Transcription
We're back with some paint colors that go well with dark wood. After the wonderful reception we got from our honey oak trim video, which you can check out afterwards, there were still many of you that wanted to know about my color suggestions for your dark wood trim, floors, or cabinets.
Now, there are an incredibly diverse amount of stains out there, and it's next to impossible to cover every single one. But today's video is going to focus on the darker brown trim found in dark walnut stains. And yes, just to confirm, these colors are also appropriate choices to go alongside dark walnut floors and cabinets, or even furniture for that matter. I've selected these colors because they work with that particular deep brown coloration. So, before we get into these colors, I would really appreciate a like. And with that said, I hope you like this list.
Let's start with something a bit bolder and go with Mysterious. Love the name. This is a Benjamin Moore deep navy that comes in at an LRV of 6.81. So, you might be thinking, maybe not the best choice to go with dark and dark. But I really like the drama it can bring to a space. And it's clearly not something you would use all over a home or in a big, big hallway. But it has a really rich, lovely interaction with wood trims of all kinds, namely the deeper, more brown-focused ones. It perhaps leans a touch to the purple side of blue rather than that greeny teal side. But I think it just suits brown perfectly, as it doesn't fall towards teal all that much. This is a great color for an office or maybe a dining room, as it will really create an intriguing space.
Why not go with another Affinity color? Because it's a collection I know a lot of you enjoy using. And this color is called Pashmina. This color is a great choice largely due to its rich depth of color. It does contain a green undertone that's a bit subtle, even though it is predominantly a more khaki beige color. But it's only green because of the bit of black in here mixing with that beige to give you a slightly fresh take on grayish. It's a color I regularly see working nicely with dark walnut floors, and the same can be true with trim. Its LRV is a bit darker for a mid-tone, so it's right around 43.6 or so. So again, not necessarily a mega versatile all-over-the-house main color, but it's definitely one to consider if you're looking for something that has a decent amount of depth but won't be too aggressive looking.
If your goal is to go with something perhaps a tiny bit more positive and cool, Winter Solstice is a pretty pleasant, cool mid-tone that adds a clean elegance to your color palette. I tend to find myself favoring a lot of the cooler gray category when working with dark wood floors because it tends to elevate and modernize things quite nicely. One of the easiest ways to modernize a space is to go a bit cooler in your coloration. Warmer colors are going to feel a little more timeless and cozy, but not quite as sleek and elegant as the cooler spectrum. Just a general observation that I've noticed over the years, but it tends to be pretty true in most cases. Even though this color only has a 51.66 LRV, which makes it decently light, it's not one that I would prefer to see used throughout a home. I like cool grays in smaller chunks these days because it allows it to stand out rather than take over a space.
What about if you're looking for white on your walls? This is something that you might want to do to go alongside your dark brown stained trim. It sort of gives you a reciprocal effect where normally your trim would be white and your walls might be brown, but in this case, it's the other way around. One of my favorite white paint colors to use is more accurately described as an off-white, and it's clean, has a touch of gray, and doesn't really read anything other than white. The color is Decorator's White. And it's that bit of gray that prevents it from feeling like a burden to your eyes in those highly lit environments. It's settled, it's nice. Even though its LRV is 84.61, which is lower than the likes of Oxford White, Simply White, and especially Chantilly Lace, it's still very white, very bright, and will look extremely clean and elegant on larger surfaces. Of course, if you just had dark walnut floors and white trim, then Decorator's White is absolutely a fantastic choice on the baseboards, frames, and doors as well. But I also kind of like it on the walls in this case too, for some really sharp contrast.
Now, if your trim is staying white, and it's just your floors that are that dark stained wood, then of course Decorator's White is going to be great on your baseboards and your doors and your frames. But I also kind of like it on walls in this case for that nice sharp contrast.
In general, I typically see cooler colors winning the battle against warmer ones when paired with dark brown wood trimming floors. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with introducing a bit of warmth, or a lot of it. With an LRV of 42.93, we have Liberty Park. And this is a color that sort of lives in the world of sage green, which I'm not mad about at all. Green in general is a color that represents nature, serenity, life, and vitality. And then by also utilizing a bit of yellow, the color increases its vibrancy as a color without feeling neon or fluorescent. It's also toned down a little bit with some brown, which conveniently coincides with the dark brown in your floors or your trim that you're trying to incorporate it with. Green and brown are always going to work together because it's something that we regularly see in nature, and you can't argue with nature. I'm not going to. Are you? You're crazy.
For the last color, I want to take a look at an even warmer choice. And this one is from the Benjamin Moore Historical Colors, or HC color palette, that to me is one of the most timeless collections of colors that Benjamin Moore has put together. The color is a favorite of mine, and it's called Hawthorne Yellow. This is a color that is traditionally paired with very light off-whites, some creams, and perhaps some khakis. But I really like it when it's used alongside dark wood trim because of how it invigorates a space with its lovely, yet classic approach to a buttery yellow. Especially if you have a lot of darker wood trim or those deep dark brown floors, a color like this will really counteract those dark tones and brighten up this space quite a bit. Hawthorne Yellow has an LRV of 73.04, and it really just brings a space to life whenever you use it. What also tends to happen there is you get a really nice deep contrast with those dark brown lines in the baseboards and in the frames, which will be accentuated even further.
I'm usually working with the assumption that if you're looking for colors to work alongside the dark wood in your home, then maybe you don't want to conceal it or hide it. Maybe you really want to show it off. And this is a really great way of doing that. If the wood in your home is a little on the golden orange side of things and you're dealing with honey oak trim, we already have a video on it right here, which you can check out. If there's another feature in your house or material that you need paint color advice for, please let us know in the comments below, and we'll get on it. Bye.