# Embra Slate in a dark and moody room

Embra Slate from the COREtec CT Plus Tile line is a dark vinyl tile with almost no undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 7). Here it is with Upward walls, Extra White trim, and Agreeable Gray 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/embra-slate-dark-moody

## The floor
- Embra Slate, COREtec CT Plus Tile: Waterproof vinyl tile · WPC · 12 in (SKU VV872-12270)
- Price: $7.59 per sq ft · $243.18 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/ct-plus-tile/embra-slate

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 7
- CIELAB (D65): L* 30.7, a* -0.9, b* 0.2, chroma 0.9, hue 168.3 degrees
- Undertone: a near gray, with almost no warmth
- Embra Slate has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.0 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4, +50.9 from the floor). A soft, cool leaning color (hue 246°) that keeps Embra Slate crisp and gray. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Or walls: Coventry Gray (Benjamin Moore HC-169, LRV 48.2, +41.7 from the floor). A clean neutral (chroma 2.3) that keeps Embra Slate crisp and gray. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-169/coventry-gray
- Trim and ceilings: Extra White (Sherwin-Williams SW 7006, LRV 85.9). 79 points over Embra Slate in LRV, a clean white (chroma 2.6) that keeps Embra Slate crisp. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7006-extra-white/
- Cabinets: Agreeable Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7029, LRV 60.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Embra Slate (a 54 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7029-agreeable-gray/
- Cabinets in Agreeable Gray or Extra White: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step lighter: a warm gray brown wood, like our Warm Gray stain sample. About 18 points lighter than Embra Slate in L* (48 against 31).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: smoke (#8c8d8d). 0 in chroma, half the warmth of Embra Slate (1), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mushroom (#a28d96). Hue 348°, straight across the color wheel from the 168° of Embra Slate, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: dove gray (#babbba). A light note at L* 76, 45 points from the 31 of Embra Slate, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the warm pieces in the room.
- Metal: polished nickel. A bright nickel with a touch of warmth, for the gray undertone of Embra Slate (chroma 0.9).
- Metal: chrome. The brightest and coolest finish, crisp against Embra Slate at chroma 0.9.

## Room by room
- Living room: Upward walls and Extra White trim over Embra Slate, velvet in smoke with a mushroom pillow, aged brass lamps on low.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Agreeable Gray so they float off Embra Slate, Extra White walls and trim, polished nickel pulls.
- Bedroom: Coventry Gray walls, smoke bedding, nightstands in a warm gray brown wood, chrome on the lamps.
- Entry: A dove gray runner on Embra Slate, Agreeable Gray on the door, a polished nickel mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Embra Slate: Black Fox (Sherwin-Williams SW 7020, LRV 6.7) sits within a point of its LRV of 7, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Whites that lean yellow: beside Embra Slate, a near gray, they look dingy.

## The room it suits
- At LRV 7, Embra Slate 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 12 inches a tile, a 12 foot room is about 12 tiles across.
- Embra Slate 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 design, 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.