# Carolina Pine in a traditional room

Carolina Pine, from the COREtec Originals Classics line, is a mid dark vinyl plank with an amber undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 16). Here it is with Palladian Blue walls, Alabaster 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/carolina-pine-traditional

## The floor
- Carolina Pine, COREtec Originals Classics: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 5 in (SKU VV023-00501)
- Price: $6.39 per sq ft · $169.14 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/coretec-originals-classics-vv023/carolina-pine

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 16
- CIELAB (D65): L* 46.3, a* 11.9, b* 23.1, chroma 26, hue 62.9 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- Carolina Pine has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.7 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4, +44.9 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in Carolina Pine (hue 63°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Or walls: Sea Salt (Sherwin-Williams SW 6204, LRV 63.2, +47.7 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the orange in Carolina Pine (hue 63°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6204-sea-salt/
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 67 points over Carolina Pine in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.3) to read white, not blue, beside its amber 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 Carolina Pine (a 42 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 17 points darker than Carolina Pine in L* (29 against 46), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Silvered Gray stain sample. About 15 points lighter than Carolina Pine in L* (61 against 46).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: blush (#c8b3a4). 12 in chroma, half the warmth of Carolina Pine (26), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#aabfcc). Hue 243°, straight across the color wheel from the 63° of Carolina Pine, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#3b2e25). A deep note at L* 20, 26 points from the 46 of Carolina Pine, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Carolina Pine (hue 63°).
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Carolina Pine (hue 63°).
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Carolina Pine at LRV 16 it gives the room its outline.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Carolina Pine: Distance (Sherwin-Williams SW 6243, LRV 15.2) sits within a point of its LRV of 16, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Carolina Pine: a tone like our Nutmeg sample, 2.9 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Pink or peach beige walls: they pull more orange out of the amber undertone of Carolina Pine (hue 63°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 16, Carolina Pine 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 5 inches a board, Carolina Pine lays about 29 boards across a 12 foot room.
- Carolina Pine 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.