Find your wood undertone wood colour
- All wood stains have a colour-base to them. Some have orange, some green, some gold.
- The simplest way to find the wood for your home is to look at your home’s architecture and do some research.
- Lighter wood tones will create a casual or contemporary look and darker wood tones create a sophisticated or traditional look.
Use no more than three different woods in any one given space
- The biggest contenders are: kitchen cabinets, flooring and dining room sets.
- Consider various tones of a particular stain to add light/dark variety to any given space.
- A rule of thumb (like paint colours) is lighter wood tones on top, darker on bottom.
Wood trends last about 10-12 years
- Figure out where the current trend lies; this will tell you how much to invest in it.
- Each decade had ‘trendy’ woods: the 70’s was pine, 80’s Golden Oak, 90’s Blonde Maple, 2000 Espresso, 2010 Driftwood Oak.
- Use the trendy woods in small accessories for your home such as coffee/end tables, lamps, picture framing.
Wood is not gold!
- Improving on an antique by having it refinished with a new stain will rarely take away its value.
- Painting wood will help banish an outdated stain and help revitalize a piece of furniture or staircase.
Flooring samples: www.goresilient.ca
Furnishings and accessories: www.EQ3.com
