What Colors to Make a Faux Wood Floor?

Blond Wood

• Blond wood is generally any lighter wood like ash, pine, maple and sometimes oak. Lighter woods will consist mostly of yellow and white, mixed with a touch of brown or gray. Start by painting a light-colored foundation, then add darker streaks and knots over the lighter base. To mix the color for a darker streak, mix more brown into the lighter base.

Red Wood

• Red woods like cherry and mahogany are created by mixing red and brown with a bit of white and a little gold. Experiment with the proportions and look at an example of real wood to get the coloring exactly correct. Paint the medium red base, then mix darker brown and even a little blue into the red base to make streaks.

Dark Walnut

• Dark colors like walnut are best created by mixing dark brown with a little blue and a little gold. Experiment with the proportions and look at an example of real walnut to get the coloring right. These planks will be so dark that the knots and grains in the planks will barely be visible against the already dark base color. To darken the base in order to paint the darker grains, use more brown.

Varying Colors

• Natural hardwood floors are not completely uniform in appearance. There will be variation in the color from one board to the next, so as you paint the floors, treat each plank as an individual. Look at photographs of real hardwood floors and study the grain of the species of floor in order to yield the most realistic results possible.