Choosing Wood Flooring for North Facing Rooms

Neutralise cold light with warm tones

Northern light typically brings out the cooler tones in colours, which is why north facing rooms have a tendency to feel darker and less inviting.

One way to solve this is to choose colours with a yellow base. That doesn’t mean you need to choose a yellow scheme, but just that the white, blue, pink or green that you do choose should have yellow tones within it. This gives a warmer feel that balances the cooler northern light and creates a more inviting atmosphere in the room.

Choose Warm Wood Flooring

The same applies when choosing wood flooring for a north facing room. If you are looking for a white wood floor, choose one with a creamier tone. If grey or black are your preference, opt for a semi-transparent finish that lets the warmth of the timber show through. This has the same effect as adding a yellow note to paint tones.

To create a really inviting foundation for a north facing room, we would choose a wood floor in warm butterscotch or auburn tones, like Warm or Rich Oak from our Nuances Collection, St Pancras or Connolly from our Pullman Vintage Parquet Collection, or Bibury or Malmesbury Oak from our Cotswold Collection. These cosier mid-tones feel welcoming and homely even in the coolest northern daylight, and they are also super versatile and work brilliantly with yellow based paint or fabric tones.

use samples to aid decision making

Just like paint or fabric, we would always recommend that you look at samples of flooring in the room where you are planning to use them. Make sure you put them on the floor so that the light will hit them in the same way as it will the finished floor – you will be surprised how much this can change how the colour and the grain look.

If possible, look at them in the light conditions that will apply when you will spend time in the room – if it’s a daytime room, look at the samples in daylight, but if it’s a night time room, look at the samples in the evening, with a lamp plugged in somewhere close. Again, this will have a significant impact on the way the colour looks and may completely change your view of the one you prefer.

If you need any more advice about how to choose wood flooring for a north facing room, or which of our finishes might work best with your chosen colour scheme, do get in touch or visit one of our showrooms.