You're looking for either warm tones or cool tones. Warm tones will appear as yellow, orange, or red. You'll find them in most unstained woods like walnut, white oak, red oak, and maple.
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 has a warm undertone; it deepens and becomes richer and darker within the first year,” notes Laura. Walnut is becoming a top choice for several reasons. “So many people love the modern look but don't want it to appear cold.
Walnut is versatile because it's so neutral, in which case the undertone could swing either way depending on the stain and the woods you pair it with. If your dominate wood tone is warm, stick with warm woods.
Neutrally toned woods like Walnut are the most versatile. Walnut has soft purple undertones that work with warm and cool-toned wood alike. Feel free to mix dark and light woods of varying finishes and grain sizes so long as the undertones are consistent.
Walnut wood is considered to be one of the finest wood species worldwide. The wood is known for its rich brown and deep purple tones.
Dark finishes, such as mahogany, walnut, or cherry, stand out in sharp relief against light colors, such as a pale green or blue or a hue from the sunny side of the color wheel. In the same way, light wood shows up boldly against dark or strong color on the walls.
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. When the wood is left out in the elements, such as the sun, the lighter wood will turn darker and the darker wood will turn lighter.
If you want a lighter colored board go with Maple, and if you want a darker board go with Walnut. Maple is a slightly higher quality wood with many benefits. Still, despite that, it is a less expensive end product though Walnut offers its own advantages.
The tones in each wood element should work together. Woods with warm undertones such as cherry, mahogany, and hickory blend well and woods with cool undertones like ash, maple, poplar, and pine can live harmoniously in the same space. But mixing warm and cool (cherry and poplar, for example) can create a messy vibe.
Pros: Walnut is a very strong and stable wood that can take intricate carving. The color can be beautiful. Cons: Some may not like the variation from dark to light that's sometimes found on a single wide board. Walnut is also one of the more costly woods.
Woodworkers value it for its strength, texture, and color. It polishes to an extremely smooth finish and ranges in color from milky white sapwood to dark chocolate heartwood. Natural walnut wood develops a beautiful patina over time.
Wood is considered to have a warm undertone if it incorporates warmer colours such as red, orange or yellow as its base, and a cool undertone if it incorporates cooler colours such as blue or grey as its base. If the wood finish looks beige, it is considered to have a neutral undertone.
Other species of oak, such as American White Oak, have a light-to-tan brown colour with a straight grain. Walnut, on the other hand, can have a characteristically sleek cream-to-chocolate brown colour — often with an alluring tinge of purple.
The Colors of Walnut Wood
The heartwood of the tree is the innermost part of the tree. In a walnut tree, the heartwood gets down to the nitty gritty with rich colors that include a range of dark browns and light browns with some purplish hues, grays, reddish rays, and dark streaks included.
Harder woods like White Oak will be more resistant to dents, dings, and scratches while softer woods like Walnut will tend to show wear more easily.
From their shells to their taste, pecans and walnuts are anything but interchangeable. Side by side, walnuts are typically a much lighter color, with more irregular edges, and a relatively soft shell. Pecans, on the other hand, are darker, have a more oval-like shape, and have an exceptionally hard shell.
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.
Typically, walnuts are lighter and slightly larger than pecans. When removed from their shells, they have a golden color. Walnuts are also softer; grinding or crumbling them is easy. Pecans are usually darker, while walnuts are stubbier and have two hemispheres with a brain-like shape.
Walnut wood comes in a wide range of colors. Sapwood, or the outer part of the tree, ranges from yellow and gray to nearly creamy white. However, the heartwood or the inner portion of the wood come in dark or vibrant colors. Some colors may also be seen, such as reddish rays, purple marks, with some darker streaks.
This is called the heartwood, and it may also have lighter browns, purples, grays, or reddish tints. The outermost portion of the tree known as the sapwood because it carries the trees nutrients is typically a pale blonde color, though it can also be yellow-gray as well.
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.
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.
Grey color goes well with walnut cabinetry, provided the room is adequately illuminated. You can also choose neutral colors, gray, off white and beige for the rest elements of the space.