Everyone wants to increase natural light in their space. In Michael Douglas's home, the actor turns to an unexpected source of brightness: hardwood floors.
Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones's living room is a beautiful neutral space. The furniture uses white and cream against natural wood and black accents to create a gorgeous, high-contrast color scheme. The cream walls flow into cream curtains that open to large, paneled windows that fill the space with natural light. Details like a sculpture in the corner and a painting on the wall add stylish artistic flair to the room.
Most interestingly, the hardwood floors are coated in an ultra-high-gloss finish that reflects the natural light from the windows and artificial light from the sides of the room, making the neutral living room appear much brighter. It's almost like a mirror.
'This high gloss finish is a brilliant way to add light to Douglas and Zeta-Jones's living room,' says Jennifer Ebert, color expert and digital editor at Homes & Gardens. 'While the white walls and curtains help to enhance the brightness that comes through, it's nice to also have that dark contrast from the floors. However, with plain dark floors, a lot of that light can be lost and the room ends up looking overly dark. High gloss finish helps to subvert this, while maintaining the beauty of contrast.'
Jen is the Editor (Digital) of Homes & Gardens. Before starting this position, she had completed various interior design courses at KLC Design School, as well as working across Ideal Home, LivingEtc, 25 Beautiful Homes and Country Homes & Interiors as an interiors writer.
The opulent, but subtle combination of high gloss with dark hardwood creates an on-trend 'quiet luxury.' In this scheme, high-quality materials and a muted color palette is emphasized over flashy details. Adam Black, design expert and co-founder of Button & Sprung states: 'Quiet luxury is about more mindful and responsible shopping habits; a focus on quality, investment pieces which will last. We saw this trend emerge in fashion during 2023 but it has been a focus in homeware for a few years now as we started to look for more sustainable ways to decorate and furnish our homes.'
He continues, 'Quiet luxury reflects this shift in consumer attitudes and takes us back to a world where we can thrive on fewer, better quality items rather than impulse buying and trends.' Similarly, Douglas and Zeta-Jones's space conveys wealth and luxury through a lasting flooring installation, rather than through more ephemeral items like furniture or decor objects.'
Shop The Black and White Living Room Edit
Even without the living room flooring, you can harness the beauty of Douglas's interior design scheme with a combination of mid-century modern-inspired black and white furniture.
This elegant glass table lamp features a black linen shade with a gold interior that will bring a warm glow to our space. We love its modern base with its curved design and bold gold finish.
Created by esteemed designer Leanne Ford, this curved sofa is the perfect 'kidney bean' shape, perfect for socializing in a sophisticated space.
For an instant monochromatic statement, this charcoal rug will make just as much of a statement and bring drama to every room in the home.
Adding high gloss floors is a wonderful way to brighten any interior design scheme. As this look becomes more popular, we can't wait to see all the luxurious iterations that emerge.
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