‘70s bell bottoms, ‘80s shoulder pads, and ‘90s grunge – all fashion trends that have come and gone. If any of these were part of your wardrobe in their respective decades, you were quite the trendsetter. Trends make fashion fun, and it’s easy and cheap enough to drop a dated item from your wardrobe to replace it with the latest style.
But trends are a little trickier when it comes to wood floors. A good wood floor should survive trend after trend in interior design. It’s just too costly for most of us to change our floors with every shift in our Pinterest feed.
One such shift, toward gray wood floors, has been prominent in recent years. It’s definitely one of the trendier takes on wood flooring. It conveys a modern and timeworn look all at once. Chances are, if you are considering wood floors, you may wonder if this look is right for your home.
But are gray wood floors the MC Hammer pants of interior design? Or are they more like a crisp white button down – timeless in any decade?
Kathy Rollins, ASID, of Interiors by Kathy Rollins, advises that this particular look will probably fall out of design favor soon. She points out that the overall use of gray in interior design made its entrance seven or eight years ago, in response the dark browns of the Tuscan style. She thinks it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a dated look.
However, Kathy offers some advice for people who want to have an on-trend look their home, but also want their new wood floors to seem fresh regardless of the current styles.
Look for “Cool” Instead of Gray Wood Floors
First, choose a wood for your floors that is cool and gives the impression of gray, without actually being gray.
“Walnut is my go to floor,” she says. “It doesn’t have the orange-red undertones of other woods.” This means it can work with gray décor now, and also with whatever the next trend is. If you think of your floor as the backdrop for your home décor, this advice makes sense. You want to choose something that will look good today and tomorrow.
Use Gray in Components That Can Easily be Changed
Second, Kathy suggests allowing your furnishings to bring in the gray. This will pull out the cool in the floors and so they give the vibe of gray.
Artwork, paint, and accessories can all be used to bring in the crisp grey and many of them can be changed in a couple of years without breaking the bank. And when you change those accessories out, you don’t want your floor to give away the year it was installed. In ten years, no one should be able to date your floor based on its color.
But what if you are set on gray wood floors? Consider Kathy’s advice in reverse. Choose a gray with warm undertones so, as the trend changes, you can bring in warm décor to accent those tones in your wood.
Either way, the new buzzword here is “greige,” and it refers to warm beiges and browns, with a touch of gray to cool them down (gray + beige = greige). This is a versatile color that works with cooler grays and warmer earth tones.
Whether you choose to go with a classic and traditional look for your floors, or want something modern and in-the-moment, we can work with you to select the right floors. We want to help give your home the feel you want now, with a staying power for decades to come. Get in touch for a no obligation quote for your new wood floors.
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