Dark Wood Floors with Honey Oak Trim: Will it Look Right?

My home decor motto is if you like it, do it. 

But sometimes, it’s hard to know if you’ll like something before doing it, especially when it comes to wood combos like dark wood floors and honey oak trim.

While honey oak trim was prominent in the 90s, it’s now a bit outdated and replaced with super light oak. And unfortunately, if you put dark hardwoods next to it, the honey oak will pop even more.

If you want to darken your floors but have honey oak trim and doors throughout your home, here’s what you should know.

What Do Dark Wood Floors Look Like with Honey Oak Trim?

Here’s the bad news: if you don’t like your honey oak trim now, you’re not going to like it next to a dark floor.

Dark hardwood floors will contrast the light honey oak, making it stand out, especially in dark woods with a cooler tone.

If you have no interest in changing or painting your trim but still want to use dark wood floors, your best bet is something with a warm undertone. Warm undertone hardwoods will coordinate with honey oak rather than contrasting it.

To find a warm undertone in dark hardwoods, look for hints of orange, red, yellow, or gold. To find cool undertone hardwoods, look for gray, blue, or purple traces.

How to Make Your Honey Oak Trim Look Better

It’s probably not what you want to hear, but there’s no way to make honey oak trim coordinate with a super dark floor unless you’re willing to stain, paint, or replace it.

Instead, not doing anything just draws attention to the honey oak rather than the beautiful dark floors.

If you want to make your trim coordinate with your floors, try one of these options.

Stain It

If the trim in your home is natural wood, you can sand it down and restain it. Consider staining it the same color as the wood floors.

If you don’t want to remove the trim before staining it, make sure you tape off the walls and lay a cloth down to protect your hardwoods.

In addition to staining all of your baseboard trim, don’t forget your window trim and interior doors.

Paint It

If you don’t want to stain, you can paint your trim. While white is the obvious choice, it’s not the only one.

Depending on the room’s design, you can paint your trim any color you’d like. Try white, cream, or light beige if you want a contrast.

In addition to your baseboards, don’t forget to paint around your window trim. For your interior doors, you have two options: you can paint them to match the trim or stain them to match your hardwoods.

Replace It

Replacing your trim is the best option if it’s not real wood or if it’s in bad shape. You can get new trim prefinished, or get unfinished trim and paint or stain it yourself.

If you are replacing your trim, go with a classic style that will stand the test of time.

What Color Paint to Use with Honey Oak Trim and Dark Wood Floors?

Your honey oak trim will clash with dark floors. But depending on the paint color you use, the clash can look even worse.

Since dark on the floor and dark on the wall will contrast a light oak, you need to use a pale neutral on the wall. Consider a light gray, beige, or white with a blue undertone. 

Paint with blue, green, or purple undertones will work with a honey oak shade, making it look more modern.

Here are a couple of neutral, blue undertone paint colors to consider:

• Snow White from Benjamin Moore
• North Star from Sherwin Williams

You should also avoid bringing any orange or honey-tinted wood furniture into the room.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I tone down my honey oak trim?

To tone your honey oak trim, try using complementary paint colors. Colors like blue-gray or green-gray will coordinate and keep your honey oak from looking too outdated. Other options include painting or staining the trim a new color. Also, avoid using other honey oak or orangey wood in your space.

Does your hardwood floor need to match your trim?

Your hardwood floor does not need to match your trim, but if you’re using two different kinds of wood (one on the trim and one on the floor), they need to be in the same family. For instance, if you’re using a medium brown oak on the floor, the trim color can be a couple of shades lighter or darker.

If you use two kinds of wood that are different colors with different undertones, they’ll clash.

But if you’re painting your trim, go wild. Any color will look good.

Do your interior doors need to match your trim?

While you don’t want to use two different types of wood for interior doors and trims, they don’t need to match. You can have painted trim with wood doors or vice versa, and it will look great.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, if you don’t like your honey oak trim now, you really won’t like it if you add dark hardwood floors. A dark floor will contrast the light golden oak, making it stand out.

If you’re preparing for dark hardwoods, your best bet is to stain your trim to match your floors, paint the trim a neutral color, or replace it.