and flooring color combinations and then explore incrementally bolder options to reach the effect you want to achieve.

How to Select the Best New Interior Paint Colors

Paint colors have the power to evoke specific emotions and uplift our mood every time we enter the room. When choosing paint colors, it’s always wise to think about their long-term appeal and versatility. We recommend opting for shades that will age gracefully and adapt to evolving design preferences. Neutrals, especially those with gray, greige, or blue-gray undertones, offer timeless appeal and complement various décor styles. Similarly, matte or classic flooring finishes provide a versatile foundation for diverse color palettes. If you plan to sell your home, consider popular color schemes in your area to attract potential buyers. We love using the following tones to craft the ultimate vibe:

• Tranquil Green: Bring the outdoors in with green shades pair beautifully with natural flooring visuals like hardwood and natural stone.
• Chill Blue: Achieve a sense of peace and relaxation with blue tones that work perfectly with a wide range of brown flooring colors.
• Warm Red: The red color family, that extends to orange and pink, will add plenty of undeniable warmth to both lighter and darker-colored floors.
• Optimistic Yellow: Yellow neutrals give us energy, hope, and positivity, and subtly remind us of the spring season year-round.

How to Balance New Paint Colors, Natural Light & Flooring

Natural light plays a crucial role in how your new paint colors will appear with existing floors. Keep these valuable pointers in mind:

• In well-lit rooms, you have greater flexibility in exploring color pairings that will not produce an undesired look at different times of the day.
• Darker floors require contrasting wall paint and cabinet colors to prevent a closed-in feeling.
• It’s wise to start with lighter paint colors including warm off-whites and neutrals that will reflect light effectively and then continue to explore with added color to land on your vision.
• If you need more light in space to bring your idea to life, enhance the ambiance with strategic lighting solutions.
• Always remember that incorporate more distinct or bold color through standout furnishings, eye-catching area rugs, and other décor accessories that you can rotate in and out of the room.

How to Select a New Paint Color that Makes a Room Feel Larger

For smaller rooms, use your new paint color and existing floors to create a sense of spaciousness:

• If you have light-colored floors, explore painting low-contrast wall colors to blur the horizon line and maximize the natural light that the room receives.
• Extend the light color palette to cabinets, countertops, and trim to enhance the illusion of space.
• Remember that light is your greatest asset to open the perspective of a space, and darker shades will generally contribute to a more confined feeling in a room with small square footage or less natural light.

Before making a final decision, gather your favorite paint swatches and feel free to stop by one of our seven California Flooring 101 locations if you need any advice from our flooring experts. We always recommend comparing samples in your rooms to assess how they interact with the lighting and the overall space during all times of day!