# Saddle in a traditional room

Saddle, from the Robbins Natural Forest 3-1/4" Red Oak line, is a dark red oak hardwood with a red undertone (LRV 7, measured from its own picture). Here it is with Coventry Gray walls, Swiss Coffee trim, and Palladian Blue 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/saddle-traditional

## The floor
- Saddle, Robbins Natural Forest 3-1/4" Red Oak: Solid hardwood · Red oak · 3.25 in (SKU LM14K-341S)
- Price: $6.49 per sq ft · $142.78 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/robbins/natural-forest-3-1-4-red-oak/saddle

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 7
- CIELAB (D65): L* 31.4, a* 16.5, b* 19.9, chroma 25.8, hue 50.4 degrees
- Undertone: a red undertone, the family of cherry and red oak
- The grain and color of Saddle move from board to board (a spread of 3.8 in L*), which helps hide everyday wear.

## Paint
- Walls: Coventry Gray (Benjamin Moore HC-169, LRV 48.2, +41.4 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 129°), which quiets the red in Saddle (hue 50°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-169/coventry-gray
- Or walls: Sea Salt (Sherwin-Williams SW 6204, LRV 63.2, +56.4 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 133°), which quiets the red in Saddle (hue 50°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/green-paint-colors/sw6204-sea-salt/
- Trim and ceilings: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9). 75 points over Saddle in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.7) to read white, not blue, beside its red undertone. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Cabinets: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Saddle (a 54 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Cabinets in Palladian Blue or Swiss Coffee: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step lighter: a warm gray brown wood, like our Warm Gray stain sample. About 17 points lighter than Saddle in L* (48 against 31).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: mushroom (#a28a80). 12 in chroma, half the warmth of Saddle (26), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: eucalyptus (#8098a2). Hue 230°, straight across the color wheel from the 50° of Saddle, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: blush (#cdb8b0). A light note at L* 76, 45 points from the 31 of Saddle, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: unlacquered brass. A warm metal that agrees with the red undertone of Saddle (hue 50°).
- Metal: aged brass. A second warm metal in a worn finish, so the brass beside Coventry Gray walls never looks new and loud.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Saddle at LRV 7 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Coventry Gray walls, Swiss Coffee trim and crown, a patterned rug in eucalyptus and blush on Saddle, furniture in a warm gray brown wood, unlacquered brass lamps.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Palladian Blue so they float off Saddle, Swiss Coffee walls and trim, aged brass pulls.
- Dining room: Sea Salt walls, a table in a warm gray brown wood, chairs in mushroom, an unlacquered brass chandelier.
- Bedroom: Coventry Gray walls, mushroom bedding, a eucalyptus throw, nightstands in a warm gray brown wood.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Saddle: Black Fox (Sherwin-Williams SW 7020, LRV 6.7) sits within a point of its LRV of 7, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Saddle: a tone like our Sedona Red sample, 4.1 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Pink or peach beige walls: they pull more orange out of the red undertone of Saddle (hue 50°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 7, Saddle is 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 3.25 inches a board, Saddle lays about 45 boards across a 12 foot room, the busy, tailored look of a classic strip floor.
- Solid hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms above grade, kept out of baths and basements.
- 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: Solid hardwood (one piece of wood top to bottom, sanded and refinished for decades)
- Finish: Urethane with AIOx

## 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.