# Secret Beach in a warm modern room

Secret Beach, from the Robbins Coastside 7-1/2" line, is a mid dark white oak hardwood with a golden undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 13). Here it is with Colonnade 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/secret-beach-warm-modern

## The floor
- Secret Beach, Robbins Coastside 7-1/2": Engineered hardwood · White oak · 7.5 in (SKU CSEK727W)
- Price: $8.25 per sq ft · $193.71 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/robbins/coastside-7-1-2/secret-beach

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 13
- CIELAB (D65): L* 42.5, a* 9.9, b* 27.1, chroma 28.9, hue 69.9 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- Secret Beach has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.1 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Colonnade Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7641, LRV 53, +40.2 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 87°), so Secret Beach stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7641-colonnade-gray/
- Or walls: Revere Pewter (Benjamin Moore HC-172, LRV 55.1, +42.3 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 95°), so Secret Beach stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-172/revere-pewter
- Trim and ceilings: Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams SW 7008, LRV 82.2). 69 points over Secret Beach 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/
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Secret Beach (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 Secret Beach in L* (26 against 43), far enough to read as a choice.
- Wood a step lighter: a light natural wood, like our Silvered Gray stain sample. About 19 points lighter than Secret Beach in L* (61 against 43).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: putty (#bda997). 13 in chroma, half the warmth of Secret Beach (29), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: mist blue (#a2b4c3). Hue 250°, straight across the color wheel from the 70° of Secret Beach, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: espresso (#3a2e23). A deep note at L* 20, 23 points from the 43 of Secret Beach, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Secret Beach (hue 70°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Colonnade Gray walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Secret Beach at LRV 13 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Colonnade Gray walls and Alabaster trim around Secret Beach, 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 Secret Beach, Alabaster walls and trim, unlacquered brass pulls.
- Bedroom: Revere Pewter walls, bedding in putty with one mist blue pillow, nightstands in a light natural wood.
- Entry: An espresso runner on Secret Beach, Upward on the front door, a matte black mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Secret Beach: 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 Secret Beach: a tone like our Nutmeg sample, 4.2 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Walls that lean yellow: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Secret Beach (hue 70°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 13, Secret Beach 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 7.5 inches a board, Secret Beach lays about 20 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Engineered hardwood: living spaces and bedrooms on every level, kept out of full baths.
- Hardness: White oak: Janka 1,360 lbf (the force to press a steel ball halfway into the wood; a higher number dents less under heels and chair legs)
- Construction: Engineered hardwood (a real wood face over a stable core, so it moves less with the seasons)
- 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.