Hardwood Floor Color Chart: Choose Your Color
One of the beautiful things about installing hardwood flooring is the freedom of creative expression in design. A beautiful hardwood floor isn’t just durable and timeless, it’s incredibly dynamic with dozens of design options, wood species, stain colors, textures, and finishes to choose from.
The most popular hardwood floor colors change year after year, and if yours isn’t the best hardwood floor color for your space in 2023, you can refresh and transform it with a professional refinish and the top flooring products available. Popular hardwood floor colors in 2022 are rich browns and smokey gray floors, among others.
Let’s decide which is the best color hardwood floors for your home or commercial space. We’ll teach you how to choose hardwood floor colors that elevate the look of any room.
The hardwood floor color chart: start with the species
Most hardwood floors are made from domestic hardwood species like red or white oak, hickory, maple, ash, American cherry and walnut. However, there are dozens of species to choose from when deciding the foundational look and function of the floor. Oak hardwood floor colors alone can range from red to very pale (white oak), so be sure to explore all of the popular wood flooring colors before you decide.
Some hardwood species change in appearance over time with exposure to the sun. More exotic species often have unique patterns and tones within the wood grain, but can be significantly more expensive, or be too busy for a room.
Stains and some finishes also offer different hardwood floor colors regardless of the wood species you choose, so choose a color that works for your budget, your design ideas and your intent for the function of the room.
Hardwood floors stain colors
The most popular hardwood flooring colors change over time, but the good news is, so can your stain and finish. Most hardwood floors usually need a refinish every 5-10 years, depending on wear, maintenance habits, and moisture damage. When you refinish your floor, you have the opportunity to transform your floor color with a fresh new stain and finish.
The best hardwood floor stain color for your room is one that brings light and spaciousness into the room. Hardwood floors stain colors should add to the other fixed-design elements of the room and pair well with the furniture and other fixtures. Stain colors for hardwood flooring range from pale and ashy whitewashed floors to rich, deep, or smoky, for dark floors.The most timeless hardwood floor color is the one that highlights the beauty of the species of wood you’ve chosen.
Your hardwood flooring professional will often have better quality stains and products not available at your local home improvement store. Let us know your design vision and get a free estimate for your refinishing project here.
Hardwood floor finish colors
Hardwood floor refinishing colors can help further enhance the natural beauty of your wood species and the added color of your stain choice. The best finish for your floor should again account for the function of the room, the amount of traffic and moisture it might be exposed to, and the stain you’ve chosen.
Finishes add texture or shine to your hardwood floors while protecting your floorboards from damage. A high gloss finish can enhance rich tones or further highlight and brighten lighter shades. Matte and natural finishes can help add to the smoky appearance of ashier, darker woods and unique floor patterns, textures, or plank sizes.
When choosing your new home flooring, consider the species, then the stain, then the finish for the most cohesive and dynamic hardwood flooring color combination.
New flooring trends in 2022
2022’s most popular flooring trends included mixing things up in patterns, placement, and plank sizes, as well as paying tribute to the beauty of nature.
Different color hardwood floors continued to trend, with mix-matched complementary tones, plank sizes, and interesting new wood grain patterns leading the way. Rich brown tones were a favorite, ashy gray hues, and bleach-blondes.
White oak hardwood flooring colors carried another design trend in 2022: the natural look. This timeless species and its soft yet bright tones helped create more open and inviting spaces in homes across the country this year. Homeowners who wanted to get back to natural spaces and the openness of the outdoors reflected that with white oak’s delicate patterns and textures.
Rustic textures, wide planks, and herringbone patterns were also popular.
New flooring ideas for 2023
We expect natural design to continue to be a hot trend into 2023, with sustainability and responsible consumerism top of mind for many homeowners. Expect flooring trends that highlight natural wood grains and their beauty, sustainable materials, bold colors, and an emphasis on the natural wood grain.
Minimalist design is similarly likely to continue trending as homeowners consider their long term investments in flooring and the way those design choices will age. 2022 celebrated matte and minimalist finishes that made hardwood appear more natural and less processed than it would with a high-gloss finish. Natural materials, rustic flooring, and distressed floors are also probable trends for 2023.
More expensive (and carbon-costly) species like tiger wood and teak wood may decrease in popularity as homeowners learn to get more creative with plank width, species combinations, interesting plank patterns and unique floor textures. Easily installable, gorgeous, eco-friendly options like bamboo will likely continue trending into 2023 and beyond.
Getting started with your flooring choices
When considering new types of flooring, there’s a lot of information to sift through. It might feel like a lot of pressure to decide a species, color, and type of flooring for your space. If you need help, we’ve got you covered.
Reach out to us today for your free estimate, and we can go over your options together. Some spaces are better suited for other flooring types, like laminate flooring, which can be just as beautiful and resilient. We’re here to help you decide what works for your space and your budget.