# Williamson Oak in a dark and moody room

Williamson Oak from the COREtec Plus XLE line is a very dark vinyl plank with an amber undertone (measured from its own picture: LRV 4). Here it is with Palladian Blue walls, Swiss Coffee 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/williamson-oak-dark-moody

## The floor
- Williamson Oak, COREtec Plus XLE: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 9 in (SKU VV035-00914)
- Price: $8.69 per sq ft · $234.20 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/coretec/coretec-plus-xle/williamson-oak

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 4
- CIELAB (D65): L* 24.7, a* 8.6, b* 12.4, chroma 15, hue 55.2 degrees
- Undertone: an amber undertone, warm and a little orange
- Williamson Oak has a gentle movement from board to board (a spread of 2.1 in L*): calm, but not flat.

## Paint
- Walls: Palladian Blue (Benjamin Moore HC-144, LRV 60.4, +56.1 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 163°), which quiets the orange in Williamson Oak (hue 55°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/hc-144/palladian-blue
- Or walls: Repose Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7015, LRV 58.2, +53.9 from the floor). Its undertone leans green (hue 97°), which quiets the orange in Williamson Oak (hue 55°) instead of echoing it. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7015-repose-gray/
- Trim and ceilings: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9). 78 points over Williamson Oak in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.7) to read white, not blue, beside its amber undertone. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Williamson Oak (a 53 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Cabinets in Upward or Swiss Coffee: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step lighter: a mid brown wood, like our Provincial stain sample. About 14 points lighter than Williamson Oak in L* (39 against 25).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: taupe (#897b74). 7 in chroma, half the warmth of Williamson Oak (15), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: slate blue (#708691). Hue 235°, straight across the color wheel from the 55° of Williamson Oak, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: dove gray (#b3a8a3). A light note at L* 70, 45 points from the 25 of Williamson Oak, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the amber undertone of Williamson Oak (hue 55°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Palladian Blue walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Williamson Oak at LRV 4 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Palladian Blue walls and Swiss Coffee trim over Williamson Oak, velvet in taupe with a slate blue pillow, aged brass lamps on low.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Upward so they float off Williamson Oak, Swiss Coffee walls and trim, unlacquered brass pulls.
- Bedroom: Repose Gray walls, taupe bedding, nightstands in a mid brown wood, matte black on the lamps.
- Entry: A dove gray runner on Williamson Oak, Upward on the door, an unlacquered brass mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Williamson Oak: Cascades (Sherwin-Williams SW 7623, LRV 4.2) sits within a point of its LRV of 4, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Williamson Oak: a tone like our Spice Brown sample, 4.0 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 Williamson Oak (hue 55°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 4, Williamson Oak is very 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 9 inches a board, Williamson Oak lays about 16 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Williamson Oak is waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, baths, mudrooms and basements as well as living spaces.
- Wear layer: 20 mil (about 0.51 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.