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mdamron61 Go with a lighter color wood to contrast with the oak cabinets.

Teri DeLoache Tanner I thought light maple was dated?

mdamron61 I just did my offices in light maple with oak cabinets like yours and it looks awesome. Only other choices would be a color similar to your cabinet colors or darker for contrast. We have flooring at home with color close to our cabinet color oak and it looks good.

Norma McGee I'm going through the same thing with the flooring. I noticed that you have the same baseboard color as we have. I wanted to go darker hardwood or even a lighter wood.It's the color of the trim and baseboard that is making it more confusing. Most people
now a days have white trim everywhere including the base boards.but with people that have the oak colored baseboards that is hard to go light wood or dark wood.I would go a lighter wood in your case,it will make your oak cabinets stand out more.

Teri DeLoache Tanner I think I want them to stand out less as they are considered dated. I read somewhere that light maple would be.a good complement but someone else said light floors are also dated and I should go dark for a good contrast. Maple was recommended because of its smooth graiin. I go back and forth so all opinions are appreciated.

Cancork Floor Inc. Hi Teri,

All the trends I'm seeing is "dark flooring is out'. Even though it is always gorgeous, its time is over for this latest go-round in fashion. How do I know? I can't sell off my dark cork floors to save my life! Oak is always beautiful. There is a lot of warmth in the finish. A complimentary colour would do very well.

Of course I'm going to suggest cork...ONLY BECAUSE it is "wood"! Cork is an oak...to be precise.

It also depends on where you live and what the local trends are. Some communities are just waking up to the fact that the 80's are over. New York believes that anything for next year is "So last year" and they insist on being several years ahead of the trend. The European market is 3-5 design years ahead of North America....they have been showing "high gloss white" for a few seasons.

Really, design choice is all about local flavour mixed with trendy esthetics.

Teri DeLoache Tanner I'm thinking of painting the kitchen (only) cabinets and all the baseboards a creamy white and using Mirage Maple Montana engineered lock flooring, which is on the darker side. Any thoughts on this idea?