# Natural Red Oak in a warm modern room

Natural Red Oak from the Mullican Newtown Plank 3" line is a mid tone red oak hardwood with a golden undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 28). It pairs with Crushed Ice 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/natural-red-oak-warm-modern

## The floor
- Natural Red Oak, Mullican Newtown Plank 3": Engineered red oak hardwood · Red oak · 3 in (SKU 19960)
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/mullican/newtown-plank-3/natural

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 28
- CIELAB (D65): L* 59.6, a* 5.7, b* 26.2, chroma 26.8, hue 77.7 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- The grain and color of Natural Red Oak move from board to board (a spread of 3.4 in L*), which helps hide everyday wear.

## Paint
- Walls: Crushed Ice (Sherwin-Williams SW 7647, LRV 65.5, +37.8 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 93°), so Natural Red Oak stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7647-crushed-ice/
- Or walls: Cloud White (Benjamin Moore OC-130, LRV 85.1, +57.4 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 106°), so Natural Red Oak 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). 55 points over Natural Red Oak 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: Newburg Green (Benjamin Moore HC-158, LRV 10.6). Deep and cool, about 157° around the color wheel from Natural Red Oak and 17 points darker in LRV, so each makes the other look richer. 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 28 sits between the two (11 and 82).

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a mid brown wood, like our Chestnut stain sample. About 21 points darker than Natural Red Oak in L* (38 against 60), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a pale, bleached wood, like our Country White stain sample. About 12 points lighter than Natural Red Oak in L* (72 against 60).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: linen (#ead9c5). 12 in chroma, half the warmth of Natural Red Oak (27), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: graphite (#475563). Hue 258°, straight across the color wheel from the 78° of Natural Red Oak, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: walnut brown (#4e4438). A deep note at L* 30, 30 points from the 60 of Natural Red Oak, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Natural Red Oak (hue 78°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Crushed Ice walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Natural Red Oak at LRV 28 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Crushed Ice walls and Alabaster trim around Natural Red Oak, a linen rug with a walnut brown border, a coffee table in a mid brown wood, aged brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Newburg Green on the island or the lower cabinets, Alabaster uppers, unlacquered brass pulls, Natural Red Oak underfoot.
- Bedroom: Cloud White walls, bedding in linen with one graphite pillow, nightstands in a pale, bleached wood.
- Entry: A walnut brown runner on Natural Red Oak, Newburg Green on the front door, a matte black mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Natural Red Oak: Evergreen Fog (Sherwin-Williams SW 9130, LRV 30.4) sits 3 points from its LRV of 28, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Natural Red Oak: a tone like our Silvered Gray sample, 5.6 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Walls that lean yellow: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Natural Red Oak (hue 78°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 28, Natural Red Oak 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 3 inches a board, Natural Red Oak lays about 48 boards across a 12 foot room, the busy, tailored look of a classic strip floor.
- Engineered hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms on every level, kept out of full baths.
- Hardness: Northern red oak: Janka 1,290 lbf (the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs)
- Construction: Engineered red oak hardwood (a real wood face over a stable core, so it moves less with the seasons)
- Finish: Aluminum Oxide 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.