Every year, I see paint companies post their picks for the paint color of the year in an attempt to set the trend for what is popular for those years’ interior designs. This year Benjamin Moore announced their trends to be monochromatic colors, with Guilford Green (HC-116) as the color to tie it all together. Pantone revealed that their paint color for 2015 is marsala, which is quite different from Benjamin Moore’s color pick.
As each paint company reveals its color choices, many interior designers turn to their blogs and social media to promote or weigh in with their opinion of whether or not these color choices are actual trends or just trumped up to sell paint.
As I watch people post their interior designs across the web, using their chosen paint color, there is one thing missing: the presence and beauty of natural wood. It makes me sad that many of these pictures seem to be right out of an HGTV show sponsored by a paint company, and many people are missing out on the rich colors and beautiful figures in the grain that natural wood has to offer. This got me thinking: why can’t woodworkers have a trending wood of the year this year? I think woodworkers should declare walnuts as the wood of the year.
Walnut has rich brown tones that range from medium light streaks to deep dark brown. I have even seen, in some pieces, beautiful streaking of purple and violets.
Walnut works well as an accent wood being inlaid into a contrasting lighter wood or is great at creating a bold statement by building an entire piece of furniture from it.
It mills beautifully, and it is durable enough with a Janka hardness rating of 3684 to withstand the abuse of time.
Walnut is a domestic wood here in the United States and is regulated to prevent deforestation, so it is harvested in a sustainable manner.
Don’t fall victim to the made-up trends of the paint companies, and let the natural beauty of wood come through. The range of different colors and depths of the figure in the grain of natural wood is far more beautiful than the monochromatic tones of paint.
I’m the owner of Benham Design Concepts, a mixed media art studio where I design and build custom furniture and other works of art using wood, glass, stone, and various metals.
In this blog, I talk about the art I create, my journey, and the things I learn along the way.