Choose flooring that compliments cabinet color
Choosing flooring that compliments your kitchen cabinets is key to achieving an appealing design, and the nearly endless color combinations make the decision time consuming. Below are some tips on choosing flooring colors that will compliment your cabinet paint or stain color choice:
1. Contrast – don’t match. Make sure the flooring is not the exact same color as the cabinets. If the cabinets and flooring blend together, the effect is not as appealing. Notice the kitchen photo on the right has stained cabinets and stained wood floors but the floors are darker than the cabinets which makes the kitchen look grounded and appealing and the dark stain on the flooring picks up the color from the darkest parts of the knotty alder cabinetry.
2. Choose a cool or warm color family and stick with it throughout the room. The kitchen on the far left above has wood flooring with cool brown and grey/brown hues that complement the cool grey wall color and the black and white in the kitchen. The kitchen in the middle photo has a warmer tan wall color and a reddish-brown island stain that is complemented by the warm red-brown wood tones in the floor.
3. Take it easy on the pattern combinations. While these days we are seeing people pair different patterns like plaids and florals or stripes and florals in clothing, a shirt and shorts or skirt are inexpensive and quick to change. Kitchen materials, on the other hand cannot be easily changed out. So before you commit to the checkerboard flooring or herringbone pattern wood floor, mosaic tile back splash and knotty hickory cabinet combination, give it some thought and try to pick just one detailed element so the eye isn’t overwhelmed. If you want more texture on the cabinets and in the floors without looking too busy, a great combination is stained knotty alder cabinet material paired with wood flooring that has a lot of color variation such as natural red or white oak or hickory. The stained knotty alder has texture and subtle color differences due to the knots but it is monochromatic enough to pair with a busy floor.
4. Look at product samples next to each other. Look at a sample of your flooring, cabinet material/color, counter top and wall color next to each other in similar lighting to what you will have in your kitchen and make sure you like how the colors and textures work together. Lay the flooring flat with the cabinet material at a 90 degree angle to the flooring as it will be in the finished room and stand back to look at it. You may want to pick a few cabinet and flooring color options to look at next to each other in case your first choices don’t compliment each other.
5. Find online or magazine photos of kitchens or bathrooms using a similar color, material or pattern combination to give you an idea of the overall final look without making your home and your budget the Guinea pig. Burrows Cabinets website and Houzz pages have dozens of recent kitchen, bath, study and other room cabinet photos and are a great place to start.
