Although knotty pine has its renowned association with mid-century kitchens and rustic cabins, the wood suits various decor styles, including clean, modern aesthetics, thanks to its appealing warmth and unique appearance. Therefore, selecting the right paint colors that go with knotty pine is important to bring decor to life in your home.
Knotty Pine in Decor
People utilize knotty pine anywhere wood appears as a decorative feature, including flooring, furniture, ceiling, wall paneling, and cabinets. The orange and yellow warmth define the traditional knotty pine, frequently lacquered and stained. The narrow planks have rounded edges due to traditional paneling, and along with the knot pattern, they produce a complex texture.
The knotty pine goes well with country, mid-century modern, and rustic decor. It is used in lighter decor, often attained by whitewashing or bleaching. Besides, the whiteboards used in modern paneling are often wider with smooth edges, unvarnished, and placed horizontally.
Here Are The Paint Colors That Go With Knotty Pine
1. Pair knotty pine with green
Green is a versatile and calm color that offers quality to any space. The color complements nicely with knotty pine. Green and brown are pine tree colors though they complement well when the undertones are right. For instance, in this picture, the yellow knotty pine paneling complements well with the cozy green armchairs to bring out the outdoor freshness.
2. Pair knotty pine with white
White color is known to be a neutral backdrop that usually allows other colors to have a larger voice. The color helps convey cleanliness and simplicity. Besides, the color brightens the room and offers high contrast, which is crucial to modern design. In the image above, the white paint color makes it easy to see the fine details of the knotty pine. In addition, the color allows the natural cabinets to be the star of the space.
3. Pair knotty pine with turquoise
Turquoise is another color that complements knotty pine to create a new aesthetic. It hovers between green and blue. In this picture, it’s clear that turquoise provides a strong contrast against the honey-tinted knotty pine because of the pine wood’s overriding orange finish. Note that blue and orange sit oppositely on the color wheel.
4. Pair knotty pine with blue
The cool undertones of blue make the color ideal for kitchen and bedroom walls. Consider the right blue paint color for your walls to complement your knotty pine cabinets, ceiling, or walls to achieve a soothing look for your entire space. Go for a strong blue paint color that will still complement the natural tones to create some dramatic contrast.
We can see that this nautical room has the crispness of a blue blazer; The striped rug keeps the room casual, and the bamboo bed gives a preppiness touch. The circular mirror adds polish and the knotty pine flooring for durability.
5. Pair knotty pine with brown
Brown is a rich hue that brings visual drama to any setting. If you want to combine brown walls with a knotty pine ceiling and oak floor, consider picking a light brown to highlight the grains and knots of the wood. Brown complements a room with natural wood because it is found in the tree’s bark.
Often, old farmhouses have rooms with heart-pine paneling paired with gold fixtures, lamps, or wall art and a touch of brown. However, avoid the honey-colored, glossy finishes from the 1980s as most wood will be re-stained.
6. Pair knotty pine with yellow
Yellow works well with contemporary knotty pine, but it’s not advisable to use it with the traditional red-orange shades. Instead, a light lemon yellow complements well with traditional knotty pine. Sunny yellow hues highlight the warm tones in the wood to give it a welcoming and relaxing look. The yellow tonal changes help to establish a nice balance even if it won’t aggressively improve the wood with contrast.
7. Pair knotty pine with beige
Beige is a neutral shade that works well with rustic themes. The beige paint color allows knotty pine to stand out and define the rustic setting. Beige provides a warm and comfortable aura and pairs well with knotty pine to create a cozy and soft feeling for your space.
For example, the living room arrangement in the image above is created with a rustic style: from the wooden beams, knotty pine ceiling and accentuated walls, beige sofas, and wooden coffee tables to patterned carpet. The seating arrangement creates an inviting and relaxing feeling.
8. Pair knotty pine with charcoal gray
Charcoal gray is a dark color that works well with knotty pine to create a cozy rustic theme because of its earthy feeling. This image identifies charcoal gray as a sophisticated and contemporary color when paired with a rustic style. Dark gray walls and the knotty pine cabinets complement the brushed stainless appliances, including the cooker. The cream-white countertops give both a homage to a cool contemporary spin and traditional country design.
9. Pair knotty pine with black
Like beige, black is a neutral color and blends nicely with rustic themes. In the picture, we can see how knotty pine has stood out to highlight the rustic theme. A bold statement is created when the contemporary black sofas are paired with the knotty pine ceiling.
This house attained its rustic look by mixing textures and materials such as the wood beam, black accentuated fireplace, knotty pine ceiling, wooden furniture paired with black leather, cream seatings, and black and white patterned carpet.
Overall, the house presents a comfortable seating arrangement made of rustic living room furniture: two cozy chairs, two comfortable coaches paired with throw pillows, woolen and patterned rugs, and three black wooden coffee tables.
10. Pair knotty pine with red
Like yellow, red goes well with the contemporary knotty pine though it is not advisable to pair with the traditional red-orange shades. The image shows how different this kitchen is from others as it is suited to a home with knotty pine walls. Again, you can imagine the design if the owner only did the kitchen with knotty pine walls.
Besides, this picture shows how knotty pine and red work together. The kitchen is truly reminiscent of Texas, as suggested by the wall art, and served as the design’s inspiration. The red contributes to the opulence, and you can also add some lighter-colored appliances to create a sense of balance.
Flooring That Compliments Knotty Pine Walls
Another important factor you should consider is the color of your floors. Some may have existing knotty pine walls, while others might have already considered installing them, and if that’s the case, note that there are only two most suitable options when it comes to flooring material.
For most people, one major reason they purchase knotty pine wood is its distinctive look. That pine wood design is covered with knots and frequently has visible streaks across the surface. Since the design emphasizes nature, ensure that you select a flooring material that will complement the interior design styles; for example, consider chocolate brown, gray, yellow, or redwood flooring.
Kitchen Hues and Knotty Pine
Warm kitchen paint hues like white, blue, or green go well with knotty pine traditional kitchen cabinets. You can highlight the warmth of knotty pine with vibrant hues of turquoise or aqua to bring out the bold vintage or the mid-century contemporary appearance.
High gloss fixtures go well with these designs: country kitchens could utilize copper or brass. Pastel and neutral color schemes together with brushed-nickel hardware and fixtures can be used to complete the aesthetic in modern kitchens with either bleached or light knotty pine cabinets.