As much as we love choosing materials and textures, choosing colors is our favorite task when it comes to designing a home! Paint colors, pillows, furniture, drapes, and of course, flooring colors– There’s something about going through color swatches and color wheels that takes us right back to childhood and the magic of learning new shades and tones.
Except now that you’re a grown-up, and adulting is a 24-7 gig, everything seems more complicated. And when it comes to color choices, there are so many variations to select from that it can become overwhelming when you must make permanent choices and monetary investments. This calls for a glass of wine and white-chocolate pretzels asap. So where do you begin with your flooring color selection process? There’s no need to panic, simply start with these helpful tips for choosing a floor color:
1. Use Natural Light to Your Advantage – Maybe your place isn’t quite as spacious as you would prefer, but you can use flooring color in combination with natural light to your advantage! To make a smaller space feel airier and seem larger, lighter flooring shades such as blondes, light greys, greige, cream, light brown, and white will reflect natural light for an illusion of open space. Designed to lighten and brighten, the California-inspired Modern Maven Collection features gorgeous tones like Sand Tropez (below) that will use natural light to perfection.
You can pair lighter flooring colors with lighter-colored walls for a low-contrast combo that minimizes the horizon line and creates a bigger feel. You can still use darker flooring shades in smaller spaces, just make sure to balance them with plenty of lighter shades and lighter-colored furnishings to keep things from feeling confined. If your floorplan is more open and receives medium to ample natural light, you can use just about any flooring color that you’re crazy about!
2. Always Use Flooring Samples – Don’t even think about shopping for 
flooring without getting samples to assess in your home! These samples are crucial when narrowing down a color: You can fall head-over-heels in love with a flooring style online, but you need to see the color up close to ensure you love it in person
Also, samples allow you to get a true feel for how flooring will appear in specific rooms, and how the color appears with the lighting and natural light that a room receives. Do yourself a huge favor and get flooring samples of your top 3 color choices to avoid potential headaches:
3.Use Flooring Color to Enhance an Aesthetic – If your favorite aesthetic serves as your style guide, choose a flooring color that enhances the look you love! For coastal cool, lighter flooring tones will bring the breezy, airy vibe indoors. Eye-catching mixed-shade floors like Harvest Distressed from the Weekend Warrior Collection (below left) with plank variation are a perfect match for eclectic or Bohemian interiors, and high-character reclaimed wood visuals such as Blazed Barnwood (below right) can even work for a French country modern look:
A wide range of flooring tones can work for a rustic or traditional room scene from light colors and greys, medium browns, to even rich, darker shades. You can’t go wrong with Midtown Tan from the Classy Chic Collection (below left) or Truly Brown from the Polished Pro Collection (below right) for the tried-and-true appeal of gorgeous, natural wood and staining:
The modern home will favor white, gray, and dark-stained flooring tones to anchor the minimalist look. The stone look of Silver Screen from the Classy Chic Collection (below left) or a wood-look floor like Urban Granite from the Polished Pro Collection (below right) will both easily complete a stylish modern layout: 
If you need even more flooring color inspiration, follow DuraDecor by Novalis Innovative Flooring on YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook for room scenes that get your creative wheels turning.
And if you love a fun online quiz like we do, save our Classy Chic Collection Quiz below to your phone for a few flooring color suggestions that match your personality. You never know, you might just land on the shade that brings your place together like you’ve always dreamed of!
