The name sets up a dark, rich walnut; the board is something quite different and, for many rooms, more useful: a light-to-mid mushroom brown with strong pale cathedral grain limed over a soft greige-brown ground. It is noticeably lighter than...

Of everything in XXL 8.0, Spotted Gum is the board that most clearly reads as Australian hardwood: a warm mid-brown running from golden caramel through to a deeper olive-brown, with genuine banding from one plank to the next. It is...

Seashell White is the coastal board of the range: a very pale whitewashed oak with cool grey-green flecking and enough plank-to-plank variation to keep it from looking flat. Cotton Oak is paler still and far more uniform; Oak Sofia is...

Royal Oak is cooler and more contemporary than its name implies: a mid-depth smoky grey with a faint brown undertone and a fine, fairly uniform grain, closer to weathered timber than to a traditional stained oak. It is clearly darker...

Set your expectations from the board rather than the name: Pearl Grey is not a pale pearl but a mid grey with a clear green-olive undertone and strong plank-to-plank variation, some boards distinctly darker than others. It is considerably deeper...

Oak Titanium is the board most likely to surprise you in person. The name suggests cool metal grey; the board is actually a warm light blonde-wheat with soft golden variation and a gently limed surface. If you are after grey,...

Oak Sofia reads as weathered rather than new: a light-to-mid cool greige with real plank-to-plank variation, some boards noticeably paler and some drifting towards driftwood grey. Oak Atlanta is warmer and far more uniform; Cotton Oak is much paler and...

Warm without being loud, Oak Saffron is a light-to-mid tan oak with a soft caramel cast and gentle, even variation across the plank. It is deeper and more golden-brown than Oak Titanium and calmer and less knotty than Coastal Blackbutt....

Oak Atlanta is the diplomat of XXL 8.0: a mid greige with soft brown warmth underneath, muted grain and almost no plank-to-plank drama. Oak Sofia is lighter and cooler with far more visible variation; Walnut Brown carries much more grain...

There is nothing subtle about Ebony, and that is the point: a near-black deep brown with fine darker grain, the strongest statement in XXL 8.0 by a wide margin. Royal Oak, the next darkest, is a cool grey by comparison...

Cotton Oak is the palest, coolest board in XXL 8.0: an almost flat light grey with a faint whitewashed grain and very little tonal movement from one plank to the next. Seashell White is its closest relative and carries noticeably...

Coastal Blackbutt is the most openly golden board in XXL 8.0: a warm amber-blonde with strong flowing grain and scattered dark knots that give it real character across a long plank. Compared with Oak Saffron it is brighter and more...