# Creek Trail in a traditional room

Creek Trail from the Robbins Natural Forest 5" Hickory line is a mid dark hickory hardwood with an amber undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 18). Here it is with Sea Salt 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/creek-trail-traditional

## The floor
- Creek Trail, Robbins Natural Forest 5" Hickory: Solid hardwood · Hickory · 5 in (SKU NFSH250S)
- Price: $6.75 per sq ft · $158.63 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/robbins/natural-forest-5-hickory/creek-trail

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 18
- CIELAB (D65): L* 50, a* 13.7, b* 30.4, chroma 33.4, hue 65.7 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- The grain and color of Creek Trail move from board to board (a spread of 4.7 in L*), which helps hide everyday wear.

## Paint
- Walls: Sea Salt (Sherwin-Williams SW 6204, LRV 63.2, +44.8 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the orange in Creek Trail (hue 66°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6204-sea-salt/
- Or walls: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4, +42 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in Creek Trail (hue 66°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 64 points over Creek Trail 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 Creek Trail (a 39 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 21 points darker than Creek Trail in L* (29 against 50), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a pale, bleached wood, like our Natural stain sample. About 17 points lighter than Creek Trail in L* (67 against 50).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: blush (#d6bca8). 15 in chroma, half the warmth of Creek Trail (33), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: graphite (#374955). Hue 246°, straight across the color wheel from the 66° of Creek Trail, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#3c2d21). A deep note at L* 20, 30 points from the 50 of Creek Trail, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Creek Trail (hue 66°).
- Metal: aged brass. A second warm metal in a worn finish, so the brass beside Sea Salt walls never looks new and loud.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Creek Trail at LRV 18 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Sea Salt walls, Alabaster trim and crown, a patterned rug in graphite and espresso on Creek Trail, furniture in a charcoal wood, unlacquered brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Upward so they float off Creek Trail, Alabaster walls and trim, aged brass pulls.
- Dining room: Palladian Blue walls, a table in a charcoal wood, chairs in blush, an unlacquered brass chandelier.
- Bedroom: Sea Salt walls, blush bedding, a graphite throw, nightstands in a pale, bleached wood.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Creek Trail: Gauntlet Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7019, LRV 17.4) sits within a point of its LRV of 18, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Creek Trail: a tone like our Golden Oak sample, 2.4 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 Creek Trail (hue 66°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 18, Creek Trail 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, Creek Trail lays about 29 boards across a 12 foot room.
- Solid hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms above grade, kept out of baths and basements.
- Hardness: Hickory: Janka 1,820 lbf (the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs)
- Construction: Solid hardwood (one piece of wood top to bottom, sanded and refinished for decades)
- Finish: Urethane with AIOx

## 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 National Wood Flooring Association species guide, Technical Publication A200 (2004), its relative hardness chart.