Choosing your laminate flooring colour

Laminate flooring comes in such a wide array of colours, finishes and styles that it can be hard to narrow down the selection. Here is a quick guide to help you choose which colour is best for your home.

The colour wheel

A quick online search will bring up hundreds of examples of the colour wheel used by designers and artists to select complementary colours. If you are replacing your flooring but other furnishings – such as your sofa and rug – are staying the same, this is a great way to ensure you won’t get an ugly clash of shades. It is also handy if you want your new flooring to sit well with the existing wall colour.

When using the colour wheel, you have a few choices. You can use colours that are neighbours on the colour wheel, such as brown and rust, or colours that are opposites (contrasts), such as brown and blue. There are obviously hundreds of other examples; however, as laminate flooring tends to most often be supplied in shades of browns and closely related colours, these are the most relevant in this case. If you have a teal sofa, for example, and want a pleasing contrast between your floor and your furniture, you will find a warm brown is opposite teal on the colour wheel and will work very well as a floor colour. If you have a rust coloured rug, flooring with blue undertones will provide a similarly attractive contrast.

Dark or light flooring?

Darker laminates, usually sold as walnut style or similar, tend to be cool shades and work well with other cool colours; for example, cool, light blue walls will work well with this type of flooring, as would cool mint green walls. If you want a contemporary finish, try teaming cool, darker laminate flooring with pops of a contrasting colour, such as bright orange or yellow.

If you prefer to opt for lighter flooring, perhaps to try to open up a dark space without much natural light, you will probably find that this flooring also tends to have cool undertones. Stick to other cool shades but feel free to team this flooring with light or dark furnishings and furniture; for example, a dark, cool grey sofa would work well here. Cool walls in the purple family – such as lilacs – look great paired with cool, light laminate floors.