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Wood Floor Colours

Oak comes in one colour, and it is not any of the ones you are choosing between. Every grey, smoked, dark or whitewashed floor you have seen was made that way — by a stain on the surface, by a chemical reaction through the board, or by a white pigment worked into the grain.

Knowing which method was used matters more than the shade on the sample, because it decides what a deep scratch looks like in five years. We keep 134 floors across seven colour families, supplied on their own or supplied and fitted by our own fitters across South East and South London.

See the range ↓

What We Keep, by Colour

Natural oak is the largest group at 52 floors — that is oak with nothing added but a protective finish, so the colour is whatever the tree was. Then grey at 24, smoked at 19, light oak at 15, dark oak at 11, medium oak at 9 and dark walnut at 4.

HerringboneChevron
Block shapePlain rectangle, cut squareCut at an angle at both ends
How it meetsEnd to side, steppedPoint to point, continuous V
FeelTraditional, informal, forgivingFormal, directional, more modern
Waste10–15%More — the angled cuts throw away more
CostHigher than plankHighest of the three
Best inAlmost any room; the safe choiceLong rooms and hallways, where the V has somewhere to go

Worth noting that 102 of the 134 are brushed. Brushing scours the soft grain out so the texture is slightly raised, and colour settles into those grooves unevenly. It is the single clearest difference between a coloured floor that looks like timber and one that looks like painted board.

How the Colour Was Made, and Why It Matters

A stain sits on or near the surface. It gives the cleanest, most repeatable colour, and it is how most coloured floors are made. The catch is depth: a scratch that goes through the stain shows pale oak underneath, and it shows it brightly.

A smoked or reacted floor is changed chemically right through the wear layer. The colour varies more from board to board, which some people want and some do not, but damage shows the same colour underneath rather than a pale line. Of our 19 smoked floors, that is the whole point.

Light or Dark: What Each Does to a Room

Light floors bounce light around and make a room read as larger and airier. They are the safer choice in a north-facing room, a basement conversion or anywhere the windows are small. They also hide dust better than people expect, because dust is pale.

Dark floors do the opposite: they frame a room, make it feel grounded and more formal, and they look expensive. What they also do is show everything — dust, pet hair, footprints, and every scratch where pale oak comes through a dark stain. In a south-facing room with a lot of light they are magnificent. In a hallway with a dog they are work.

Mid tones are the compromise most people land on, and there is no shame in it: 52 natural and 9 medium oak floors means two thirds of what we sell sits in the middle of that range.

Colour and the Light in Your Room

This is where people get caught out, and it applies to every colour but most of all to grey. A north-facing London room gets flat, cool light for most of the year, and a cool grey or a pale ash reads as cold and slightly blue in it.

A south-facing room or one with a glass wall does the opposite: warm light pulls the brown out of the oak underneath and the same board reads as a warm greige. The floor has not changed. The light has, and no photograph on a screen will tell you which way yours goes.

So order three free samples and put them on the actual floor, in the actual room. Look at them in the morning and again at six in the evening with the lamps on. A colour that looks right at midday can look like concrete after dark, and the reverse is just as common.

Shop Wood Flooring by Colour

134 floors across seven colour families, in engineered and solid oak and walnut, from £22.00 per m² excluding VAT. Three samples free.

Showing 1–48 of 134 results

Colours We Have Laid

Smoked oak herringbone through a Norwood living room, where the reactive smoke runs right through the wear layer. Wide natural oak in a Dulwich extension, chosen to stay quiet under a lot of glass.

More of these, with photographs, are on our recent work page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which floor colour shows the least dirt?

Mid tones with a brushed surface. Dust is pale, so it shows on dark floors; crumbs and pet hair are usually dark, so they show on very light ones. A mid oak with texture hides both, and 102 of our floors are brushed oak.

Will a dark floor make my room look smaller?

It will make it feel more enclosed, which is not the same thing. In a large, bright room that reads as grounded and expensive. In a small, dim room it closes in. Judge it by how much light the room gets, not by the floor area.

Does the colour fade over time?

Oak darkens slightly with light exposure whatever the finish, and a rug left in place for a year will leave its outline. Reactive and smoked colours are the most stable because the change is in the timber. Surface stains in strong direct sunlight shift most.

Can I change the colour later?

Yes, by sanding back and refinishing — which is one of the real arguments for a genuine wood floor. A 3–4 mm wear layer takes two or three sandings, so the colour is a decision you can revisit, not one you are stuck with.

What is the difference between smoked and stained?

Smoking is a chemical reaction that changes the timber through the wear layer. Staining is colour applied at or near the surface. Smoked costs more and ages better; stained gives a wider and more repeatable range of shades.

Do all boards in a pack match?

No, and they should not. Real wood varies board to board, more in rustic grade than in natural. Fitters open several packs and mix the boards as they lay, so the variation is spread across the floor rather than appearing in patches.

What Our Customers Say

★★★★★

“We had some herringbone flooring fitted recently. It was a great experience from start to finish and we couldn't be more happy with the result. Ruslan is a…”

— Dave Thompson

★★★★★

“Beautiful job, I’m so pleased. Ruslan is very knowledgable, flagged any potential issues early and advised me on what I could preserve from the existing f…”

— Rosa O'Mara

★★★★★

“I went to visit Wood4Floors to see some samples, and had a super helpful man show me some things and gave me a few full sized samples of herringbone flooring.…”

— Drew Theunissen

See all 101 reviews on Google →

How do I choose a colour with confidence?

Order three free samples and live with them for a few days in the room they are for. Or come to the Forest Hill showroom, where floors are laid out in full boards rather than sample chips.

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