Should You Install Gray Wood Floors?

The first day of my Specify Colour with Confidence™ Training is my favourite. It’s when all the participants of my courses have their biggest transformation about understanding colour and undertones.

But before they experience this transformation, I set up the entire three days of training with a conversation about magic, about selling the right colour, about selling classic and timeless and about creating a look and a feel.

About what they need to know (and are going to learn) to be the kind of designer who can confidently help their clients. Like I do.

I was in a client’s home last year who was right in the middle of a kitchen renovation. She had hired trades and they were already working on her house. She had come to a standstill because she didn’t know what to do, which cabinets to choose, and how far she should go inside her kitchen renovation. So she called me for help.

She had just been referred to my blog from a friend and hadn’t spent any time reading my many posts, so she didn’t know my position on white kitchen cabinets. We had to spend a little longer on the subject so I could explain why she should choose white for her cabinets.

She patiently listened to what I said and then said, “Maria, I just can’t visualize white cabinets in my kitchen. All the inspiration photos that I’m drawn to have brown cabinets.”

So then I said, “Look, I have given you my best pitch for a white kitchen and if you still feel that dark wood is the way to go then you should do that. It’s your house after all.”

via {Pinterest}

I left and less than a week later, she emailed me and said, “I’m doing a white kitchen.”

And when her renovation was all done she emailed me photos and said, “I’m so glad I hired you to help me! I absolutely LOVE my new white kitchen.”

Was she happy because I talked her into a white kitchen? Maybe. But I think she was really happy because I could help her see how the finishes she was admiring online would look in her home, with her unique set of considerations.

The other day I was looking at a photo of an interior and immediately said to Irene, “That was installed in the mid-90’s.” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I scrolled down and read that it had been installed in  1995. Irene said, “How do you know this stuff?! How can you look at almost any room and know when it was decorated or renovated?”

And the answer is because I’ve literally been in thousands of homes over the last 15 years.

And because I’ve been in so many homes over the past 15 years and seen the fall-out from bad design decisions, I have come to believe that, as a designer, your job is to create a look and a feel that your client will love.

That’s why they are hiring you. Your client will often choose all the trendiest finishes on their own. They will try and combine patterns in hard finishes as well as the old with the new and it’s your job to educate them on the finished result and help them visualize what it will look like.

When I read articles where designers give this advice: “It’s important to choose what you like,” I’m clear they haven’t formed an opinion yet on how to create a look and a feel, so they think their job is simply to install what their client likes.

I’ll go one step further and tell you that, if you’re a designer, you will best be able to help your clients if you know what your look and feel is like, so you can help them create a look they will love. One of the biggest mistakes I see designers and decorators make is not understanding that your work and the help you give your clients is better when you have a look that people want to hire you for.

Learning what your “look” is, takes time. It took me 10 years before I realized what my look was. It took even more time before I got that, as a professional, it’s my job is to educate my client on exactly which finishes will be perfect for their home. NOT just ask them what they like.

Just this week I was working with a couple on choosing all their interior finishes for a new house they were building.

They had done some homework before our consultation and sourced a bunch of engineered hardwood samples in their price range so that I could choose the right colour for them.

I immediately eliminated three of the dark gray wood flooring samples they had selected.

via {Hooked on Houses}

Later, after we had chosen all the colours for all their hard finishes including colours for walls she confided that without me, she would definitely have chosen one of the dark gray hardwoods.

The dining room (above) with gray floors is from Coastal Living.  When Julia from Hooked on Houses posted this interior on her blog she said, “The rooms lack a little oomph for me–I’d have to add a little more color if I lived here“. Notice how the cool gray floors contribute to that feeling.

via {Pinterest}

Gray is cool and should be a backdrop to colour as well as provide a balance of cool among warm wood tones. Like this example (above).

via {Better Homes & Gardens}

This is why, when I get emails from readers in despair asking which colours work with homes that are filled with dated 70s, 80s and 90s wood trim, I often say, “Green-grays.” Not only is this undertones of gray completely current, nothing warms up the new trend of grays faster than the old trend of yellow and orange wood tones.

via {Houzz}

And I have one more hot tip for you since we are talking about wood trim.

What if your house is entirely filled with dated honey oak trim and floors and you’re thinking about re-staining your floors a different colour to update them? Or you want to rip out your current floors and introduce a totally different wood floor that does not relate to your honey oak trim?

You can’t. Unless you change everything it will look like, “New floors, old and dated oak trim.” A new gray floor is definitely NOT an option here to create a look you love.

As a designer, when you learn how to sell classic and timeless first before you even start discussing finishes, your job becomes a lot easier, and you can do that at a True Colour Expert™ training this year! Register here.

Have a great week everyone! xo Maria

Related posts:

First Rule of Design: Boring Now Equals Timeless Later

Which Hardwood Floor is the Most Timeless?

Do you Give your Clients Exactly What they Want?