Dark wood floors are a stylish choice that create a calm, elegant, refined, and dramatic ambiance. The downside is that dark flooring makes the room look smaller and makes the mood in the room dull and sad.
However, the flooring’s dark shade makes it the perfect background for colorful rugs. The rugs become the focal point on the floor. But, the dark floors radiate elegance without the need for rugs. So, how do you bring out elegance with rugs on dark wood floors?
To enhance the elegance of dark hardwoods, you need the right rug color. What color rugs go with dark wood floors for an elegant space? Bright solid neutrals and vivid patterned rugs emulate elegance with ease. Also, both options balance out the floor as the rugs create contrast between dark and light.
In This Article We'll Discuss
Solid Colors
White
The best contrast to create an elegant space is white rugs. It creates a striking sophistication that brightens and balances any space. The color is also clean, simple, stylish, and appealing. But, the problem with white rugs is keeping them clean.
Because of this, the shade of white doesn’t have to be pure white or crisp white. Any shade of white will offer the same benefits for dark hardwood floors. Examples of white shades are ivory, off-white, snow-white, cream, and Navajo white.
The rug texture adds something unique to the space while not losing its elegant charm. For example, a fluffy white rug adds coziness and comfort to the room, while wool rugs would add simplicity.
Beige
The second option for creating an elegant room is beige rugs. Derived from white and brown, beige offers the same benefits as white rugs. But, beige bonds with dark wood floors through its brown roots.
Dark hardwood floors and beige rugs together create an elegant and calming feel. Like white, beige is a flexible and versatile neutral that pairs well with any color.
The rug texture adds elegance and something extra to the space. A fluffy shag rug makes the space luxurious and cozy. A second example, jute fabric, gives the room a casual feel.
Gray
Since white and beige rugs get dirty easily, a darker color to consider is gray. Gray rugs bring elegance, softness, balance, and brightness to dark wood floors. The gray color is a great transition between the dark floor and the brighter colors in the room. Also, gray rugs are at their best when paired with gray décor, furniture, or wall color.
Textures in rugs add a second layer of emotion to the elegant environment. While a fluffy shag gray rug adds warmth and cozy vibes to the space, a woven rug adds detail to a dull floor.
Like beige and white, gray is versatile and flexible. Gray blends in with any dark wood flooring.
Decorative Designs
Two-Tone Neutrals
The safest two-tone neutrals to place on top of dark hardwood flooring are brown and white. Brown matches most dark hardwoods while white brightens the room. The neutrals add elegance, warmth, brightness, and sophistication to the floor. And, neither neutral competes against the other for visual attention.
In addition, you can’t go wrong with black and white. Any decorative rug in black and white is a hit with dark-colored wood flooring. You get the white contrast without worrying about accidental spills and stains. Also, you get the black color to mesh with dark flooring without making the room dull and depressing.
White and gray rugs are an appealing choice to add to your room. Both offer much-needed light and balance to dark wood floors. The white keeps the depressing ambiance of gray and dark woods away. Gray keeps white and dark woods in line so the visual contrast is soft rather than striking.
Two dark colors against dark wood flooring are bland and visually shrink rooms. But, the dark neutrals black and brown won’t do that when combined in a rug. Perfect for large rooms, black and brown rugs exude elegance against dark flooring. The dark rug and the dark flooring are also harmonious, leaving only sophistication.
Light and Bright
Solid bright colors look great on dark wood floors, but the colors are more fun and casual, and less elegant. However, mixing and matching light and bright colors can have an elegant appeal.
As you pick a rug with light and bright colors, ensure one of those colors contains red, green, blue, or pink. Red and pink are elegant, romantic, deep, and warm, so they mesh well with dark woods. Green’s natural look pairs well with the dark wood for a nature-themed result. Bring the outdoors indoors by pairing blue’s ocean and sky theme with the dark wood floor.
The best decorative rugs for an elegant space contain a color you already own. That grounds the decorative rug to transform the room into an elegant space. Otherwise, it will be out of place. You can also pick a color within the decorative rug and add it to the room through furniture, artwork, or décor.
Light and brights can also include a neutral to soften the brightness. White and beige are the best neutrals to use. Brown, gray, and black work as excellent neutrals for dark hardwoods, too.
Patterns
An appealing rug is important because the design needs to flow with the room’s style and ambiance. Shapes, prints, stripes, and abstract patterns on rugs balance dark wood floors. The colors need to match or balance the dark wood floor, the furniture, the wall color, and décor accessories. Every piece in the room must come together and shine as equals to create elegance.
A distracting patterned, shaped, printed, or striped rug becomes a glaring focal point. A focal point rug brings a different vibe to the space. While that is fine in some cases, the goal is to create elegance, and a focal point does not do that.
Conclusion
Whether you’re decorating a living room, den, dining room, hallway, mudroom, or foyer, the rug color needs to set the right mood. It’s crucial to match dark flooring to the rug color when the undertones come in red, brown, and black. Plenty of colors pair well with dark hardwood floors, but only a few exude elegance. The above colors will create elegance no matter the undertone.
What color rugs go with dark wood floors for an elegant space? Take your pick between a bright solid color rug and a patterned version. Share your thoughts about elegance, rugs, and dark wood floors in the comments section.