# Chestnut in a traditional room

Chestnut, a DuraSeal stain, is dark on red oak with an amber undertone (LRV 10, measured from its own picture). Here it is with Palladian Blue walls, Greek Villa trim, and Palladian Blue 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/chestnut-stain-on-red-oak-traditional

## The floor
- Chestnut, 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/chestnut

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 10
- CIELAB (D65): L* 38.3, a* 11.4, b* 17.3, chroma 20.7, hue 56.6 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- Chestnut has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.4 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4, +50.1 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in Chestnut (hue 57°) 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, +52.9 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the orange in Chestnut (hue 57°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6204-sea-salt/
- Trim and ceilings: Greek Villa (Sherwin-Williams SW 7551, LRV 84.2). 74 points over Chestnut 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/sw7551-greek-villa/
- Cabinets: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Chestnut (a 50 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Cabinets in Palladian Blue or Greek Villa: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a charcoal wood, like our True Black stain sample. About 17 points darker than Chestnut in L* (21 against 38), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a honey tone, like our Golden Pecan stain sample. About 15 points lighter than Chestnut in L* (53 against 38).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: mushroom (#b09e93). 9 in chroma, half the warmth of Chestnut (21), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#93aab5). Hue 237°, straight across the color wheel from the 57° of Chestnut, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: fog gray (#dccdc4). A light note at L* 83, 45 points from the 38 of Chestnut, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Chestnut (hue 57°).
- Metal: aged brass. A second warm metal in a worn finish, so the brass beside Palladian Blue walls never looks new and loud.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Chestnut at LRV 10 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Palladian Blue walls, Greek Villa trim and crown, a patterned rug in mist blue and fog gray on the Chestnut floor, furniture in a charcoal wood, unlacquered brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Palladian Blue so they float off the Chestnut floor, Greek Villa walls and trim, aged brass pulls.
- Dining room: Sea Salt walls, a table in a charcoal wood, chairs in mushroom, an unlacquered brass chandelier.
- Bedroom: Palladian Blue walls, mushroom bedding, a mist blue throw, nightstands in a honey tone.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Chestnut: Lafayette Green (Benjamin Moore HC-135, LRV 10.5) sits within a point of its LRV of 10, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Chestnut: a tone like our Provincial sample, 0.6 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 Chestnut (hue 57°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 10, Chestnut is 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, Chestnut 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.