# Reserve Oak in a warm modern room

Reserve Oak from the COREtec Originals Premium line is a mid dark vinyl plank with an amber undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 13). Here it is with Sea Salt 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/reserve-oak-warm-modern

## The floor
- Reserve Oak, COREtec Originals Premium: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 7 in (SKU VV458-02701)
- 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/reserve-oak

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 13
- CIELAB (D65): L* 43.2, a* 8.1, b* 16.8, chroma 18.6, hue 64.3 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- Reserve Oak has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.5 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Sea Salt (Sherwin-Williams SW 6204, LRV 63.2, +49.9 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the orange in Reserve Oak (hue 64°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6204-sea-salt/
- Or walls: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4, +47.1 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in Reserve Oak (hue 64°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 69 points over Reserve Oak 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 Reserve Oak (a 44 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 Ebony stain sample. About 14 points darker than Reserve Oak in L* (29 against 43), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Silvered Gray stain sample. About 18 points lighter than Reserve Oak in L* (61 against 43).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: putty (#bbaca1). 8 in chroma, half the warmth of Reserve Oak (19), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#a2b7c4). Hue 244°, straight across the color wheel from the 64° of Reserve Oak, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#382f28). A deep note at L* 20, 23 points from the 43 of Reserve Oak, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Reserve Oak (hue 64°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Sea Salt walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Reserve Oak at LRV 13 it gives the room its outline.

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

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Reserve Oak: Rosemary (Sherwin-Williams SW 6187, LRV 13.6) sits within a point of its LRV of 13, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Reserve Oak: a tone like our Nutmeg sample, 3.7 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 Reserve Oak (hue 64°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 13, Reserve 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, Reserve Oak lays about 21 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Reserve Oak 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.