Dark wood floors are a strong foundational piece in a kitchen design. They literally lay the groundwork for the rest of the space—and do it boldly. But those bold floors may have you wondering what that means for the rest of your kitchen.

What type of countertops should you get? What color cabinets go with dark wood floors? Though your strong floors may make you feel limited, you might be surprised just how many options you have.

High-Contrast White

High-contrast color schemes are always on trend. In fact, the black and white kitchen has been a go-to for over a century. Many designers today play on that theme with dark browns, blues, and greens in combination with white. The contrast isn’t quite as stark but you still get the effects of this high-impact design.

Dark wood floors and bright white cabinets are an excellent combination. They are especially great in a room that has light challenges. They brighten up the space with the light available and keep the dark floors from weighing down the space.

Off White Warmth

Off white is a good idea too. They generally have hints of yellow or brown that lend warmth to the white. That warmth picks up the same features in the wood. The entire effect softens the whole space and makes it feel cozy. If you have a rustic undertone to your design, off white is the way to go. It’s friendly and inviting—just what you would expect from a modern farmhouse design.

This gorgeous Shaker cabinet in a creamy off-white is perfect to blend into a kitchen with dark wood floors. It will pick up on the lighter tones in the wood for a comfortable yet stunning design.

Cool Grey

Gray cabinets against a dark wood floor have a similar yet opposite effect to off white cabinets. It adds a cooler sensibility to the space. Perfect for modern and contemporary design styles, gray and dark wood provide enough contrast to set up a stand-out design.

Cooler color palettes easily blend warmer woods into modern designs. You can get the hygge overtone in the wood but retain a cutting edge design. Compare your dark wood color to different tones of gray to find the one that will work best. Gray cabinets come in a variety of gradients from barely gray to deep gray.

Matching Intensity

Continue the rich, bold theme of your kitchen floor with cabinets that match your dark wood floors. Dark wood all over the kitchen makes for confident design with a stunning result. These two big players in your kitchen design constitute the better part of your space so it’s important to break up all that drama with lighter components and different textures and finishes.

Add metallic elements like stainless steel. Go for lighter countertops or textured countertops. Keep your paint and trims lighter in color. Choose materials that are mostly light in color but have dark accents like marble. Use upholstered bar stools and dining chairs.

If you decide to go for dark cabinets and floors, be sure you have plenty of natural light and reflective surfaces so the darker colors don’t weigh down the space.

Accent Colors

Look to your dark wood floors for inspiration. All wood has natural variations in color. Even stained wood will show lighter and darker areas and possess different colors. These different colors can become major players in your color palette.When you look closer, you may find that your floors naturally have off whites, beiges, grays, blondes, and even black.

Pick your cabinets from one of the accent colors in your floors. The cabinets and floors will harmonize more beautifully. You’ll suddenly find it easier to pick countertops, paint, and everything else when you let your floor’s accent colors guide you.

Mixed Response

Another popular way to do cabinets with dark wood floors is to have two different cabinets. Different upper and lower cabinets is trending, as is an island with different cabinets from the perimeter cabinets. This means you can have the best of both worlds.

If you like the drama of wood but don’t want to overwhelm your space, use wood cabinets on the perimeter of the kitchen and do white or gray cabinets on the island (or vice versa if you like the effect of white). The transitional design embraces the heart of your desire to blend boldness and warmth.

Want more advice on selecting colors for your kitchen design? Check out what’s trending in kitchen colors this year.