# Ralston Walnut in a warm modern room

Ralston Walnut from the COREtec Originals Premium line is a mid dark vinyl plank with an amber undertone (LRV 13, measured from its own picture). Here it is with Stonington Gray walls, Alabaster 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/ralston-walnut-warm-modern

## The floor
- Ralston Walnut, COREtec Originals Premium: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 7 in (SKU VV458-02710)
- Price: $9.69 per sq ft · $207.27 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/coretec-originals-premium-vv458/ralston-walnut

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 13
- CIELAB (D65): L* 42, a* 9.4, b* 14.9, chroma 17.7, hue 57.7 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- Ralston Walnut has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.2 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Stonington Gray (Benjamin Moore HC-170, LRV 59.4, +46.9 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 117°), which quiets the orange in Ralston Walnut (hue 58°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-170/stonington-gray
- Or walls: Sea Salt (Sherwin-Williams SW 6204, LRV 63.2, +50.7 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the orange in Ralston Walnut (hue 58°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6204-sea-salt/
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 70 points over Ralston Walnut in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.3) to read white, not blue, beside its amber undertone. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/white-paint-colors/sw7008-alabaster/
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Ralston Walnut (a 45 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Cabinets in Upward or Alabaster: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step darker: a charcoal wood, like our Royal Mahogany stain sample. About 17 points darker than Ralston Walnut in L* (26 against 42), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Neutral stain sample. About 14 points lighter than Ralston Walnut in L* (56 against 42).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: putty (#b8a89f). 8 in chroma, half the warmth of Ralston Walnut (18), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#9db4c0). Hue 238°, straight across the color wheel from the 58° of Ralston Walnut, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: linen (#e5d7d0). A light note at L* 87, 45 points from the 42 of Ralston Walnut, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Ralston Walnut (hue 58°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Stonington Gray walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Ralston Walnut at LRV 13 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Stonington Gray walls and Alabaster trim around Ralston Walnut, a putty rug with a linen border, a coffee table in a charcoal wood, aged brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Upward so they float off Ralston Walnut, Alabaster walls and trim, unlacquered brass pulls.
- Bedroom: Sea Salt walls, bedding in putty with one mist blue pillow, nightstands in a light natural wood.
- Entry: A linen runner on Ralston Walnut, Upward on the front door, a matte black mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Ralston Walnut: Van Deusen Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-156, LRV 12) sits within a point of its LRV of 13, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Ralston Walnut: a tone like our Provincial sample, 3.6 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Pink or peach beige walls: they pull more orange out of the amber undertone of Ralston Walnut (hue 58°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 13, Ralston Walnut 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, Ralston Walnut lays about 21 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Ralston Walnut is waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, baths, mudrooms and basements as well as living spaces.
- Wear layer: 30 mil (about 0.76 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.