The sapwood of walnut is creamy white, while the heartwood is light brown to dark chocolate brown, occasionally with a purplish cast and darker streaks. Walnut is generally straight-grained, but sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative figure. Walnut works easily with hand and machine tools, and nails, screws and glues well. It holds paint and stain very well for an exceptional finish and is readily polished. Our character walnut butcher block countertops are made by mixing the heartwood and sapwood.