Vision board · Traditional

Dark Walnut in a traditional room

Dark Walnut, a DuraSeal stain, is a dark stain on red oak with an amber undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 8). Here it is with Palladian Blue walls, Alabaster trim and Upward on the cabinets, chosen by the numbers.

AI assisted The rooms are AI generated, simulated photos. The floor, the paint colors and every number are real.

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Dark Walnut stain on a red oak floor in the great room of our cabin in the hemlocks. CutPile Photoreal Rendering, an AI generated, simulated photo. — AI generated, simulated photo. Great room, The cabin in the hemlocks.

Dark Walnut stain on a red oak floor in the living room of our condo below the slopes. CutPile Photoreal Rendering, an AI generated, simulated photo. — AI generated, simulated photo. Living room, The condo below the slopes.

Dark Walnut stain on a red oak floor in the living room of our lake house on the cove. CutPile Photoreal Rendering, an AI generated, simulated photo. — AI generated, simulated photo. Living room, The lake house on the cove.

12 in

WallsPalladian BlueBM HC-144 · LRV 60

TrimAlabasterSW 7008 · LRV 82

CabinetsUpwardSW 6239 · LRV 57

WoodA honey toneLike our Cherry sample

The floor, measured

Read from its own picture, not from a name.

LRV: 8
Lightness L*: 35
Undertone: Amber
Hue: 59°

An amber undertone, warm and a little orange. LRV is light reflectance value, the share of light a surface sends back, the same scale paint makers print on every chip: 0 is black, 100 is white.

It has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.5 in L*): calm, but not flat.

The shaded band is within 30 points of the floor. A wall inside it blurs into the floor; BS 8300 asks for at least 30 points between surfaces that meet.

Walls, trim and cabinets

Named colors with the maker's code and LRV, each linked to its page.

Walls

Palladian Blue Benjamin Moore HC-144 · LRV 60.4 · +52 from the floor

Its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in the floor instead of echoing it.

See it at Benjamin Moore

Or walls

Sea Salt Sherwin-Williams SW 6204 · LRV 63.2 · +55 from the floor

Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the orange in the floor instead of echoing it.

See it at Sherwin-Williams

Trim and ceilings

Alabaster Sherwin-Williams SW 7008 · LRV 82.2 · +74 from the floor

A white with a little warmth (chroma 5.3), so trim does not look blue beside a warm floor.

See it at Sherwin-Williams

Cabinets

Upward Sherwin-Williams SW 6239 · LRV 57.4 · +49 from the floor

A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off a dark floor (a 49 point step in LRV).

See it at Sherwin-Williams

Cabinets in Upward or Alabaster: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

The palette, by the numbers
Role	Color	Maker and code	LRV	From the floor
Floor	Dark Walnut	DuraSeal stain on red oak	8
Walls	Palladian Blue	Benjamin Moore HC-144	60.4	+52
Or walls	Sea Salt	Sherwin-Williams SW 6204	63.2	+55
Trim and ceilings	Alabaster	Sherwin-Williams SW 7008	82.2	+74
Cabinets	Upward	Sherwin-Williams SW 6239	57.4	+49

Wood, rugs and metals

Contrast, not a match.

Wood furniture

A step lighter: a honey toneAbout 17 points lighter than the floor (L*). Like our Cherry stain sample.

Rugs and fabric

Tone on tone: mushroomThe floor's own warmth at half the strength, 28 points lighter.

Across the wheel: eucalyptusThe opposite side of the color wheel from the floor, softened, to balance it.

Grounding: fog grayA light note 45 points from the floor, so a rug keeps its edge.

Metals

Unlacquered brassA warm metal that agrees with the floor's amber undertone.

Aged brassA warm metal that agrees with the floor's amber undertone.

Matte blackBlack works with every undertone and gives a light room its outline.

What to avoid

The near misses, by the numbers.

Walls at the floor's own lightness: Hale Navy (Benjamin Moore HC-154, LRV 8.4) sits within a point of this floor, so wall and floor would blur into one.
Wood that almost matches: a table in a tone like our Espresso stain sample is only 1.4 apart (CIEDE2000) and reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
Pink or peach beige walls: they pull more orange out of a warm floor.

Questions

About Dark Walnut and color, answered from the numbers above.

What wall color goes with Dark Walnut flooring?

Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4): its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in the floor instead of echoing it. It sits 52 LRV points from the floor (LRV 8), more than the 30 points that keep a wall and a floor reading apart. Or Sea Salt (Sherwin-Williams SW 6204, LRV 63.2).

What trim and ceiling color goes with Dark Walnut?

Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2): a white with a little warmth (chroma 5.3), so trim does not look blue beside a warm floor.

What cabinet color goes with Dark Walnut?

Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4): a light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off a dark floor (a 49 point step in LRV). Cabinets in Upward or Alabaster: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

What wood furniture goes with Dark Walnut?

Contrast, not a match: a step lighter: a honey tone (like our Cherry stain sample). A wood like our Espresso sample is only 1.4 apart (CIEDE2000) and reads as a near miss.

Is Dark Walnut a light or a dark floor?

Dark: LRV 8 and L* 35, measured from its own picture, with an amber undertone. An LRV of 8 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.

What colors should I avoid with Dark Walnut?

Walls at the floor's own lightness: Hale Navy (Benjamin Moore HC-154, LRV 8.4) sits within a point of this floor, so wall and floor would blur into one. Wood that almost matches: a table in a tone like our Espresso stain sample is only 1.4 apart (CIEDE2000) and reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.

The room it suits

Light, size and wear, from the floor's own record.

An LRV of 8 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.

Across a 12 foot room it lays about 64 boards, the busy, tailored look of a classic strip floor.

A sand and finish of red oak strip floors in any room above grade.

HardnessNorthern red oak: Janka 1,290 lbfThe force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs. How hard is that? The Janka scale
FinishStain on site, then clear coatsThe color is in the wood, so a worn floor can be sanded and stained again.

From the floor's own record

What only this floor's data can say.

The same look in waterproof vinyl or laminate: Espresso Bean, Stanton Hartford, only 1.1 apart in color (CIEDE2000).

The nearest of our other stains is Jacobean (1.4 apart, CIEDE2000, from our own photographs on red oak).

The floor

A stain we put on your own oak floor.

DuraSeal

Dark Walnut

Stain on red oak

Stain · on red oak · 2-1/4 in strip

See every stain color

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973-728-9717

Powell Flooring, 1811 Union Valley Rd, West Milford, NJ 07480

Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm · Open later by request

How we chose

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.

A picture's lightness depends a little on how it was lit, so the floor's LRV is read from the evenly lit field the visualizer lays and rounded. See the real floor before you choose paint: visit the showroom, or ask for a free measure and estimate.