Walnut
A medium-deep brown named for the wood.
At a glance
- Hue family
- orange
- Warmth
- warm
- Tone depth
- deep
- Saturation
- Moderate
Similar to
Quick intelligence summary
- Feels like
- warm, deep, balanced
- Works well with
- See the pairings section below for calculated harmony options.
- Common uses
- See uses & contexts below for interiors, fashion and practical guidance.
- Accessibility snapshot
- Pairs better with white text (9.4:1) than black (2.2:1).
See this colour in the real world
Colours in photographs vary with lighting, material, camera processing and screen calibration — the named colours below are visual approximations, not exact measurements.
Walnut's colour ranges from a warm mid-brown to a near-chocolate dark brown within the same board — real walnut furniture and flooring show this same grain-to-grain variation.
This veneer sample fills the entire frame, so the deterministic colour-cluster scan is directly representative of the wood's grain tones."Nussbaum Holz" by Philipp Zinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLicence details
- Source:
- Wikimedia Commons
- Creator:
- Philipp Zinger
- Licence:
- CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to share and adapt commercially, provided the work is attributed and any adaptation is shared under the same licence.
- Reviewed:
- 2026-07-25
This kind of standardised swatch scale (used in anthropological and forensic hair-colour classification) shows just how continuous real hair colour is — any named category like 'blonde' or 'brown' actually spans a wide, gradual range.
This is a standardised scientific/anthropological reference scale of real hair samples, not a styled photo — even so, the same lighting and camera limitations apply to how accurately its colours are reproduced here."Fischer-Saller scale of hair color", CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLicence details
- Source:
- Wikimedia Commons
- Licence:
- CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to share and adapt commercially, provided the work is attributed and any adaptation is shared under the same licence.
- Reviewed:
- 2026-07-25
Used in room palettes
Walnut appears in the following curated Interiors room palettes.
Cosy terracotta living room
Warm, enveloping, evening-friendly.
Warm-on-warm scheme with moderate tonal contrast between wall and floor rather than hue contrast.
Terracotta intensifies under warm evening bulbs — view a sample under your actual evening lighting, not only daylight.
Charcoal and oak home office
Focused, professional, good on video calls.
Single dark accent wall against paler surrounding walls, a common way to use a saturated colour in a small footprint.
Check how the charcoal wall reads on camera under your actual desk lighting, not only in person, if the room doubles as a video-call backdrop.
Pairings
Subtle, bold, analogous, complementary and neutral options — established design convention, not a guarantee of visual success in every context.
Complementary
Opposite hues (180° apart) for maximum hue contrast.
Analogous
Neighbouring hues on the colour wheel for a low-contrast, harmonious feel.
Analogous
Neighbouring hues on the colour wheel for a low-contrast, harmonious feel.
No curated profile yet
Triadic
Three hues evenly spaced around the colour wheel for balanced contrast.
Triadic
Three hues evenly spaced around the colour wheel for balanced contrast.
No curated profile yet
Split-complementary
The two hues bracketing the complement, for contrast with less tension.
Split-complementary
The two hues bracketing the complement, for contrast with less tension.
No curated profile yet
Tetradic
Four hues at 90° steps around the colour wheel for a rich, varied palette.
Tetradic
Four hues at 90° steps around the colour wheel for a rich, varied palette.
Tetradic
Four hues at 90° steps around the colour wheel for a rich, varied palette.
Monochromatic
Same hue at different lightness levels, for a cohesive tonal palette.
Monochromatic
Same hue at different lightness levels, for a cohesive tonal palette.
Monochromatic
Same hue at different lightness levels, for a cohesive tonal palette.
Monochromatic
Same hue at different lightness levels, for a cohesive tonal palette.
For an accessible, low-contrast-risk pairing, monochromatic (same-hue) combinations are usually the safest starting point — see the harmonies above.
Uses & contexts
Meaning & story
Name origin
- Named for the rich brown heartwood of the walnut tree, long valued in fine furniture and cabinetry.
True of the orange family generally
Inherited from the orange hue family, not specifically documented about this exact shade — see methodology.
- Orange is often associated with energy, warmth and enthusiasm.
- Orange is commonly used in retail branding and signage to suggest affordability, friendliness or urgency.
Terminology
Lighter, darker & directional variants
Calculated directional adjustments. Some directions converge on the same result from this starting colour — shown as one merged card with an explanation, not repeated duplicates. Generated shades link to a curated profile only when one is close enough.
Lighter
Lightness increased
Darker
Lightness decreased
Warmer & Greener & Yellower
Hue rotated toward warm (red/orange) From this starting colour, moving warmer and greener and yellower converges on the same calculated result.
Cooler & Bluer & Redder
Hue rotated toward cool (blue) From this starting colour, moving cooler and bluer and redder converges on the same calculated result.
More muted
Saturation softened
More saturated
Saturation increased
Technical details
Technical values
CMYK is an approximate device conversion, not a calibrated print value — see methodology.
Convert this colour to another format →
Common design-industry reference value for the named colour.
Characteristics
- Hue family
- orange
- Undertone
- warm
- Tone depth
- deep
- Pastel
- No
- Earth tone
- Yes
- Jewel tone
- No
- Vivid
- No
- Greyness
- 55%
- Visual weight
- 61/100
Accessibility
vs. white text
9.39:1 — AAA
vs. black text
2.24:1 — fails
Confidence: medium · Qualification: identity_only, technically_qualified, curated_profile_eligible, search_index_eligible, comparison_eligible
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