Dark Walnut is a classic favorite of ours. It's a dark-brown shade that enhances the natural wood grain. We always have this on hand because it's incredibly versatile and always leaves us with a stunning result.
Staining walnut isn't necessary, unless color is uneven. Then, aniline dyes won't cloud the grain. The best finish for walnut is a clear one. Several coats of Danish oil provide clarity.
Yes, Walnut does accept stain and dyes well in the sense that it does not suffer from blotchiness nor does it specifically require pre-stain conditioners. It is obviously a dark color to begin with which does limit the range of stain colors you can apply to it.
'Dark woods such as walnut or mahogany work fantastically well with green, from fresher hues such as Boxington for a contrasting feel, to sumptuous rich greens such as Puck for an elegant interior,' says Ruth Mottershead.
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.
Use Contrast to Call Attention
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 is a darker wood with shades that range from pale browns to dark browns.
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.
Smokey Hills is a rich, graphite gray cabinet stain on Walnut, with slightly warm undertones. Smokey Hills on Walnut is available on these door styles: Adagio. Aldon.
“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.
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.
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.
Due to its premium quality, unique beauty and durability, walnut is considered a high-end wood. In fact, walnut is considered one of the most luxurious non-exotic woods available for home furniture. Walnut is highly desired for its rich, chocolate-brown color, and lends a feeling of luxury to any space.
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.
White walnut has a much lighter color than black walnut wood, but that's not the only difference: This wood is much softer, and it's not as durable against decay as the other types of black walnut wood. It's easy to work with, but because it's soft, it has a fuzzy surface, even after it's been sanded.
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.
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.
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.
Complementary Colors
Walnut cabinets are brown. Hence, you should consider the paint colors placed opposite brown. The tones have different shades of green and blue, such as light blue, aquamarine, teal, turquoise, and soft gray. With darker wood cabinets, you can go with shades of green for walls.
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.
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.