# Harbor Mist in a dark and moody room

Harbor Mist from the Mullican Wexford™ 5" line is a very dark white oak hardwood with almost no undertone (LRV 6, measured from its own picture). Here it is with Saybrook Sage walls, Chantilly Lace trim, and White Dove 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/harbor-mist-dark-moody

## The floor
- Harbor Mist, Mullican Wexford™ 5": Solid white oak hardwood · White oak · 5 in (SKU 21038)
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/mullican/wexford-5/harbor-mist

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 6
- CIELAB (D65): L* 29, a* 1.8, b* 1.5, chroma 2.3, hue 39.5 degrees
- Undertone: a near gray, with almost no warmth
- The grain and color of Harbor Mist move from board to board (a spread of 3.1 in L*), which helps hide everyday wear.

## Paint
- Walls: Saybrook Sage (Benjamin Moore HC-114, LRV 45.5, +39.7 from the floor). A soft, cool leaning color (hue 121°) that keeps Harbor Mist crisp and gray. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-114/saybrook-sage
- Or walls: Clary Sage (Sherwin-Williams SW 6178, LRV 41, +35.2 from the floor). A soft, cool leaning color (hue 111°) that keeps Harbor Mist crisp and gray. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6178-clary-sage/
- Trim and ceilings: Chantilly Lace (Benjamin Moore OC-65, LRV 90). 84 points over Harbor Mist in LRV, a clean white (chroma 2.7) that keeps Harbor Mist crisp. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-65/chantilly-lace
- Cabinets: White Dove (Benjamin Moore OC-17, LRV 83.2). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Harbor Mist (a 77 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-17/white-dove
- Cabinets in White Dove or Chantilly Lace: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step lighter: a mid brown wood, like our Gunstock stain sample. About 14 points lighter than Harbor Mist in L* (43 against 29).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: smoke (#8b8888). 1 in chroma, half the warmth of Harbor Mist (2), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: eucalyptus (#789299). Hue 220°, straight across the color wheel from the 40° of Harbor Mist, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: dove gray (#b8b5b5). A light note at L* 74, 45 points from the 29 of Harbor Mist, 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 Harbor Mist (chroma 2.3).
- Metal: chrome. The brightest and coolest finish, crisp against Harbor Mist at chroma 2.3.

## Room by room
- Living room: Saybrook Sage walls and Chantilly Lace trim over Harbor Mist, velvet in smoke with a eucalyptus pillow, aged brass lamps on low.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in White Dove so they float off Harbor Mist, Chantilly Lace walls and trim, polished nickel pulls.
- Bedroom: Clary Sage walls, smoke bedding, nightstands in a mid brown wood, chrome on the lamps.
- Entry: A dove gray runner on Harbor Mist, White Dove on the door, a polished nickel mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Harbor Mist: Iron Ore (Sherwin-Williams SW 7069, LRV 5.6) sits within a point of its LRV of 6, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Harbor Mist: a tone like our Ebony sample, 4.6 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Whites that lean yellow: beside Harbor Mist, a near gray, they look dingy.

## The room it suits
- At LRV 6, Harbor Mist 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 5 inches a board, Harbor Mist lays about 29 boards across a 12 foot room.
- Solid hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms above grade, kept out of baths and basements.
- 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: Solid white oak hardwood (one piece of wood top to bottom, sanded and refinished for decades)
- Finish: PPG Ultra Low Gloss Finish

## 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.