When it comes to renovating your home, one of the first and most crucial steps is choosing your color palette and undertones. From walls to floors to furniture, the goal is to find the perfect balance between shades of color.
Paying attention to the wood undertones when picking your color scheme is highly recommended. The inflections in intonation can help to change the atmosphere of a room from a warm, cozy space to a modern, cool décor.
In case you missed it, we also covered the Colors and Trends of Hardwood Flooring, How to Design with Neutral Flooring Tones, and How to Choose the Right Flooring. Click on the links above for a more in-depth dive into hardwood flooring and design.
There are no absolutes in creating a timeless interior design. You can choose to balance out warm and cool elements with varying colors or stick to one undertone throughout a room. You can also choose to incorporate various textures to help break up a space. We love the aesthetic of mixing various wood elements with pops of color from a consistent color scheme (i.e. blue or red).
This article will help you distinguish and understand the different undertones in wood undertones and stains so you can select the right intonation to incorporate in your interior design.
One of the easiest ways to spot the undertone of the wood stain is by comparing hardwood of the same shade, with different undertones. The different intonations will come to light easily using this method.
Light/Natural European Oak Stain Wood Undertones:
These hardwood colors might all initially look on the warmer end of the spectrum, but their undertones actually greatly differ.
Cool Tones:
Shell Beach displays a cool, taupe tone that is subtle and natural.
Warm/Golden Tones:
Avenza (Available as Custom Color) is a very luminous golden wheat wood that will make a statement in your interior.
Pebble Beach is a very subtle warm blond wood with copper undertones.
Neutral Tones:
Monaco (Available as Custom Color) has an interesting variation of both pink and green undertones, which could appear warmer or cooler based on the pairing interior design you choose.
Canewood and Provence showcase a high variation of lighter and darker blond shades as well as cool and warm tones throughout.
Light Grey European Oak StainWood Undertones:
Even though grey initially appears to display a cool vibe, these hardwoods showcase a broad variety of intonations.
Cool Tone:
La Jolla exhibits a modern, cool variation of black and white.
Cloud and Moonlight contain a mix of blue and pink intonation.
Warm Tone:
Versailles (Available as Custom Color) displays a beautiful warm tone accentuated by touches of pink.
Tokyo (Available as Custom Color) is a warm grey with a reddish-brown undertone and cool highlights.
Pink Undertones:
Juliette and Nuvola (Available as Custom Colors) showcase subtle pink undertones.
Neutral Tones:
St.Tropez features a complex balance of color variations. Its warm, pink undertones beautifully balance the cool blue highlights.
Dark Brown European Oak StainWood Undertones:
Although these dark brown stains look very similar at first glance, they actually display very different undertones.
Yellow Undertones:
Sicily (Available as Custom Color) features light undertones with a hint of gold.
Red Undertones:
Caffe displays warm, brandy undertones.
Cool Undertones:
Cognac showcases a cooler brown with cool pink undertones.
Zuma Beach flaunts cool chocolate undertones with a mix of pink and green intonations.
Warm undertones:
Varese (Available as Custom Color) has gorgeous golden ochre undertones.
Neutral undertones:
Brigitte has a beautiful deep tone mixing cooler and warmer undertones.
