The Definitive Guide to Flooring Colour, Design and Style

Many homeowners face uncertainty when choosing the right flooring colour and design for their home because they are aware (and rightly so, we might add) that our floors have one of the greatest impacts on the look and feel of that home.

Do not worry, we’ve created this guide to help you make the best decision on what colour, pattern and style of floor will make your dream home come to reality! 

My name is Gordon and I am the founder of FloorVenue. Over the last 15 years, I’ve overseen flooring installations for over 3000 homes and commercial properties across New South Wales. I’ve also worked with some of Australia’s leading home builders (Allworth Homes, Strong Build etc.) and their interior designers to lay incredibly beautiful floors for award-winning homes. 

My team and I have put together this guide to simplify your “interior design” process, and help you choose the floor of your dreams.

We’ve summarised and split our discussion into 3 sections:

1. Your House – What’s your house like? What’s the existing environment like?
2. Your Floor – What are the design and colour attributes of different floors? How will your floor affect your interior design?
3. You – Who are you? What do you like?

Your Home: 4 Things to Consider

1. The Impact of Colours

Colours really can make or break the look of your home. The specific colours that you choose for your floors (alongside other elements of the interior, such as the walls and furniture) will play an important role in determining the overall feel and look of your home. 

A deliberate choice of colour can have a profound effect on the atmosphere and feel of the room. You could opt for a natural, calming and homely feel, or go for a more clean and professional aesthetic.

Colours such as yellow, beige, white and grey can offer a more contemporary feel to your home, while darker colours such as black can create a sense of luxury, style and class. Red and Orange flooring can provide a feeling of warmth and harmony. Brown flooring can create a sense of comfort and security, a down to earth type of floor colour, while grey is a uniquely neutral floor colour, applicable in numerous scenarios and is highly versatile.

Pairing floor colour with the room

It is also important to pay attention to how your choice of floor colour will affect the look and feel of your space. This goes hand in hand with the size of your room. A lighter colour, for example, would have the effect of making the room seem noticeably larger and more spacious than it actually is, along with also creating a warmer atmosphere. A darker floor colour would have the opposite effect, making your space seem smaller by comparison, while simultaneously providing a sense of luxury and uniqueness. 

2. The Amount of Light

Think about the amount of natural light that is typically available in your home. If space has plenty of natural light, then you can confidently select a darker coloured flooring if you prefer. The dark flooring will give the room or space an air of sophistication and depth without robbing it of its ample natural lighting.

However, if the space has limited natural light, then you may be better off opting for lighter coloured flooring in order to prevent the room from appearing dark and uninviting. If you prefer dark coloured flooring and don’t have much light, you can still opt for dark coloured floors. You just have to understand that your room may seem darker and you may need artificial lights to compensate for the effects of the dark flooring.

Also remember the way a given flooring colour looks and feels in a room will depend on the time of day. For example, the same floor material may sometimes look different when viewed on a bright morning, and at night under artificial light. While shopping for flooring, we recommend that you take samples home and look at the palette at different times of the day.

3. The Size of Your Rooms

If your rooms are smaller and you would like to make them appear larger, then we recommend going for lighter-coloured flooring. If the rooms are larger and you want to give them an intimate feel, then darker flooring is for you. Then again, who says you can’t have the best of both worlds? For example, you can pair light flooring with darker walls and a dark ceiling to create a feeling of shapelessness, especially if those patterns are of the same colour.

4. The Colour and Style of Your Furniture

Choosing the floor colour shouldn’t be done in isolation because it’s only one component of your home. You should also take into account your choice of furniture colour and style. 

For example, if you have designer furniture that you’d like to be the centre of attention in your living room, you could go for a more neutral flooring colour. This will form the perfect canvas on which to display that piece of furniture. Similarly, if you have colonial furniture that’s heavy, then red flooring will lend a luxurious feel that will blend perfectly with that furniture. 

There are two principles you can generally use; contrasting or matching the floor colour to the furniture. For example, the use of contrast with darker coloured furniture works surprisingly well with a lighter colour flooring. This can allow for a rustic, airy presentation, creating a room with a “timeless” feel to it. Conversely, a darker colour floor is well complemented by the use of lighter coloured furniture utilising contrast as its main feature. 

While contrast is a common strategy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that complementary colours of both furniture and floor colour are unusable. In fact, numerous styles ranging from complimentary to classical are perfectly compatible and suitable for your home.

It’s best to visit the flooring supplier with photos or items that are representative of the things in the room for which you want to select flooring. In this way, you will be better placed to match or contrast the flooring to your furniture and other elements in the room.

2) Your Floor: 5 Key Considerations

There are actually 5 key characteristics of any floorboard. These are:

1. Flooring Colour

As we’ve already discussed, the colour of the floor can impact the overall look and feel of the room. We will jump to the next section.  

2. Flooring Pattern & Style

Flooring patterns can also have a dramatic effect on the atmosphere and look of a home. For example, oak-style flooring can make the room look old-fashioned and class, whereas contemporary laminate flooring can make the room look modern and clean. Larger planks of wood flooring or large floor tiles can make a room look expensive while smaller planks can create an impression of sophistication. If you need help choosing, our flooring experts can help you to select the flooring pattern and style that will bring your dream floor to life.

3. Flooring Finish

This refers to whether the surface is glossy (shiny) or embossed (duller finish with a textured surface). Both options are beautiful, although a glossy finish may be more prone to showing scratches over time. Textured floors add a degree of roughness to the flooring material, and they add some depth to the character of the floor since light is reflected differently. Alternatively, you could opt for a smooth finish, such as what is commonly available on tile flooring.

4. Flooring Grooves

Some floorboards have larger grooves and some do not. Floating floors tend to have small grooves and raw timber flooring has no grooves. Flooring materials without grooves generally make a room smoother or more streamlined, whereas floorboards with grooves can give the room more depth and authenticity.

5. Flooring Feel

This refers to how the flooring feels when you step on it or touch it. Some thicker floors and nail-down floors feel more solid underfoot compared to thinner floating floors. Vinyl plank flooring and hybrid flooring may also feel slightly softer underfoot. 

3) You

It’s not just your house and your floor, it’s also about YOU.

Our homes reflect our personalities, and it’s simply not enough to pick and install any “fancy” or “recommended” floor.

In truth, the state of our rooms is often an accurate representation of our general psyche, whether it’s a chaotic or busy place, or an efficient and orderly area.  A cluttered, chaotic and messy home can look oddly beautiful and appealing, just as an orderly and homely room can achieve the same effect. A perfectionist may be well represented by a cleaner flooring design, while a more creative personality may prefer greater patterns and knots in their floor. 

Have a think about what type of person you are. What type of colours you like. What type of flooring patterns & styles you like. 

If you aren’t sure which style or design is suitable for your personality, you can consult your family and friends. It always pays to get a second opinion when choosing a floor!

So What Next?

Do you already have a flooring style or design in mind? Or do you need more help choosing a floor colour or style you like? We have almost 2 decades of experience fitting out homes and offices with beautiful flooring, and would love to show you some of our flooring range options.