# Aged Barrel in a traditional room

Aged Barrel, a DuraSeal stain, is a mid dark stain on red oak with a warm greige undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 12). Here it is with Modern Gray walls, Alabaster trim and Palladian Blue on the cabinets, chosen by the numbers.

A vision board by Powell Flooring, 1811 Union Valley Rd, West Milford, NJ 07480, 973-728-9717. AI assisted: the rooms are AI generated, simulated photos; the floor, the paint colors and every number are real.
Page: https://www.powellflooring.com/vision-boards/aged-barrel-traditional

## The floor
- Aged Barrel, DuraSeal stain on red oak: Stain · on red oak · 2-1/4 in strip
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/sherwin-williams-minwax-duraseal-stain-colors/aged-barrel

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 12
- CIELAB (D65): L* 41.4, a* 4.1, b* 8.7, chroma 9.6, hue 64.9 degrees
- Undertone: a warm greige: gray with a little brown in it
- Aged Barrel has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 1.8 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Modern Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7632, LRV 62.5, +50.4 from the floor). A warm white or greige in the same soft family as Aged Barrel (hue 82° against its 65°). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7632-modern-gray/
- Or walls: Thunder (Benjamin Moore AF-685, LRV 47.6, +35.5 from the floor). A warm white or greige in the same soft family as Aged Barrel (hue 92° against its 65°). Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/af-685/thunder
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 70 points over Aged Barrel in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.3) to read white, not blue, beside its greige undertone. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7008-alabaster/
- Cabinets: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Aged Barrel (a 48 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Cabinets in Palladian Blue or Alabaster: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a charcoal wood, like our Royal Mahogany stain sample. About 16 points darker than Aged Barrel in L* (26 against 41), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Neutral stain sample. About 14 points lighter than Aged Barrel in L* (56 against 41).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: stone gray (#b0a8a2). 4 in chroma, half the warmth of Aged Barrel (10), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#9db2bf). Hue 245°, straight across the color wheel from the 65° of Aged Barrel, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: fog gray (#ded7d3). A light note at L* 86, 45 points from the 41 of Aged Barrel, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the greige undertone of Aged Barrel (hue 65°).
- Metal: champagne bronze. A paler warm metal, quieter than brass beside Modern Gray and Alabaster.
- Metal: brushed nickel. A soft satin nickel, quieter than chrome, for the greige of Aged Barrel.

## Room by room
- Living room: Modern Gray walls, Alabaster trim and crown, a patterned rug in mist blue and fog gray on the Aged Barrel floor, furniture in a charcoal wood, unlacquered brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Palladian Blue so they float off the Aged Barrel floor, Alabaster walls and trim, champagne bronze pulls.
- Dining room: Thunder walls, a table in a charcoal wood, chairs in stone gray, an unlacquered brass chandelier.
- Bedroom: Modern Gray walls, stone gray bedding, a mist blue throw, nightstands in a light natural wood.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Aged Barrel: Van Deusen Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-156, LRV 12) sits within a point of its LRV of 12, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Aged Barrel: a tone like our Classic Gray sample, 3.0 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Stark blue whites everywhere: a greige floor like Aged Barrel turns muddy beside them. Keep the whites a little warm.

## The room it suits
- At LRV 12, Aged Barrel is mid dark: it is at its best in a big room with good light and warm lamps, and it shows dust, pet hair and fine scratches more than a mid tone.
- At 2.25 inches a board, Aged Barrel lays about 64 boards across a 12 foot room, the busy, tailored look of a classic strip floor.
- A sand and finish of red oak strip floors in any room above grade.
- Hardness: Northern red oak: Janka 1,290 lbf (the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs)
- Finish: Stain on site, then clear coats (the color is in the wood, so a worn floor can be sanded and stained again)

## Sources
- Paint names, codes, hex and LRV as Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore publish them (each color links to its page).
- BS 8300-2:2018 asks for a difference of at least 30 LRV points between adjacent surfaces, such as a floor and a wall, so the surfaces read apart.
- The floor measured from its own picture in CIELAB (D65); the wood tones from our own photographs of 37 stains on oak.
- Janka hardness from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory Wood Handbook (2021), Table 5-3b, at 12 percent moisture.