# Blended Caraway in a warm modern room

Blended Caraway from the COREtec Originals Premium line is a mid dark vinyl plank with a golden undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 14). It looks great with Classic Gray walls, Swiss Coffee trim, and Upward 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/blended-caraway-warm-modern

## The floor
- Blended Caraway, COREtec Originals Premium: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 7 in (SKU VV704-04017)
- Price: $8.19 per sq ft · $153.97 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/coretec-originals-premium-vv704/blended-caraway

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 14
- CIELAB (D65): L* 44.6, a* 7.5, b* 19.7, chroma 21.1, hue 69.1 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- Blended Caraway has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.5 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Classic Gray (Benjamin Moore OC-23, LRV 73.7, +59.5 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 97°), so Blended Caraway stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-23/classic-gray
- Or walls: Dover White (Sherwin-Williams SW 6385, LRV 82.5, +68.3 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 93°), so Blended Caraway 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: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9). 68 points over Blended Caraway in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.7) to read white, not blue, beside its golden undertone. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Blended Caraway (a 43 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Cabinets in Upward or Swiss Coffee: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a charcoal wood, like our Ebony stain sample. About 16 points darker than Blended Caraway in L* (29 against 45), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Silvered Gray stain sample. About 17 points lighter than Blended Caraway in L* (61 against 45).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: putty (#bfafa2). 9 in chroma, half the warmth of Blended Caraway (21), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#a7bac8). Hue 249°, straight across the color wheel from the 69° of Blended Caraway, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#382f26). A deep note at L* 20, 25 points from the 45 of Blended Caraway, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Blended Caraway (hue 69°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Blended Caraway (hue 69°).
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Blended Caraway at LRV 14 it gives the room its outline.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Blended Caraway: Kendall Charcoal (Benjamin Moore HC-166, LRV 14.6) sits within a point of its LRV of 14, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Blended Caraway: a tone like our Nutmeg sample, 4.1 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Creamy yellow walls: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Blended Caraway (hue 69°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 14, Blended Caraway 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 7 inches a board, Blended Caraway lays about 21 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Blended Caraway is waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, baths, mudrooms and basements as well as living spaces.
- Wear layer: 20 mil (about 0.51 mm of clear protection over the printed wood, the part that takes the traffic)
- Core: WPC, a wood plastic composite core (a little softer and quieter underfoot)
- Finish: UV Acrylic
- Water: Waterproof (the maker's word) (wet mopping is fine; a flood is not)

## 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.