# Brown Sugar in a warm modern room

Brown Sugar from the Stanton Pinehill line is a mid dark vinyl plank with a golden undertone (LRV 16, measured from its own picture). Here it’s shown with Agreeable Gray walls, Alabaster trim, and Upward 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/brown-sugar-warm-modern

## The floor
- Brown Sugar, Stanton Pinehill: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 9 in (SKU 12851)
- Price: $4.49 per sq ft · $119.30 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/stanton/pinehill/brown-sugar

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 16
- CIELAB (D65): L* 47.4, a* 5.7, b* 25.1, chroma 25.8, hue 77.1 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- The grain and color of Brown Sugar move from board to board (a spread of 3.6 in L*), which helps hide everyday wear.

## Paint
- Walls: Agreeable Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7029, LRV 60.4, +44.1 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 87°), so Brown Sugar stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7029-agreeable-gray/
- Or walls: Revere Pewter (Benjamin Moore HC-172, LRV 55.1, +38.8 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 95°), so Brown Sugar stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-172/revere-pewter
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 66 points over Brown Sugar 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/
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Brown Sugar (a 41 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Cabinets in Upward 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 Ebony stain sample. About 18 points darker than Brown Sugar in L* (29 against 47), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Silvered Gray stain sample. About 14 points lighter than Brown Sugar in L* (61 against 47).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: putty (#c7b7a5). 12 in chroma, half the warmth of Brown Sugar (26), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#b1c1d1). Hue 257°, straight across the color wheel from the 77° of Brown Sugar, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#382f24). A deep note at L* 20, 27 points from the 47 of Brown Sugar, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Brown Sugar (hue 77°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Agreeable Gray walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Brown Sugar at LRV 16 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Agreeable Gray walls and Alabaster trim around Brown Sugar, a putty rug with an espresso border, a coffee table in a charcoal wood, aged brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Upward so they float off Brown Sugar, Alabaster walls and trim, unlacquered brass pulls.
- Bedroom: Revere Pewter walls, bedding in putty with one mist blue pillow, nightstands in a light natural wood.
- Entry: An espresso runner on Brown Sugar, Upward on the front door, a matte black mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Brown Sugar: Sage Green Light (Sherwin-Williams SW 2851, LRV 16.1) sits within a point of its LRV of 16, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Brown Sugar: a tone like our Golden Oak sample, 6.5 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Walls that lean yellow: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Brown Sugar (hue 77°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 16, Brown Sugar 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 9 inches a board, Brown Sugar lays about 16 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Brown Sugar is waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, baths, mudrooms and basements as well as living spaces.
- Core: WPC, a wood plastic composite core (a little softer and quieter underfoot)
- 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.