# Fresco in a warm modern room

Fresco, from the Shaw Floors Expressions line, is a mid tone white oak hardwood with a golden undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 30). Here it is with Pure White walls, Alabaster trim, and Van Deusen Blue as the deep note, 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/fresco-warm-modern

## The floor
- Fresco, Shaw Floors Expressions: Engineered hardwood · White oak · 7.5 in (SKU SW707-02048)
- Price: $11.39 per sq ft · $265.50 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/shawfloors/expressions/fresco

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 30
- CIELAB (D65): L* 62, a* 7.5, b* 24.4, chroma 25.5, hue 73 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- Fresco has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.8 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Pure White (Sherwin-Williams SW 7005, LRV 84, +53.6 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 103°), so Fresco stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7005-pure-white/
- Or walls: Cloud White (Benjamin Moore OC-130, LRV 85.1, +54.7 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 106°), so Fresco stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-130/cloud-white
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 52 points over Fresco in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.3) to read white, not blue, beside its golden undertone. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7008-alabaster/
- Deep note: Van Deusen Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-156, LRV 12). Deep and cool, about 172° around the color wheel from Fresco and 18 points darker in LRV, so each makes the other look richer. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-156/van-deusen-blue
- Lower cabinets or an island in Van Deusen Blue, uppers and trim in Alabaster. The floor at LRV 30 sits between the two (12 and 82).

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a mid brown wood, like our Aged Barrel stain sample. About 20 points darker than Fresco in L* (42 against 62), far enough to read as a choice.
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: walnut brown (#4d4031). 11 in chroma, half the warmth of Fresco (26), and 34 points darker in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: storm blue (#4b5c69). Hue 253°, straight across the color wheel from the 73° of Fresco, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: mocha (#55493e). A deep note at L* 32, 30 points from the 62 of Fresco, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Fresco (hue 73°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Pure White walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Fresco at LRV 30 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Pure White walls and Alabaster trim around Fresco, a walnut brown rug with a mocha border, a coffee table in a mid brown wood, aged brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Van Deusen Blue on the island or the lower cabinets, Alabaster uppers, unlacquered brass pulls, Fresco underfoot.
- Bedroom: Cloud White walls, bedding in walnut brown with one storm blue pillow, nightstands in a mid brown wood.
- Entry: A mocha runner on Fresco, Van Deusen Blue on the front door, a matte black mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Fresco: Evergreen Fog (Sherwin-Williams SW 9130, LRV 30.4) sits within a point of its LRV of 30, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Fresco: a tone like our Silvered Gray sample, 3.8 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Walls that lean yellow: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Fresco (hue 73°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 30, Fresco is a mid tone: it holds its color in a sunny room and hides everyday dust and pet hair better than a very dark or very light floor.
- At 7.5 inches a board, Fresco lays about 20 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Engineered hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms on every level, kept out of full baths.
- Hardness: White oak: Janka 1,360 lbf (the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs)
- Construction: Engineered (a real wood face over a stable core, so it moves less with the seasons)

## 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.