# Marsh Oak in a warm modern room

Marsh Oak from the COREtec Originals Classics line is a mid dark vinyl plank with a golden undertone, measured from its own picture with LRV 18. Here it is with Pale Oak 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/marsh-oak-warm-modern

## The floor
- Marsh Oak, COREtec Originals Classics: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 7 in (SKU VV024-00714)
- Price: $6.29 per sq ft · $239.21 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/coretec-originals-classics-vv024/marsh-oak

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 18
- CIELAB (D65): L* 50, a* 10.3, b* 26.6, chroma 28.5, hue 68.8 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- Marsh Oak has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.5 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Pale Oak (Benjamin Moore OC-20, LRV 68.6, +50.2 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 95°), so Marsh Oak stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-20/pale-oak
- Or walls: Dover White (Sherwin-Williams SW 6385, LRV 82.5, +64.1 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 93°), so Marsh Oak stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw6385-dover-white/
- Trim and ceilings: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9). 64 points over Marsh Oak in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.7) to read white, not blue, beside its golden 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 Marsh Oak (a 39 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 darker: a charcoal wood, like our Ebony stain sample. About 21 points darker than Marsh Oak in L* (29 against 50), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a pale, bleached wood, like our Natural stain sample. About 17 points lighter than Marsh Oak in L* (67 against 50).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: blush (#d3bdab). 13 in chroma, half the warmth of Marsh Oak (29), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: graphite (#374955). Hue 249°, straight across the color wheel from the 69° of Marsh Oak, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#3a2e23). A deep note at L* 20, 30 points from the 50 of Marsh Oak, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Marsh Oak (hue 69°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Marsh Oak (hue 69°).
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Marsh Oak at LRV 18 it gives the room its outline.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Marsh Oak: Gauntlet Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7019, LRV 17.4) sits within a point of its LRV of 18, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Marsh Oak: a tone like our Golden Oak sample, 2.1 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Creamy yellow walls: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Marsh Oak (hue 69°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 18, Marsh Oak is mid 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 7 inches a board, Marsh Oak lays about 21 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Marsh Oak 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 wood, 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.