Provincial vs Special Walnut
Provincial is a muted, grayish medium-dark brown; Special Walnut is warmer and more saturated at a similar depth.
Pick Provincial when a room's existing furniture is already warm-toned and one piece needs to read more neutral.
Pick Special Walnut as the more versatile, all-purpose warm brown for a new project.
How close are they?
Delta-E (perceptual color distance) between Provincial and Special Walnut is 7.2 (a visible but subtle difference, more apparent side by side than on separate pieces).
Side by side
| Provincial | Special Walnut | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and line | Minwax Wood Finish | Minwax Wood Finish |
| Color code | 211 | 224 |
| Stain type | oil | oil |
| Hex (approx.) | #6B4436 | #6B4028 |
| Lightness (L*) | 33 | 32 |
| Undertone | grayish medium-dark brown, muted rather than warm | warm medium-dark brown, balances gold and walnut |
Provincial is the lighter of the two by about 1 points of lightness on a 0 to 100 scale, so Special Walnut will hide more of the wood's own grain and color on the same board. Hex values are on-screen approximations of each published swatch; confirm on a test board of your own wood before committing.
How each behaves on pine, oak, maple and cabinets
Pine
Provincial: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Provincial (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Special Walnut: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Special Walnut (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Oak
Provincial: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Provincial unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Special Walnut: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Special Walnut unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Maple
Provincial: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Provincial blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Special Walnut: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Special Walnut blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Cabinets
Provincial: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Provincial can lap-mark where one panel overlaps the next during application; wipe fast and work one door at a time to keep the color even.
Special Walnut: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Special Walnut can lap-mark where one panel overlaps the next during application; wipe fast and work one door at a time to keep the color even.