Unlike cherry, maple, and oak (which all darken in color as they age),
New walnut has a consistent dark-brown color but as it gets older, two changes occur. 1: Unlike maple and cherry, it gets lighter. 2: A rich honey color starts to come through the grain.
Walnut is lovely wood, especially when carefully air dried so as to preserve the rich chocolate, purple and black tones in the best of it. HOWEVER, It fades like mad in sunlight. Furniture is touched by sunlight. Therefore, the lovely colors of the walnut go away — and it doesn't take centuries.
The kernel of a young, only torn walnut has a light color, after lying for several days, the kernel it darkens a little. This is a natural and normal process. After drying, the kernel takes on its permanent color.
Over time, however, the natural dark color of walnut wood can lighten and fade due to exposure to sunlight and other environmental factors. This fading can result in the wood taking on a lighter, more yellowish-brown color.
Walnut is a darker wood with shades that range from pale browns to dark browns.
Special Walnut by Minwax (also available here!) is a lighter, brown walnut color. I found it to be similar to Early American but with more muted brown tones and no red tones. I've seen it used on flooring and it's another very versatile stain color.
If walnut is not steamed, the sapwood is usually custom stained in finishing to develop uniform color. Such "stained" wood may not be suitable in all cases. As the walnut color darkens slowly over the years, this stained sapwood area does not darken as much.
Both beautiful woods, walnut and brown maple make stunning wood furniture. Walnut has some darker colors, but still looks beautiful au natural with an oiled finish.
Bleached walnut. Sometimes you want to make wood lighter than it is in its raw state. This is common when trying to match the wood to something that already exists. The way to do it is to first bleach out the color of the wood, then apply a stain, if necessary, to achieve the match.
Many things can change the natural color of walnut wood. For example, the elements will often darken light wood and lighten dark wood, so sun exposure over a period of years will typically cause walnut wood furniture to lighten.
Walnut wood offers rich, brown colors that range from light to dark brown. The sapwood (outer part of the tree log) is pale yellow to white and the heartwood (center of the tree log) has brown shades that vary from light brown to dark chocolate brown with some dark brown streaks.
Walnut wood can change color depending on the way it's dried or its age. The heartwood usually is a dark brown color and the sapwood is a light yellow color.
Walnut is a fantastic choice for a lot of reasons… first, it's gorgeous but because it has a slight purple undertone to it — walnut can work best with both warm or cool undertones.
Walnut oil is a favourite among spoon carvers and green wood workers. It is pale and will not change the colour of your piece.
Ebony is considered a dark stain, but it is still lighter than dark walnut.
Oak has a light to middle brown colour with some reddish hues, complimented by a straight and tight grain pattern. Walnut can range anywhere from a light brown to a deep, dark chocolate hue. Though its grain is very open and more coarse than maple, walnut still has a beautiful, uniform surface.
Neutrals infused with earthy tones like green and brown work beautifully here. However, avoid overloading your interiors with too much walnut furniture, especially if it has a dark hardwood floor. Break things up with a neutral area rug or think about neutral upholstery.
Reminiscent of dark cocoa and coffee beans, Dark Walnut embraces the shadowy hues of black and brown. Woodgrain appears etched with charcoal, creating a sultry dance where light and dark meet.
Hardwood Color Changes Over Time
All hardwoods will undergo the natural aging process and change color overtime with exposure to UV light and oxygen. In general, while lighter woods tend to become a bit darker and richer, woods that begin dark will lighten up. We all know and love cherry as a rich reddish brown color.
Many, probably most, store-bought stains are made with both dye and pigment. If wood stained with these stains is exposed to sunlight or fluorescent light for a while, the dye color will fade away, but the pigment color will remain. The effect is that the stained wood changes color.
You might pair Cordovan Brown with Blank Canvas—a soft, warm white—which Behr chose as its 2023 Color of the Year for interiors. The paint firm PPG also chose a deep brown stain as its 2023 Stain Color of the Year: Chestnut Brown. The rich brown tones may be part of the resurgence of 1970s design styles.
Grade: First and Seconds (FAS)
This is the highest grade, and NHLA states for all lumber the following: 83.3% clear of defect on both faces.
Special Walnut is a timeless color with a rich and natural feel. It fits in many color schemes, able to stand out elegantly with neutral tones, or sit back as a welcoming accent with bolder tones.