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Do Brown Walls & White Trim Go With Dark Wood Floors?

Although decorating can seem difficult, bringing the colors in a room together is merely a matter of knowing the properties of color. Some colors tend to work best within a certain design theme, such as a French country yellow and blue kitchen, while other colors, such as neutrals, work in almost all rooms and designs. Once you know the decorating scheme you are following, the question of combining brown walls and white trim with dark floors will be answered.
  1. Neutral Colors

    • Brown and white are considered neutral colors, along with black, gray, beige or tan. These colors are not found on a color wheel yet tend to work in all design themes as the colors occur naturally in nature. Darker versions of a neutral color may be used to ground a room design or as a backdrop for more vivid colors. If you combine neutrals together in a room design, such as a brown and white combination, you can create a calm environment that focuses attention on the furnishings of the room..

    Brown Walls

    • Given that brown is a neutral color and works within most room designs, the tone and shade becomes important. Brown comes in various shades, ranging from a light tan to a dark espresso, both of which create different effects on the wall. For example, if you combine the two light colors, such as a tan wall and white trim, the two light areas would be grounded by a dark wood floor, while using two dark colors, such as a dark floor with a chocolate brown wall, pops the white trim to the fore.

    White Trim

    • As the combination of the white trim becomes noticeable in a room with a dark wall and floor, use it to highlight the trim or make it a focal point in the room. In addition to using it next to the floor as a baseboard, add crown molding to the walls and encase the windows with the same white trim. A chair railing, normally 18 inches from the floor, could separate a two-tone treatment of light and dark brown on the wall, or you could use the railing merely for decorative purposes.

    Options

    • If you prefer that the trim blend into the room, give it the same color treatment as the wood floor, which makes the baseboard disappear into the floor and creates a more blended design. Another option is to bring a warm accent color into the room, such as a deep red or yellow, which will brighten up a dark room. The same effect could be achieved by using golden metallic accents in the room, such as in lamps or table legs.