Trending: 12 Ways to Warm Up with Walnut

Why designers are going wild for walnut woods.

A walnut chair is set to grace the pages of WL’s shopping section in September, and (additional spoiler alert) one of Condo’s feature homes will be showing off oiled-walnut floors this fall. Suffice it to say, walnut is having a bit of a moment and we asked Delta designer Sarah Gallop to fill us in: what is up with all the walnut?“Walnut is very popular right now—probably because it’s very flexible and pairs nicely with both light and dark materials,” explains the designer.A great choice for floors or furniture, she says walnut pieces can be stunning in a room and are something she incorporates often (with live edge walnut a favourite for accent countertops).“When pairing with lighter surfaces— especially woods—walnut can be a nice feature as it can have blond streaks, but is predominately that rich, mid-tone brown which may bring some contrast to a space,” says Gallop.On the other hand, when you pair walnut with darker surfaces, Gallop says it can act as a nice visual break because its rich tone will blend with darker, more espresso stains, but it’s lighter in colour so it will also soften the overall look and feel.Just know that walnut isn’t an exceptionally hard wood, so it can get marked up easily depending on its finish (this might be an issue if you have a big dog).“I’ve installed many walnut floors over the years and had homeowners be very happy with them, but like any wood, you have to know that they do scratch and that’s part of the beauty of using natural products.”

Here are some of our top walnut picks: