If you're considering using an oil-based stain for your next project, this guide is for you! Dark Walnut is a classic favorite of ours. It's a dark-brown shade that enhances the natural wood grain.
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. The darkness of this shade draws your eye out and makes spaces seem more expansive.
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.
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.
It is very dark brown in color with black undertones. It is really a classic wood color – if you think of dark, expensive wood surfaces, this is a color that might come to mind. What is this? Dark Walnut goes onto projects VERY thick and dark.
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.
“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.
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.
American Walnut embodies the richness of chocolate mixed with slight undertones of red wine. A modern twist on classic shades, this boldly confident color brings a sense of rich luxury. American Walnut vividly transforms and highlights wood with depth and artful sophistication.
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.
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.
Walnut is a darker wood with shades that range from pale browns to dark browns.
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.
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.
Dark Walnut, Provincial, and Jacobean are popular wood floor stain colors that work great across many styles. If you're still not sure which color to choose, mix custom colors and apply them to samples, so you can test them in your space.
What type of wood is best for dark stain? Kitchen cabinets can be crafted from a variety of wood types. We are going to focus on three that are popular choices for darker wood stains among our clients: cherry, hard maple, and red oak.
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.
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.
Walnut Color Heartwood
The inner part of American black walnut wood, called “heartwood,” can be anything from a rich brown to a deep purplish-brown. Other types of walnut heartwood include pale brown and dark chocolate brown with even darker brown streaks in it, with a reddish or grey tone.
Cherry is a hardwood that is pinkish-red in color with a smooth finish. It is prized for its beauty and durability. Walnut, on the other hand, is a softwood that is light brown and has a more rustic finish. It is not as durable as cherry, but it is stronger than pine.
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.
Alder, poplar, red gum, oak, or mahogany can also be stained to resemble walnut. However, no two types of wood are identical. Even if you successfully stain your chosen wood to imitate walnut, the grain and pore structure will vary slightly. If you're looking for wood similar to walnut, acacia is the answer.
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.
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.