# Alla Prima in a warm modern room

Alla Prima, from the Shaw Floors Expressions line, is a midtone white oak hardwood with a golden undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 26). Here it is with Swiss Coffee walls, Alabaster trim, and Newburg Green as the deep note, 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/alla-prima-warm-modern

## The floor
- Alla Prima, Shaw Floors Expressions: Engineered hardwood · White oak · 7.5 in (SKU SW707-01094)
- Price: $11.39 per sq ft · $265.50 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/shawfloors/expressions/alla-prima

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 26
- CIELAB (D65): L* 58.1, a* 7.3, b* 20.8, chroma 22, hue 70.6 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- Alla Prima has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.1 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9, +55.8 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 103°), so Alla Prima stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Or walls: Dover White (Sherwin-Williams SW 6385, LRV 82.5, +56.4 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 93°), so Alla Prima stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw6385-dover-white/
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 56 points over Alla Prima in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.3) to read white, not blue, beside its golden undertone. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7008-alabaster/
- Deep note: Newburg Green (Benjamin Moore HC-158, LRV 10.6). Deep and cool, about 164° around the color wheel from Alla Prima and 16 points darker in LRV, so each makes the other look richer. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-158/newburg-green
- Lower cabinets or an island in Newburg Green, uppers and trim in Alabaster. The floor at LRV 26 sits between the two (11 and 82).

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a mid brown wood, like our Chestnut stain sample. About 20 points darker than Alla Prima in L* (38 against 58), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a pale, bleached wood, like our Country White stain sample. About 14 points lighter than Alla Prima in L* (72 against 58).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: linen (#e5d5c6). 10 in chroma, half the warmth of Alla Prima (22), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: graphite (#41525f). Hue 251°, straight across the color wheel from the 71° of Alla Prima, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: walnut brown (#4b4137). A deep note at L* 28, 30 points from the 58 of Alla Prima, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Alla Prima (hue 71°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Swiss Coffee walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Alla Prima at LRV 26 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Swiss Coffee walls and Alabaster trim around Alla Prima, a linen rug with a walnut brown border, a coffee table in a mid brown wood, aged brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Newburg Green on the island or the lower cabinets, Alabaster uppers, unlacquered brass pulls, Alla Prima underfoot.
- Bedroom: Dover White walls, bedding in linen with one graphite pillow, nightstands in a pale, bleached wood.
- Entry: A walnut brown runner on Alla Prima, Newburg Green on the front door, a matte black mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Alla Prima: Evergreen Fog (Sherwin-Williams SW 9130, LRV 30.4) sits 4 points from its LRV of 26, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Alla Prima: a tone like our Weathered Oak sample, 3.3 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Walls that lean yellow: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Alla Prima (hue 71°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 26, Alla Prima is a mid tone: it holds its color in a sunny room and hides everyday dust and pet hair better than a very dark or very light floor.
- At 7.5 inches a board, Alla Prima lays about 20 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Engineered hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms on every level, kept out of full baths.
- Hardness: White oak: Janka 1,360 lbf (the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs)
- Construction: Engineered (a real wood face over a stable core, so it moves less with the seasons)

## 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.