Walnut
The dark, serious hardwood. Deep chocolate heart, chatoyant grain, hand-finished for interiors where restraint is the brief. Quiet, premium, uncompromising.
Dark, serious, premium hardwood
Walnut is the darkest hardwood we supply. Its deep chocolate heartwood and chatoyant grain figure give walls an immediate sense of weight and quiet – a character that reads formal, premium, and intentional in rooms where restraint is the design brief.
American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is the wood of pre-war Rolls-Royce dashboards, Steinway piano cases, and the panelled rooms of American industrialists. Dense, diffuse-porous, hand-finished – it stays in its own colour, deepens with wax, and mellows warmly over decades.
Verified timber characteristics
Species data: The Wood Database (Juglans nigra). Figures are standard for the species at 12% moisture content.
Panel dimensions
Walnut panel designs
How walnut ages
Walnut is unusual: it starts dark and lightens with age, where almost every other hardwood darkens. UV light slowly bleaches the heartwood's purple notes toward a warmer honey-brown. This is a feature, not a defect - specify walnut knowing where it will live.
Day one
Deep chocolate
Fresh-finished walnut reads near-black in low light, deep brown-purple in daylight. The dramatic phase.
Year two
Rich brown
Purple undertones fade. The timber settles into a steady dark brown. Grain figure reads more clearly.
Year five to ten
Warm honey-brown
Walnut's long-term colour. Golden-brown, less contrast. The look you see in antique panelled rooms.
After fifteen years
Settled patina
Stable. The timber has reached its mature colour. Dust and wax add a soft lustre, not darkening.
What this means on the spec sheet: walnut installed on a sunlit south wall will mellow faster than walnut on a shaded corridor. UV-blocking oils and waxes slow the shift but do not stop it. If you want to keep the dark phase longer, keep walnut out of direct sun.
Four finishes
Natural
The pale grain sealed to keep walnut’s light, airy tone.
Whitewashed
A soft white-wash for a bright, Nordic feel.
Stained
Tinted warmer or darker – walnut takes stain readily.
Painted
A smooth painted finish in any colour you choose.
Rooms that reward dark timber
- Private offices & boardrooms
- Libraries, studies & whisky rooms
- Hotel lounges & speakeasy bars
- Yacht & aviation interiors
Walnut is a hardwood – dense, hard-wearing, and ring-porous, which gives it its distinctive open grain character and makes it accept stain and finish beautifully. That open-pore structure is exactly what gives it its grain character and makes it take stain and finish beautifully. For weather-exposed walls, ask us about thermally modified Thermowood.
Specify walnut
Order free samples, request the datasheet, or talk to our team about matching boards for grain and tone.