When clients are doing a renovation or designing a space, they often ask me to make flooring choices for them as well. How does flooring play into an overall color palette? It is a key element. In terms of square footage, floors can actually be a dominant color in the space, so the color aspect is not to be ignored. In order to achieve a harmonious color palette, the wall, floor, fixture, and furniture colors must work well together.
So where do you begin? If the flooring has already been installed, the wall color should complement the floor color. So let's say you have honey-colored wood flooring. You'd want to choose a paint color that is warm and works well with golden tones, like reds, oranges, and greens with a yellow-ish undertone. You could also go with complementary hues like warm,deep blues and purples. In this case, you would avoid golds and yellows because they are too close in value to the flooring--it would be too much of the same, creating a monotonous feel. If you're more attracted to neutrals, again choose colors that are warm like chocolates and deep caramels. If the floor color is too much for you, consider colorful area rugs to infuse other colors into the room. This is a great option if you want to keep wall color neutral.
If you're not in a position to change out the floors and you really don't care for them, there is still hope. You can use wall color in a number of ways to help you out. Let's say you have gray tile, paint the walls in icy blues or soft greens. You are creating a cool color palette, and the overall look will be as if you chose the gray tile deliberately. If you can't live in cool colors, and some people really just can't, draw the attention away from the floor by using a warm strong contrasting color. The eye will be drawn up and away from the neutral floor. Use area rugs and boldly-colored furniture and accent pieces to reinforce the look.
Ultimately, paint color is the simplest and most inexpensive way to transform and harmonize a room.
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