How did you choose your floor color?

Hello everyone,

I am interested in the criteria you used to choose your floor color. Generally, light colors are perceived as cooler and dark colors, for example brown, as warmer. On the other hand, too dark can of course also feel oppressive. We noticed that it helps little to look at only small samples. It can be that a dark color sample looks very good in 30x30cm but in reality, when 40 sqm or more are laid in that color, the floor seems much too dark.

I am currently inclined to order several sqm of flooring online and then use them as samples and possibly return them. It's really not the right way and actually not my style, but I can't think of anything better at the moment. How did you handle it?

Visit a proper exhibition.
We currently have a really dark real wood parquet floor. Very dark brushed brown. Very stylish in combination with white walls, but you can see everything.
For the new house, we switched to a much lighter, planed parquet. It is a mix of light brown and gray.
We visited a really good exhibition in the [Köln area], which also includes furnishing (meaning whole rooms including furniture) and we fell in love immediately.
As it often happens, we didn’t like anything else after that.

Conclusion: Find a good exhibition, go there, take a look.

There are stores that even sell flooring. Just go and have a look (often they are also larger panels with the corresponding coverings). Criteria? Personal taste. I, for example, only use parquet, except in the hallway and bathroom. There is even parquet in the kitchen. I simply find it beautiful. Color? Mmmmh, six years ago dark brown in the living area (oak barrique) and cream-colored tiles in the hallway/kitchen/bathrooms. Three years ago, white-oiled oak floorboards (except in the bathroom, where anthracite-colored tiles in a large format fit). At the end of the year, oak floorboards again (amber oak). I don’t know yet what tiles for the hallway. Taste changes. There are so many beautiful things. The rest of the apartment/house has to match as well.

There are stores that even sell flooring. Just go and have a look (often they are larger panels with the corresponding coverings)? Criteria? Personal taste. For example, I only choose parquet, except in the hallway and bathroom. There is even parquet in the kitchen. I just find it beautiful. Color? Mmmmh, six years ago dark brown in the living area (oak barrique) and cream-colored tiles in the hallway/kitchen/bathrooms. Three years ago white-oiled oak floorboards (except for the bathroom, where anthracite-colored tiles in a large format fit). At the end of the year, oak floorboards again (amber oak). I don’t know yet what tiles for the hallway. Taste changes. There are so many beautiful things. The rest of the apartment/house also has to match.

Whereas I actually tend not to choose the floor according to the furniture. In my experience, furniture is more short-lived than a floor.

We had a similar experience during our search. I went to several specialty stores and hardware stores and took samples with me (either on deposit or borrowed for free), then I looked at the samples again at home under all possible lighting conditions, since the color in the store can often be deceptive. If I liked a sample, I searched the internet for videos or at least pictures, so that you can at least see how it looks in the entire room. It is primarily about the pattern, as I can see the color well at home.

Whereas I actually tend not to choose the floor based on the furniture.

I mean it the other way around. Choose furniture to match the floor.