In a beautifully designed kitchen, the flooring and cabinetry will represent the two most prominent elements within the overall design. To create a harmonious, balanced feel, it’s equally important to take the color and material of both flooring and cabinets into consideration. As you shop for kitchen flooring, savvy color choices will complement or contrast the cabinetry in an appropriate manner, and both elements should work to enhance your preferred design scheme. When combined effectively, an exceptional kitchen flooring and cabinet pairing can transform an inspired culinary space and become a major selling point if the property is listed on the market. Here are some of our key ideas for how to successfully match kitchen floors to your cabinets: 

Complimentary Colors & Creating Contrast
Pairing Kitchen Flooring & Cabinet Materials 
Popular Kitchen Flooring & Cabinet Combinations 


Palmetto Road Inspire Collection, Thicket

Complimentary Colors & Creating Contrast

When it comes to pairing kitchen flooring and cabinets colors, you will ultimately want to either contrast or complement the two shades. Contrasting colors will help to create visual interest and does not have to be drastic to be effective. If you are trying to determine what color floor for dark kitchen cabinets will work well, use a color wheel to find contrasting lighter tones of equal measure that balance. Airy wood visuals such as Omega Plus by Beauflor in color Stellar Oak Cream are extremely popular, and will use natural light to brighten up a kitchen and enhance a spacious feel. This lighter-toned floor will offer an appropriate contrast to warmer wood cabinets. Some of the most popular kitchen floor color trends include tan, beige, grey, and greige. These shades are considered complementary since they all live in the neutral family and can generally be used together seamlessly. The value to keeping the overall color scheme complementary is that your kitchen will age well, and you may have the opportunity to fit multiple design schemes over the years. Thus, a greige colored option like Deja New Flooring by Metroflor in Clean Oak Mist Grey that features subtle brown undertones will match many different cabinet styles without matching exactly. White cabinets lend themselves to almost any hardwood floor pairing. Lighter-colored wood cabinets will contrast a darker floor such as Chalmers Flooring by Palmetto Road in Coal well, but darker colored floors can make a small kitchen feel more confined. In this case, you may consider color matching your cabinets and flooring to create a uniform, spacious feel, but make sure to also create textural contrast between the two materials. Speaking of materials…


Palmetto Road Chalmers Flooring, Mist

Pairing Kitchen Flooring & Cabinet Materials 

It goes without saying that your kitchen flooring needs to provide moisture resistance and durability, so laminate, luxury vinyl, sheet vinyl, engineered hardwood and waterproof hardwood options will be your go-to options. Now it’s time to pair a kitchen flooring material with the cabinets that won’t feel flat or create too much of the same material in one space. Just like you want to avoid matching flooring and cabinet color directly, material contrast helps produce the ultimate balanced kitchen design. Wooden cabinetry is a common fixture in many homes and thankfully, wood flooring visuals pair exceptionally well! For instance, oak cabinets and kitchen floor oak visuals will be a match made in heaven, just make sure to have a standout texture among the two materials. If your cabinets have a smoother texture, you can opt for a dramatic wood look such as Reflect Plus by Beauflor in Castlewood Oat to create high visual interest. On the other hand, painted cabinets will usually produce a smoother texture and a smooth stone or tile visual like Omega Plus by Beauflor in Pandora Mink will compliment without matching too much. If your striking kitchen cabinets draw a lot of attention, consider a wire-brushed, low-gloss texture such as Tuscany Flooring by Palmetto Road in Nola or a matte finish like Laguna Vibes by Raintree Flooring in Egret.


Azalea Lane Hillsboro, Harbor Gray

Popular Kitchen Flooring & Cabinet Combinations 

For many homeowners, the desired design scheme will drive many of the purchase decisions, and kitchen floors are certainly no exception. Whether you want a farmhouse kitchen floor or crave a modern kitchen floor, it is still important to consider how your floor will work with your cabinets to achieve your favorite look. When designing a modern or contemporary kitchen, you can never go wrong with bold black and white contrast. Distinct flooring options like Woodlands Flooring by Hearthwood in Gunmetal and Intrigue Flooring by Palmetto Road in Southport will contrast your cabinets appropriately for these looks. If your cabinets support a more traditional kitchen design scheme, opt for a warmer, neutral-colored kitchen floor such as Au Naturelle Flooring by Hearthwood in Nude to create a lighter, appropriate contrast. If you are striving for a cottage core or rustic vogue design for your kitchen, make sure to follow the color and materials guidelines to match your cabinets, but also indulge in a high-character wood floor like Style by Beauflor in Rustic Dark or Riviera Flooring by Palmetto Road in Bardot to create the strong connection to nature. No matter what is the most popular floor for kitchens at the moment, make sure that your selection works with your cabinets to enhance the design scheme you love! Our Twenty & Oak experts are ready to help review your favorite products and complete your design vision: 

Talk to a Twenty & Oak Flooring Expert for Advice!

Hearthwood Au Naturelle, Graceful Grey

Remember to always use flooring samples in the home to make sure they pair with your kitchen cabinets and countertops exactly the way you want them to. Receive free flooring samples from Twenty & Oak, shipped to your home free of charge, and start making the kitchen of your dreams a reality! 

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