# Forest in a dark and moody room

Forest from the Stanton Hawthorne line is a very dark vinyl plank with an amber undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 3). Here it is with Revere Pewter walls, Swiss Coffee 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/forest-dark-moody

## The floor
- Forest, Stanton Hawthorne: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 9 in (SKU 66452)
- Price: $4.49 per sq ft · $119.30 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/stanton/hawthorne/forest

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 3
- CIELAB (D65): L* 20.7, a* 11.3, b* 21.6, chroma 24.3, hue 62.3 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- Forest has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.7 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Revere Pewter (Benjamin Moore HC-172, LRV 55.1, +51.9 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 95°), which quiets the orange in Forest (hue 62°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-172/revere-pewter
- Or walls: Repose Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7015, LRV 58.2, +55 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 97°), which quiets the orange in Forest (hue 62°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7015-repose-gray/
- Trim and ceilings: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9). 79 points over Forest in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.7) to read white, not blue, beside its amber undertone. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Forest (a 54 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Cabinets in Upward or Swiss Coffee: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step lighter: a mid brown wood, like our Special Walnut stain sample. About 16 points lighter than Forest in L* (37 against 21).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: taupe (#837064). 11 in chroma, half the warmth of Forest (24), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: slate blue (#677c87). Hue 242°, straight across the color wheel from the 62° of Forest, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: mushroom (#ac9d92). A light note at L* 66, 45 points from the 21 of Forest, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Forest (hue 62°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Forest (hue 62°).
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Forest at LRV 3 it gives the room its outline.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Forest: Caviar (Sherwin-Williams SW 6990, LRV 3) sits within a point of its LRV of 3, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Pink or peach beige walls: they pull more orange out of the amber undertone of Forest (hue 62°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 3, Forest is very 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 9 inches a board, Forest lays about 16 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Forest is waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, baths, mudrooms and basements as well as living spaces.
- Core: WPC, a wood plastic composite core (a little softer and quieter underfoot)
- 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.