The appearance of hard wood flooring has always been one associated with luxury. Part of the beauty of it lies in its versatility. Whether you wish to create a contemporary feel, a Tuscan look or that of the traditional, classic English farmhouse, amongst many others – it’s all possible.

It’s well known that hard wood floor isn’t cheap either and with Christmas fast approaching, ambience is the latest thing people are striving to achieve and by using dark tones this can easily be achieved by following a few design pointers.

Dark tones are quite large in terms of the variety on offer. For tones such as dark oak it is advised that the room has access to a large amount of natural light. Without access to this type of light source dark hard wood flooring can make the room appear too dark, in effect losing this sense of ambience and could make the room seem claustrophobic.

This could be solved by contrasting lighter coloured furniture with dark wood flooring; when done correctly this can help greatly in providing a contrast which ultimately results in warmth.

It would be recommended not try and combine too much dark furniture with an already dark toned hard wood floor. Even if there is a great amount of natural light, at night it could result in the creation of an effect that is too cold and dramatic, thus killing any chances of the warm ambient feel.

Further contrast can be created by decorating a room with a dark wood floor using light colours such as whites, magnolias and creams as these will bring out the features of the floor to the greatest effect.

Using rugs on the hard wood floors can act as a centrepiece in a room and serve in providing warmth in winter – both in terms of temperature and creating an atmosphere. Rugs with splashes of colour can easily add brightness to a room.

Something as simple as placing a rug in front of the fire place conjures up that traditional Christmassy image, of settling down in front of a warm fire under the Christmas tree lights after a day out in the cold and who can resist that?

The use of a rug is also positive in that it can be easily rolled up and stored away during the summer. It also provides a reasonably cheap way of making a room more homely in achieving that festive feel. Rugs and carpets are also practical in that they can help to protect the solid wood flooring from any damage or scratches.

Greens and dark browns are known to work quite well together because of tone similarity. A natural Christmas tree with some standard lights while seeming minimalistic will easily provide a classy centrepiece for the room and one that during the earlier darkening evenings provides warmth, but at the same time isn’t too garish.

Small lamps may seem like a minor feature, but they too can also accentuate even the smallest features in the hard wood flooring.

Although some of these pointers may seem obvious to some they can all help in making your home feel more Christmassy this winter with the use of a dark hard wood floor.

Author Bio: UK Flooring distributor Floors Online supply a range of laminate flooring, wood floors, solid wood floors, engineered wood floors and vinyl flooring products. Contacts For information, sales and advice on flooring solutions, contact Floors Online 0800 731 2374 / 01827 283 184 www.floorsonline.co.uk

Category: Home Management
Keywords: wood floor,hard wood,wood flooring,hard wood flooring,solid wood floor,solid wood,hard wood floor