# Mercer Oak in a coastal room

Mercer Oak, from the COREtec Pro Premium line, is a light vinyl plank with a soft greige undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 49). Here it is with Swiss Coffee walls, Alabaster trim and Newburg Green 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/mercer-oak-coastal

## The floor
- Mercer Oak, COREtec Pro Premium: Waterproof vinyl plank · SPC · 7 in (SKU VV800-08008)
- Price: $6.29 per sq ft · $106.74 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/coretec-pro-premium-vv800/mercer-oak

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 49
- CIELAB (D65): L* 75.5, a* 2.9, b* 10, chroma 10.4, hue 74 degrees
- Undertone: a greige: soft gray with a little warmth
- Mercer Oak is calm and even from board to board (a spread of 1.1 in L*), so it reads as one quiet plane.

## Paint
- Walls: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9, +32.8 from the floor). A warm white or greige in the same soft family as Mercer Oak (hue 103° against its 74°). Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Or walls: Dover White (Sherwin-Williams SW 6385, LRV 82.5, +33.4 from the floor). A warm white or greige in the same soft family as Mercer Oak (hue 93° against its 74°). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw6385-dover-white/
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 33 points over Mercer Oak in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.3) to read white, not blue, beside its greige undertone. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7008-alabaster/
- Deep note: Newburg Green (Benjamin Moore HC-158, LRV 10.6). Deep and quiet, 39 points darker than Mercer Oak in LRV, a frame for a greige floor. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-158/newburg-green
- Lower cabinets or an island in Newburg Green, uppers and trim in Alabaster. The floor at LRV 49 sits between the two (11 and 82).

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a light natural wood, like our Weathered Oak stain sample. About 20 points darker than Mercer Oak in L* (56 against 76), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: black or painted pieces. Mercer Oak is lighter than any wood stain we photographed (L* 76), so contrast comes from black, painted or upholstered pieces.
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: mocha (#67615b). 5 in chroma, half the warmth of Mercer Oak (10), and 34 points darker in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: slate blue (#6c7d8b). Hue 254°, straight across the color wheel from the 74° of Mercer Oak, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: pewter (#706b66). A deep note at L* 46, 30 points from the 76 of Mercer Oak, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: polished nickel. A bright nickel with a touch of warmth, for the greige undertone of Mercer Oak (chroma 10.4).
- Metal: champagne bronze. A warm metal that agrees with the greige undertone of Mercer Oak (hue 74°).
- Metal: brushed nickel. A soft satin nickel, quieter than chrome, for the greige of Mercer Oak.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Mercer Oak: Coventry Gray (Benjamin Moore HC-169, LRV 48.2) sits within a point of its LRV of 49, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Mercer Oak: a tone like our Country White sample, 4.9 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Stark blue whites everywhere: a greige floor like Mercer Oak turns muddy beside them. Keep the whites a little warm.

## The room it suits
- At LRV 49, Mercer Oak is light: it bounces light back into the room, suits north facing rooms, basements and small rooms, and shows dark grit more than lint.
- At 7 inches a board, Mercer Oak lays about 21 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Mercer 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: SPC, a rigid stone polymer core (firm underfoot and resists dents from furniture)
- 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.