Q: The boy and I just bought our first place — a gorgeous, light-filled condo with strong cherry/brown flooring. We originally aimed for a "cool" color concept — dove grey for the bedrooms, antique white everywhere else. Now we're worried that those colors will wreak havoc with the floor color. Any paint suggestions that will achieve a breezy, cool look and still suit the flooring?" Any advice would be much appreciated!
Sent by Jules
Editor: I personally think a muted gray and antique white would work well with cherry floors — the question is more about your furnishings and the colors you will use to help the walls and floors work well together and not fight against each other.
Does anyone have color advice for Jules?
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
If you're going for a cool color scheme, try not to do a grey with too much blue in it. It will make the floor read very orange. I'd go with more of a brownish grey to compliment rather than fight the floors. For the other rooms, if you have enough other interesting things to look at, the floors will just sort of fade into the background.
Christine
I recommend reading this post by Maria Killam: http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/colour-of-wood-vs-wall-colour-how.html
And you may want to hire a color consultant--also impacting your wall color is the amount and type of light you receive.
Try a muted gray with a hint of green. We had cherry cabinets at my previous condo, and that wall color made the cherry look rich and beautiful. I normally despise green so I was reluctant to try but it was gorgeous.
Benjamin Moore Gray Horse. Hands down best color for a modern feel but warm and great with wood tones. Looks more or less sage depending on light, but def not a "country kitchen" type sage.
Agree with making sure your grays are not too blue, too. Hard to find and really varies by lighting. Prepare to buy many gray testers...
I live in an apartment with cherry floors right now. My landlords painted the walls in an off-white color that has just the slightest pink tint to it. Sounds nasty, I know, but it vibes really well with the cherry floors, and the walls end up looking nice and warm.
I know "warm" wasn't exactly what you were going for, but maybe that will help a little.
I have VERRRRRY similar colored floors in my new house. I've been living with primer colored walls in the great room for two months because I have no idea what to do with them. I think I like the idea of the antiqued white. I will be pulling paint chips this week!
Whatever you do, make sure that you paint large samples (4' x 4') before committing to a color. Choosing colors is difficult. It can only be done in the space that you intend to paint. Also consider the finish relative to the floor. For example, a shiny floor and a matt paint go well together. It may take a few tries to get the right color. That's what the pros do. Ed Kopel Architects, PC
I would still go along with the grey you originally wanted, just make sure you paint samples first. Like its been said, not too blue! And make sure you know what your lighting is going to be like before you settle on anything.
The question is do you want your walls to blend into the floors - in which case you should choose from a warmer/earthy range of colors such as reds, oranges and browns...
...or do you want to show off your floors by contrasting with them - in which case you would do better by choosing from the opposite side of the color wheel: blues, teals and greys.
Only you can decide.
You're right not to put a pale bluish color with reddish cherry wood floors. Nothing looks worse. A contrasting color needs to have the same intensity.
You could either alter your paint choices (as some have suggested above), or you could cover most of the floor with pale rugs. (You could also consider darkening the floors, but it's a shame to do that to beautiful cherry).
My best friend just moved into a loft with cherry floors and cabinets. He painted the living room Dancing Green, Raucous Orange and Goldenrod from Sherwin Williams it sounds like a lot but it looks really great and makes the space feel very cozy and modern. The bedrooms are painted Revel Blue and Cosmos Blue, obviously it's very masculine but those colors work very well with the floors.
"You could also consider darkening the floors, but it's a shame to do that to beautiful cherry"
Bear in mind that Cherry wood naturally darkens over time.
I think the current colors work very well. The warm taupey grey that is near the piano seems like an ideal neutral. I disagree with the advice to go with a green-based grey and green is the complement of red and could make the floors look a little garish. I'd lean toward a grey with yellowish or even *slightly* pinkish undertones. And I'd accent the decor with eggplant, burgundy, & rust, or a liberal dose of crisp black and bright white.
*since* green is the complement...
I'd paint the color I wanted and use a complimentary colored LARGE area rug if the color you like doesn't particularly go with the floor color. Which do you look at more? The walls or the floor? I look at my walls more so the color of the walls is more important to me.
Actually a medium to light gray with white trim looks lovely with cherry floors. I'm not sure where people are coming up with the idea that blue tinged grays don't go with cherry... I've got it on my wall and it looks lovely.