What Color Should I Stain My Wood Floors?

Hi Tadas, thankyou for this very helpful post. I’m looking at getting my floors stained in the near future.

May I ask, what is the type of wood and stain color used in the picture with you in it at the very top?

Hi there Tiffany,

The floors are Red Oak and they were stained Ebony. It looks good doesn’t it. I hope your project goes well for you when you decide to start. If we can be of any further assistance please let us know.

Enjoyed reading your blog. I like the stain color of the picture you have with the fire place. What stain did you use? I love the grain variation look and it’s dark but not so dark like ebony. Thanks.

hi :)

We are sanding and staining our red oak floors in several weeks. We are going to weave together the old floor with a new red oak floor. At that point the entire house will be wood flooring.

I have “colonial maple” color kitchen cabinets, but dont want to continue with the country type look, my style is modern.

I also have a big dog, and dont want to go too dark on account of him scratching up the floor.

I am thinking of going with natural … very light floors with a white wood work. Would that be my best bet to “modernize” the look of the cabinets?

What would your suggestion be?

thanks, nice post.

Great post. Really appreciate this information! Thanks.

Ciao Tadas! … recently had our 1920 parquet floors ‘professionally stained’ sadly, as a ballerina I had NO idea the impact a boring medium brown floor would have): Husband has graciously sweated… re-sanded… re-stained …& sweat again to give me the dark ebony of my dreams. No poly applied yet…! The floors now appear wet! black in some areas… & a beautiful dry ebony in other … He generously painted on the ebony stain …, & did not wipe … is this OK ? The floors appear painted black ! Our apt. is 1,200 sq ft ..high ceiling & beautiful light… Afraid to ask …do we need to re-sand): & wipe the excess stain as we apply ?? make spanikopita for Him again too!
Ballerina & Welder at your mercy … Ava SantAngelesa

Thank you very much for writing quality content for people like me to read and research. Very helpful for our upcoming hardwood floor project, thanks.

I recently found your site and have been reading along. We are getting ready to refinish our own hardwood floors. Unfortunately we are a long way from Naperville but I’ve enjoyed reading your posts and tips. Nice blog. Thank you for your help.

We have a traditional cherry built in wall unit with an almost mahogany colored stain. Our furniture is similiar in coloring. We are going to install hardwood flooring (select oak). Wondering what stain shade to go with. Don’t want to go too light as it doesn’t match our look & afraid of choosing a color that is too orange. However, need some contrast. Is chestnut too close? & if go with cestnut, do we go with red oak or white oak?

What color should i stain my floors? not too dark or too light. I like more of a brown but not too red or orange… thank you

It is highly helpful for me. Huge thumbs up for this site post!

I cannot thank you enough for the blog.Really thank you! Fantastic.

We are putting down heart pine flooring and have gone back and forth on the finish. We love the natural color but some tell us it will turn very yellow and we dont want that. We thought of staining but then was told dark colors will get darker. It’s a very large room and the ceiling is done with the same wood that is why we thought of staining for some contrast. We were thinking chestnut. Now we have two different scenerios. Can you help?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I am in Hoffman Estates, planning to put my house for sale. I just got guy installed Red Oak hardwood floor, can you advice what color should I go with should I stain or leave it natural. The guy did Colonial Maple sample but it turned out too light. My curtains are burgundy (maroon color). My goal is it should make statement when buyer walks in the house. I am also planning to get stager decorate the house but I am struggling to select the stain color. Can you please advice me. Wall color will be light tone (cream or very light coffee).

Hi tadas
I have enjoyed reading the blog but have a question of my own my husband and I are building a home and I need to pick out the color I want for my floors I really love the darker shades but I am nervous my 115 lb dog is going to ruin them everyone keeps telling me if we go to dark it will show all the scratches is this true?? And does the dark floor show dust alot ?? Thanks

Hi Tadas,
I own a sawmill, dry kiln, planer, etc.. I am making some 8″ red oak plank floors for our office and have had others show interest in buying some. I am one of those people who only want to do that if I can make a super product. This is about more than the money. If I pursue this it needs to have alot of wow factor. I feel that our local red oak is great(even if out of favor right now), and since I am used to drying lumber for cabinet makers, furniture, etc. I have no fear in that aspect(or even the machineing). But I don’t have a clue about finishing or staining. Will most people who want a plank floor want it naturally colored? ($4.25/sf range unfinished)

Also if we make some SYP plank floors, in 12′-16′ lengths (so there is no need to end match) do you think that this would be marketable (same price range). I know that this used to be done many years ago.

The floors that we have currently made are pretty much all 8’long stock and we make the blanks oversize through the rip so we can keep them extra straight out of the moulder. The installing people who have laid them have bragged about this aspect.

Also do you think that nailing them every 10″-12″, and glueing the same distance (keeping the glue out of the joints) is enough to hold them down. Or, should we go ahead and make plugs and proceed accordingly? I know that I have asked you alot of questions and hope that I’m not taking too much of your time!

Thank You,

Jerry Richards
Mark Twain Forest Products
Centerville, MO

I am not sure if you are still responding to this blog, but I have a real problem I am hoping you can help me with…
We want to stain our red oak floors a dark color. The available colors our floor guy says are out there are simply not what we had a in mind. We want a warm, brown, not reddish, dark, deep color. We tried Jacobean, antique brown, and royal mahogany. None are what we have in mind. He claims it is not possible to change, or tint, the existing stains in any way. Is that true? Or should we go with someone who can?
Any help is much appreciated.
Beth

P.S. I really like your first picture at the top of this blog, but you said it’s ebony and that looked really black to us. But in your picture it doesn’t.

Hi Tadas-

Thanks for the great information. Hope you can provide some guidance.

Our house is an old schoolhouse from 1888. It was moved off a farm and into town in the 1940’s and a second floor was added on. In the move, there were renovations done to the main structure as well. We are in the process of renovating and are starting our wood floors now.

Our second floor has 3 bedrooms with red oak from the 1940 renovation. We’re installing new red oak select in 1 bedroom and hallway. Our doors are solid pine 6 panel doors stained with Minwax Early American 230. Our trim is pine with the same stain. The rooms range from 10×12 to 14×16 and have small windows so I would like a light stain on the floor.

Our main floor has a douglas fir floor (original from 1888) in the living room and red oak from the 1940’s in the rest of the rooms. Our doors and trim are solid oak and our kitchen cabinets are birch, all stained with Early American. The floor plan is exactly the same with the rooms ranging from 10×12 to 14×16 – same small windows.

Any suggestion on the stain color for the floors? I’m concerned with all of the different wood and age of wood that we’re going to have a hodge podge of colors so am hoping the floors will tie it all together.

Looking forward to any help.

Carmen

I am going to have red oak floors put in. I would like to have some differentiation in color, like you get with an exotic. I have been told that the darker the stain, the less variance between the boards. How do you apply stain without losing the natural color variation in the wood? My house is a mix of oaks and cherries and I don’t want the floor to try to match anything.

Hi Tadas,

Came across your blog! Thought I’d post a question to you. We live in VA and have a 110-yo farmhouse that we’ve given a complete facelift. It’s still very “farmhouse” feeling, but with a new twist! We have laid 5″ white oak with character everywhere and are trying to decide on a Minwax stain. What is your feeling on a custom stain? And if so, do you have a recommendation for a floor stain that has a mostly brown/walnut feel, but with an added warmth of red/yellow hues? I like the floor a little darker; my husband likes it a little lighter with some red…so I’m looking for a happy medium. Something like this:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/87686/Oakley-Home-Builders-traditional-kitchen-chicago

Any advice you could give would be great! Thx! Jen

thank you tadas! I love the fireplace room floor above. It is very warm and elegant. You say you used 50 percent rosewood stain. 50 percent of what? You also mention that the materials you used cannot be used anymore. Also, rosewood is not shown in your color palette above. How can I recreate that look with materials available? Finally, what is plain sawn red oak, and how is it different from common or select red oak?

If I get up the nerve to go darker, is there a stain that blends well with light and medium oak as well as cherry? Thank you for your help! You don’t install wood floors, just refinish?

Dear Tadas,

Many thanks for your blog which I have found really useful.

We have just moved into a new home which has untreated light oak flooring throughout. All the walls are off-white and the furniture is a mix between white and black. With these colour schemes the current floor colour seems out of place and I was wondering if you could suggest a stain colour so that the rooms feel warmer and also mix with the black/white colour-schemes for the furnishings. Was considering an ebony, Jacobean or dark oak but would value your thoughts as to what would give a wow factor….

Many thanks,
Mark

Hi Tadas! Thank you for sharing your wonderful knowledge and info… it’s very helpful. I am currently having my floors sanded and there are some dark circles left that are probably old pet stains. The floors are oak… not sure red or white, but the house was built in the 1950’s if that helps. Anyway, I’m not sure how good these guys are and they tell me that dark stain will cover them. They are pushing me for the stain color and want to start even before they finish sanding my closets. I think all the sanding needs to be completed before going to the staining phase don’t you agree? I would like a dark expresso color and am wondering if I need to mix ebony with dark walnut? I love your first photo… does it look like a black brown in real light? Is water popping the only way to achieve the deep stain? I doubt I will be able to get them to do it and I don’t know if I can do it on my own? Any suggestions on the very quickest, easiest way to water pop? Sorry for all the questions, but I’m really desperate here! I greatly appreciate your help.

Tada, Thank you so much for taking the time to help. They’ve already got a coat of stain on. I chose a mix of a gallon of dark walnut to half gallon of ebony. The temperature has dropped here to the 40’s at night, so I don’t know how long it will take before going to the poly phase which I’m doing the mid range shine… not flat and not high gloss.

Tada, also, on another forum they were saying that unless you change out the boards of the urine stains, in the hot weather you will smell it… is this true? Even with one coat of stain and two coats of poly? It was hot while they were sanding and I didn’t smell anything. And one more question… do you think two coats of poly is enough for a rental with dark stained wood floors? I will be renting the house and really hoping I don’t have to redo the floors down the road when I sell. Again, thank you mucho mucho!!!

ps… I’m sorry I misspelled you name above.

Love your blog!! Can you please help? I am after a Pottery Barn/Ballard Design look with neutrals and seagrass/sisal rugs. My goal is to create a warm cozy feel. I am refinishing the floors of my newly purchased 1965 ranch home. I read somewhere (can’t find it now) that you can mix walnut (or dark walnut…I can’t remember which) with english chestnut for a really nice look. I can’t recall what percentage of each to use in the mixture or whether it was dark walnut or just walnut. Do you have any suggestions? I don’t want it to be too red or brown…just a happy medium…or more brown. What do you think??? I am in Georgia or I would just hire you : )

I forgot to tell you that the floors are white oak.

What is the color of the floor in your first picture dated May 26 2011. What kind of wood. We are deciding between ebony and Jacobean on an oak floor thanks

I like your fantastic web site. Just what I was searching for!
Best regards

Love your site! About the type of finish used on dark floors to avoid seeing scratches- you mention using a higher end finish. If I were to use Minwax Satin finish would that be protective enough or should I use something better?
Thanks!

Hi Tadas
Great info! We have a problem don’t know if you can help. My contractor hired a floor guy to come refinish my oak floors. I wanted a dark brown – we did a mixture of Provential and dark walnut. He put one coat on and it wasn’t dark enough so he added another ( he may have tweaked the formula a bit not sure) and the color was perfect; however after a few hours – of course after he left, lines started forming in between the cracks of the wood, (lihter in color). After it dried it looked horrible. After researching I think it may be called “bleed back”. He resanded and started over saying in 20 years he had never seen this – was thinking it had something to do with my subfloor and the air underneath. I think that he used too much stain. What are your thoughts and how do I get that perfect very dark color again without the lines?

Sorry my name is Michelle!

I recently refinished my 50 yr old red oak floors with minwax english chestnut in a satin finish. Way too much red tone for me. My floor guy didnt do any samples for me. Very disappointed in that. I wanted a medium brown stain without red or orange. I want to know what my options are? Do they have to fully sand down the floors and restain another color to achieve the color I want. Also I am interested in provencial minwax stain. Is it darker than EC? And will I get any red tones which I dont want. HELP!

Very well written article and very helpful. Thank you very much Tadas

Hi Tadas,

Thank you so much for being so professional and sharing your expertise on flooring. It is greatly appreciated! I am just about to move into my new home and wanted to stain my hardwood floors before I move in. The flooring is white oak and I was looking to go with a dark stain? The dark flooring that has really caught my eye happened to be Brazilian cherry flooring with walnut stain to tone down the red.

What combination of stains would you suggest so I could get the same type of look with white oak flooring?

Thanks in advance for your time!

Brian

I’ve really enjoyed reading your articles here. You obviously know what you are talking about!

We have just installed red oak floors . Cabinets in kitchen are a darker tobacco stain. We are thinking about duraseal cherry stain but may be too light. How would you darken it up a bit? I like the look of a lighter color for our small space. Any ideas/suggestions?? Our second choice probably is nutmeg.

Love your web-site! Very helpful. Thank You for the information!

Help! I’m going to be refinishing floors on Friday (May 24) and still struggling to find a stain color. I found the below project and the image is perfect. Can you give me the specifics on the stain used called “Golden Brown”??? I’m having a hard time finding it.

Distressed Random Width French White Oak Floor:

THE CLIENT: Arch Remodeling – Orland Park, IL

THE JOB: This was another project for Arvydas. These floors are beautiful random width french white oak. They were distressed and then stained before being coated. The project was about 400sqft comprising of the kitchen, dining room and living room.

THE SPECIFICS: The floors were stained with Golden Brown and then finished with OSMO Hard Wax Oil.

Thank you!!!

Could you tell me the wood type and stain color in the photo with the fireplace? Thanks, you have so much helpful information!

Tadas your site is extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing!

Tadas, I loved your article and your comments! Really helped me understand staining a little more! I saw that people asked what the stains were in the first and third photos of your article but nobody has asked about the second photo. That’s my favorite one and I’m VERY curious to know what the wood and stain is!

Hello Tadas,

We just bought a colonial in Connecticut. They’re sanding today and we have to choose the color by tomorrow! Our current house is a ranch, the main level is Red Chestnut throughout – bedrooms, living room, and dining room. We love it. The kitchen is cheap natural colored pergo, which looks fine against the Red Chestnut. For our new house, we were thinking of putting Red Chestnut upstairs in all four bedrooms, the hallway, and on the stairs down to the main level. Downstairs, we’re thinking of putting a light color, and a Red Chestnut single border around the living/family room which would tie in the color on the stairs. What do you think? Unfortunately we have three different types of wood downstairs – oak in the dining and living/family room, spruce in the kitchen, fir in the sun room. I’m thinking maybe the Golden Oak downstairs on all floors, but I don’t want it to be too yellow. Can you recommend a color for downstairs, and what do you think of the idea of two different colors in the house? It’s a pretty typical colonial, in the woods with stone walls and white picket fence outside. Our style is cozy and comfortable – not too contemporary and definitely not modern.

Sorry, I should have said the kitchen cabinets were installed in the 1980’s, and they’re that medium oak color, similar to golden oak I think. The kitchen floor is spruce. The entire house has wood floors except the bathrooms and closets and one small hallway. So the stain color is a very big commitment.

Sorry. Kitchen is cypress not spruce.

Thanks for your quick reply, Tadas. The original post and everyone’s comments were super helpful. I found some beautiful images of Golden Pecan floors online. We’ll try out Golden Pecan, Golden Oak, Puritan Pine and Natural. We found some pieces of the cypress in the basement, and our contractor should be able to give us a piece of oak. Not sure about the fir. Maybe he can apply a stain on a small patch of the floor, let us look, and re-sand if we don’t like it. Thanks again for helping out from so far away. You helped to calm me down. I can tell you really love what you do.

Hi
I’m having a hard time deciding whether to stain my floors. My home has original oak floors from 1885 that are very thin at this point. It may be there last time being sanded. I have a ton of sunlight and feel they are too yellow. I had some area sanded and tested some colors, special walnut, cherry, dark walnut and golden pecan. None of which I am excited about but selected golden pecan becAuse it seems the safest. I don’t want any reddish hues and the dark stains made it look grainy and sort of dirty. I would love a light chocolate hue but don’t know if it possible. What are your thoughts. I definitely want to warm up the floor.

Hi Tadas, Awesome blog! What’s the easiest way to get a nice espresso finish? Seems like the good brands of stain do not carry it. Thanks

Hi John,

Thank you so much for the information. Can you tell me your opinion between the Dark Walnut and the Jacobean? We are having our red oak floors done Monday and I am torn between the two stains. It seems every picture I see of floors that I like is a custom stain that was done on site. I wish I had come across you earlier!

We had red oak floors installed and are having other rooms’ floors sanded and re-stained. Original owners had a medium-dark dull brown. I want to go a little lighter for easier maintenance and to brighten the home.

Style of decorating will be contemporary/classic. Paints are beige (Grant Beige, Dove White), phillipsburg blue, etc. Furniture will be neutrals with grey or blue accent pieces and chocolate brown dining room set.

Was thinking of going with 3 parts early american and 1 part english chestnut for a richer tone and depth. Do you think this might work or do you think the two should not be mixed together?

Thank you!!

Hi Tadas,
I currently have a floor that is a custom stain (Duraseal 50% ebony; 50% antique brown). It was only stained in the last year but an accident on the floor (an acetone spill) has prompted us to reconsider the colour which we have discovered is very high maintenance. I would love to have the floor done in Rubio Monocoat in one of the natural light colours. I asked you about this earlier as I have red oak floors and was concerned about the outcome. Largely, on your very positive response I’ve decided to go for it.

I hired a flooring professional and he felt uneasy about going from dark to light. He therefore experimented in a small bedroom. What we found was disheartening. After four passes (starting at 40 ending at 100) the original stain was still creeping through the pores of the soft grain and between the planks in a number of places. He is now recommending that we change route and go with a medium brown colour to hide this problem. I would really like to go light (RM 5% Smoke or Vanilla). Have you encountered this problem? If so, is there a way neutralizing or bleaching the remnants of the original stain? Surprising, I haven’t come up with any reference to this problem online.

Thanks so much with any advice with this.

Thanks Tadas. Took your advice and you are dead on (again). He didn’t sand enough. Btw, really wishing I lived in Chicago, so you could do my floors!

Hi Tadas. One more question re. refinishing dark floors. Is there anything that can be done about some of the dark stain remaining between butt joints of the wood? If the joints were tight to begin with, could aggressive sanding get rid of the remaining stain or is it something that you just have to live with? thanks again, Lorena

Thanks Tadas. Great idea. I was thinking-as a last resort-to take a thin blade to the dark joints; open them a hairline and then very carefully apply wood putty (not filler). In order to match the various colourings in the grains, I thought of investing in several different colours of putty. This would be done when the floor was completed. Thought of this after reading the following article about various ways to fill gaps: http://www.cinhome.com/gapfiller.html

Hi Tadas,

Can I pick your brain. Just installed white oak in my 100 year old farm style house. I’m going for a transitional rather than traditional look and was going to use Jacobean thinking it was a medium stain but it looks a bit dark and flat in my rooms. I still want the coffee brown tone but want a lighter brighter look. Any suggestions?

Thanks Tadas,

I did experiment with a natural mix but the color was a bit uninspired. Stuck with Jacobean. Thanks for your advice.
This blog is terrific and you are very kind to share your knowledge so generously!!
Warm Regards, Zo-An

Hi there, we recently sanded and stained our oak floors. I had a hard time deciding on a colour, we wanted to go with Gris beige from Monocoat. But we only had 3 days to get the floors done. So the floor guy mixed grey with Cherry. The first coat was so pretty. Then he put 2 more coats and it’s dark now. I’m not loving the colour:((((( any suggestions?

We are getting ready in next few months to tear out carpet and put down red oak wood floors. We have got a sample piece of wood and have stained it. My sister in law did Red Oak stain and I love the darkness but it has a little too much read. On our sample we did Red Oak and Red Mahogany, I am really drawn to the darkness of the mahogany but I am thinking about mixing a stain in to give it a little more brown tone. Any suggestions on what would be a good stain to try and mix with it!? Thank you

Hi Tadas,

I love your blog and have found it really informative. My contractor is putting in new red oak floor in my bedroom and refinishing the existing red oak floors in the living room/kitchen (its a small 650 sq ft apt). The previous color on the floor was a deep ebony (I don’t know the actual color from the previous owners)that I would like to replicate but maybe a little lighter. A 50/50 mix of dark walnut and english chestnut was recommended to me. Any thoughts on that combination and what brand of stain to use (my contractor doesn’t like minwax). I really like the look of the darker colors and don’t love anything “reddish”. Thanks for any advice.

Hi Tadas,
Have you ever worked with Australian Blackbutt hardwood flooring? I currently have my kitchen and dining in this wood in a honey colour and want it to be more Jacobean 2750 in colour, but I have concerns it’s not suitable to stain and the current floor’s sanding marks may stand out from the new wood. Looking forward to any feedback you may have.

Hi Tadas;
Does Bona Provincial have a orange / red undertone? Looking for a mid-brown stain without orange or red tones. Jacobean and Medicum Brown are to dark for our house with limited natural light. Thanks.

Thanks Tadas. What, if any, is the difference between Bona stain colors and Minwax stains with the same names? i.e. is one more red or yellow than the other?

Hi I have an entire house of 6inch hickory and trying to decide on stain color for floor and stairs / handrail – about 3500 sq/ft of wood so I need to get the color right… what color would be more timeless in your opinion? I have white cabinetry (BM white dove) cabinets and trim throughout the house with an espresso island and butler pantry. Should I do ebony, jacobeen, antique walnut, ebony with some red mahogany? please help any advice would be appreciated. Going for a “costal” look Hampton’s style / or southern costal – also have a wood front door that i need to stain the interior of.. do I go lighter darker or the same as the floors for the door? do I go darker lighter or same on the stair treads and handrails on the staircase? ~ thanks!

Helllo I was wondering how you achieved the dark stain on the first picture on this blog? We recently had our red oak floors sanded and asked our contractor to stain them dark prepared to see a color like in your above pic, unfortunately they tried a dark walnut and Jacobean and both looked to light even the ebony was pretty light with greenish tint. They said that’s the darkest they could go is there anyway you could tell me how to get them as dark as your pic and what product to have them use? Thank you so much for you help! The products they used were minwax oil base

Hi, we are in the process of laying white oak in our home and I am wanting a medium brown color (want a warm feeling). Which colors should I try to achieve this? Thanks

Hi Tadas,

We are currently planning to stain our oak hardwood floors. The floors are currently stained with a neutral color which has turned to a yellowish color. I am debating whether to go with Jacobean, English Chestnut, or Dark Walnut. I went to see a neighbor’s floor that our current contractor recently finished. He chose the Jacobean but it sure looks like Ebony to me. It is really dark!! I liked it but I think it may be a bit too dark for our home. (He uses the DuraSeal brand). Our kitchen cabinets are the same color as the floor, neutral. If we use these darker colors I am wondering if they will clash or if it wood be a nice contrast. I have yet to see a hardwood floor that features our color of cabinets with the darker wood stain. Most are either white or cream colored. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

What color stain should I use on my refinished douglas fir basement steps?

Hi Tadas,

Thank you so much for all of your expertise you share on this blog. Wish we lived up in the Chicagoland area so we could have you guys do our floors! Since we don’t, we ended up going the DIY route. We have installed #2 common red oak, 2 1/4″ planks, throughout the house & plan to finish them with Rubio Monocoat. We’d like to finish them in a light, natural color that doesn’t hide all the grain & interesting burls, etc., but that also brings a little uniformity to the sometimes wild tonal variation between all the planks – without looking like we just painted the floors. Do you have any experience with and recommendations of a Rubio color that might accomplish this, or are we asking for the impossible? We have created samples on our scrap wood, but for some reason they keep turning out looking like we just painted the wood with whatever color sample we used – none of them look beautiful & natural like your photos of floors you’ve done in RM. Is this because we hand buffed the samples vs using a machine (as we will for the actual floors)? Any input you might have would be very, very appreciated! Thanks so much and hope you are doing well!

Hello Tadas,

We have red oak in our home and are in the process of refinishing them. Our floor guy put samples on our floor and we originally wanted the ebony yet it didn’t have the rich color I was looking for. I came across your site and saw the above picture you are in and that is exactly what I’m looking for. What was the process you used?

Keep in mind, we are finishing them off with a water base matte finish…I hope that doesn’t effect the final outcome…Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Have an older 1924 home with lots of stained trim and cabinets..darker color..likely mahagony or dark walnut…likely, not cherry, since not as reddish tint. which color stain of the two is most likely the color(Milwauee), and do I use varnish or poly on top of it for protection?

have to redo some areas near the windows, etc.

thank you! Keith

oh, which is the best stain you would use..ZAR, etc.

Hi Tadas,
My floors are oak in a golden color with wider planks and the room is an L shape with the dining room. I want a warm rich feeling and I am tired of the golden yellow color. I want a warm color with no red. The room doesn’t get much natural light and we have high-hat lighting. My friend has provincial 111 and I loved it in her house. Do you think it will work well for me? As for the finish I have what I believe is a matte finish now not to shiny like a high gloss. I have a small dog whos nails leave tiny scratches so I need a good finish. I like matte would you recommend that again or would I be better with a different finish? Thanks so much:)
Jenn

Hi Tadas, were redoing our floors and walls we want to do the the walls edge come gray (light gray) and the floor we want to do darker but not very dark like ebony or jacobean a b;t lighter and not red or orange… what do u recommend that will compliment the walls and vica versa?thanks!

Hi Tadas — I wish I had read your blog before I refinished my floors. I have 2 questions for you:

1) The polyurethane has started to peel up along the edges of the boards. What do you think could have caused this?

2) My floors are red oak and I would like a nice medium to dark brown with no red/orange. Can you recommend a couple of colors?

Thank you so much!

Karen

Hi Tadas,

Great article, very informative! We are re-finishing white oak floors that were hiding under carpet for many many years. Surprisingly, the wood floor is in great shape! The oak is light in color and unfinished:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132482938@N08/17032866066/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132482938@N08/17057383652/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132482938@N08/17057383682/

We have been looking for a Minwax stain for a while now. We want to go with a medium brown-yet-warm stain. We do not want really dark floors. We have dark blue curtains in the room and the staircase wall is painted with a plum hue. We would like the hard wood floors to brighten our living area and help make the room feel larger. What stain would you suggest for us if we would like something just a shade darker and warmer than the current state, and absent from red/orange tones?

Warm Regards,

Amanda

Could use your expertise on stain color, as we are finishing our new hickory floors soon.

We’re working with DuraSeal and expect to coat with oil based polyurethane. Can you suggest a mixture of DuraSeal stains to get close to the look of these floors? Here are the links:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/3977713/Custom-Dark-Stained-Hickory-Flooring-traditional-bedroom-other-metro

http://www.houzz.com/photos/1189654/Kitchen-modern-kitchen-cincinnati

We want to look fairly contemporary and like the color of these photos. I’ve seen DuraSeal Special Walnut on our actual sample boards from our hickory, for example, but the floors in links here look a little darker and warmer to me.

I appreciate the help!

Just had our red oak floors refinished and stained with dura seal coffee brown. The sample on out floors was a perfect espresso brown with no red undertones but the end result is very red. Was told we will have to resend and start over but am not sure how to avoid the redness. Thinking of adding some ebony? We are also refinishing cabinets to white and looking for a modern, but rich deep contrast. Thoughts!

Hi Tadas,
I recently bought a condo. I’m thinking of sanding and staining the hard wood floor. the current stain is ebony, almost black (my flooring guy said this is not even a stain and the floor has been painted black) on red oak had wood. I wanted a light grey so I started testing Ribio Monocoat. Put the fumed stain on first and and then the white oil on top. It didn’t look good as there are gaps between the planks (and the gaps are very dark from the previous staining) and they are showing a lot.
So I went for a darker shade grey and tested Duraseal satin. I mixed %50 ebony with 50% white. it didn’t give me a nice grey. Then mixed half Jacobean and half light grey but it’s still light. I tried half Jacobean and half weathered oak, still light. and the last one was half antique brown and half classic grey, still the same tone. Do you have any suggestion about what to mix to give me a nice dark grey wood stain? thank you

Hi Tadas, these are the colors I’m looking for. any of them would do for me. Thanks

http://www.houzz.com/photos/205683/Gallery-Loft-modern-kitchen-los-angeles
http://www.houzz.com/photos/798974/Modern-White-Kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-toronto
http://www.houzz.com/photos/7923759/Decorative-plaster-work-has-been-retained-contemporary-kitchen-other-metro

Hi Tadas
Love your advice. thanks so much.

Having floors stained 75% dark walnut and 25% english chestnut. My contractor plans to use Street Shoe brand water based sealant. I read this is durable but not recommended for dark stained floors.

he will seal the floors this thursday…..would really appreciate any advice. we wear shoes in our house and have a large dog. plan to do a satin finish unless you advise against this.

many thanks
Meg

Hi, Tadas.

I just refinished my 60-year-old oak hardwood floors. They had been stained originally, and it took quite a bit of sanding to get down to pure oak again, but I was careful to remove all evidence of the old finish. I applied 3 coats of waterborne polyurethane. Looks pretty good, except in a few spots I have what appears to be bleed back in the joints between boards. To be clear, I did not apply stain. Is it possible that the 60-year-old stain pigment left submerged in the cracks has bled out via the polyurethane? After much research online I can’t find any reference to bleed back of OLD stain in this way. Ever heard of such a thing? I’m considering whether to resend and refinish, but what can I do to ensure I don’t get the same outcome again?
Thanks!
–Frank

Hi, I am refinishing my staircase which is red oak and want a warm brown color. Can I mix 2 parts red mahogany and 1 part dark walnut? or 50/50. I appreciate your response.

Thanks, Carla

I would like to add we had them stained in a dark walnut and Jacobean mix which was ashy and to dark. and now we have to sand and reapply. I don’t want to make another mistake. thanks so much. Carla

I have just had my cypress pine floors sanded and stained walnut by a professional company and there are marks along the edge of the boards where the stain has not fixed, leaving very light marks.

Please see here: https://goo.gl/photos/gei9XTrG31PKHcRc7

The company has told us that this is because there is oil in the pine and it cannot be helped. Is this right? – it looks terrible! How can this be fixed? We don’t want to add another coat of stain because then the floor will go too dark. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Rod

Hello,

I recently got my wood floors refinished. Originally, they were a natural light color, and I went with a Golden Brown color. I’m not totally convinced I made the right decision since I did like the ligher color better, but I still believe this one looks good. Could you give me your assesment? On the link below you’ll find the pics (the very first one is when it had the lighter flooring before I purchased the house). Also, I wanted to ask your opinion and suggestion on what color I should paint the stairs or the rail? Or if you think it looks good at it is.

https://goo.gl/photos/KjwfRGmbHVig6MxV6

Thanks

Hello Tadas,
I have new 7″ plank Select White Oak that was stained with water based Duraseal Coffee Brown. They were water popped, too. Unfortunately, it is much, much to light. I thought from the samples taken it would be darker. Now I want to use Ebony or True Black stain on top of the Coffee Brown. I want them very dark but not a shoe polish black. Do you think think this could work? Thanks!

Hello Tadas,
I could really use some advice! I have 9 year old Brazilian cherry floors that were originally left untainted and sealed with a polyurethane satin finish. The floors are varying shades of orange, a typical aged Brazilian cherry floor. At this point, I hate them. I would like a warm brown, something to cut the red. I have read that duraseal spice brown or antique brown might get the desired result. I know from experience now how much the wood changes- I am afraid of it progressing to a purple or burgundy if I try a walnut or a Jacobean. Any thoughts? There is not much info out there to reduce the red without going very dark-I just want a warm brown.

Hi Tadas,
I never knew picking a floor color would be so difficult.
I want the modern look but my house is small. We have natural white oak floors currently. My furniture is all Dark Cherry wood. My husband doesn’t want red and my kitchen cabinets are also white oak. Sanding is happening today, tomorrow it will be stained. Maybe by the time you reply the job will be completed, but I still want to know your input.

thanks,
Adriana

Hi, we have #2 red oak floors, that we will be refinishing.
The last house had #1 red oak and we stained in with Jacobean and loved the color. I was worried it might be too dark and when sampleing they mixed in natural to lighten it, but then the red showed more. So we stuck with 100%.
This house with the #2 I am worried will be too dark and I would rather have it lighter anyhow, because the Jacobean showed more dirt and scratches.
Do you have another suggetion to a lighter non red stain? They use bona colors. It was thought to add gray to the color?
My cabinets have a reddish ton to them and I don’t want them to clash either.
https://ap.rdcpix.com/279006404/697579fce091f1f609ef6fe6978ecf06l-m11r.jpg

I bought a house. It has natural oak flooring with that typical yellowish hue. I’m buying new cabinets and granite and want to go with dark cherry and a traditional look. Is it ok to mix dark cherry with natural oak floors?

My kitchen cabinets are a yellowish/orange maple. I am refinishing my floors next week. What color stain do you recommend to complement the cabinets but not exaggerate the orange hues? I am thinking chesnut or medium brown. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

Hi Tadas! Great site!
I am very committed to using healthy finishes in our home. I had decided on Rubio as a finish but we cannot seem to find a color that’s “right” for the handscraped walnut floors we are getting. Walnut is so lovely on its own, we wanted something that stays true to it, maybe deepening it just a bit, while minimizing the sharp contrast of the white/yellow sapwood so the floor color is a little more consistent. We have tried a handful of Rubio colors- castle brown, Ice brown, dark oak, and pure – and can’t seem to find something we like. Several, even the Pure- seem to tint the walnut a bit reddish- which we don’t want. The Pure made it a bit reddish and did nothing for the sapwood. The Castle brown was too dark. Some of them looked a bit muddy, as far as obscuring the grain. We want to keep that nice medium cocoa brown of walnut and see the lovely grain lines but are stuck on how. What do you recommend? Is there a great Rubio color for walnut or another finish you’d recommend for someone very health/safety conscious? Would like to avoid a coating that’s paraffin based. Many thanks!!

we just installed red oak flooring want a medium brown no red or orange. Thinking jacobean, dark walnut or coffee brown. Afraid to be too dark as of nightmare stories of maintenance. what do you suggest. Wall are all painted edgecomb gray and repose gray Matte or satin finish for best look and care?
thank you
Colleen

Hi Tadas,

I have a builder installed engineered Acacia 3/4 inch. We took on a 94lb Akita who has made some scratches so we need to sand it down. I would like to stain it in a Jacobean Blend with gray 75-25, Dark Walnut or Espresso but I am not seeing many examples out there of Acacia being used or re-stained.
Any experience or advise with this? Also wondering if there is much difference between Bona Jacobean and DuraSeal?

Kind Regards,
Susan

Hi. My question is that I just had red oak flooring put down in my master bedroom and upstairs hallway. but not stained just yet. I’ve noticed that some of the planks have some areas where the wood has split or chipped off. Some of the wood planks are not even where the ends meet. Slightly raised. Will the floor guy need to replace the wood planks in these areas?

In the top picture where you are pictured on red oak floors with straight Ebony stain, were the floors water popped before you applied the Ebony stain? If not, how many coats of stain did you apply to achieve such a dark finish? I have red oak floors and want to choose a color and finish that will show very little of the wood grain.
Your blog has been very helpful! Thank you.

Hi Tadas,

Just found your blog – great information. I’m thinking of refinishing my 32 year old oak floors (kitchen, great room-open floor plan). They are stained with Minwax Provincial – satin polyurethane finish. I’ve had kitchen cabinets refaced with a Dark Italian Walnut finish, white/grey backsplash/countertop.

I’m curious as to what color floor stain I should apply? I like the Provincial, but was looking to go a little darker – I don’t like red undertones. Is Jacobean too dark?

Thanks,
Teri

Hi Tadas. So need your advise. We have all Golden Oak trim and solid doors throughout our home. We are getting ready to install hardwood floors in our entire 1st floor. Approximately 1000 sq feet. My husband already stained our oak staircase with a very dark stain, my guess it’s Jacobean /Espresso. It looks very nice. He is wanting to do the entire 1st floor with that color. I’m ok with it, despite the dust and extra cleaning…….ugh. But the main issue I am having, and maybe it isn’t even a issue…..is the doors and trim. I prefer to not have to paint or stain them. There is so much trim work, includubg around the windows. Could I leave all the floor, door and window trim the golden oak? Will it look okay if we go with a very dark floor stain? Our kitchen and family room open up to each other like one great big room. The kitchen cabinets are also golden oak as well has our fireplace surround and mantle. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Hi Tadas,

I live in Washington state and am in the process of getting my red oak floors professionally sanded and re-stained. I’m just curious if you have heard of Glitza products (for stain and sealer/finish). The color I chose from the samples on my floor is Medium Brown. Do you happen to know if that color is in the same range/tone as Provincial and or Spice brown?
Thanks!

Hi Tadas,

Great website, wish you worked in Mequon Wi!
Would love it if you could answer a few questions if possible:
We are having our entire first floor redone for the third time in Jan 2020, whole home (3500sq ft) 4 inches, white oak, 50:50 ebony: jacobean, matte finish, new construction (late 2017)

1. Any suggestions on how to avoid the dreaded “white line syndrome”? We have been told it was from water popping, humidity, the floor color (50:50 ebony and jacobean mix). At this point, I just don’t want it to come back so open to any tips!
2. We have been told we have a humidity problem (was anywhere from 19% to 65%), so we bought an induct whole-home dehumidifier and a humidifier and were told to keep the humidity level at 35%. We have been unable to achieve this (hovers around 42-43%). Still running the dehumidifier (December 2019 in WI). Can a wood floor “survive” with a floor at this humidity level (42-43%)?
5. What type of topcoat am I looking for (shoes off, no pet, no kids household) I read your blog but didn’t see anything about avoiding the white line syndrome. I also want to go all Ebony, the current 50:50 mix looks like Walnut brown to me personally.
6. Any suggestions on how to fill gaps? They are visible in high and low humidity. We have a few gaps that I can see the floorboards, it’s glaring with a dark floor another was filled with some filler but it looks cakey, these are in main areas that can’t be covered by a rug.
7. Overall looks like a hot mess, with white lines, gaps, parts are glossy others matte, shoe prints from the topcoat, buffer marks. Just looking for tips on how we can maybe fix this:)

Thank you,

Katie

I am in the process of staining my red oak hardwood floors. I have a foyer and dinning room that is heart pine floors that we pulled out of an old house and redone. What color do you suggest we stain our red oak floors to get the same affect or close to same color? Please help so confused.

Does floor stain color need to match baseboards? We have a home that is full of golden oak and don’t want to paint or replace at this time. The dining room has red oak floor with golden oak stain and all the baseboards, window trim and casing are also stained with golden oak stain. I’m not a fan of the golden oak. Do we need to re stain with the same golden oak to match the baseboards, window trim and casing or can we go a shade or two darker on the dining room floor? Maybe early American?
Thank you in advance

Does special walnut minwax over red oak select leave a medium brown overall look without seeing so much graining? I also don’t want to see so much red or gold like you see in Early American. SCARED, they are beginning to stain Friday.

We are getting our red oak refinished & I don’t want shades of orange or red coming through so we picked half Duraseal Jacobean & half neutral what do you think as far as being a medium brown?

Hi Tadas,
Your site is fantastic and hope you can advise us. We are looking to stain our red oak floors a dark grey. Our flooring guy has done two samples so far, one us very light (he said that was just grey over the red oak) and the other was darker when he first applied it but as it dried it lightened up and picked up a bluish tinge (that was called Slate). He says that doing a second coat of any stain won’t darken the appearance. We are trying for a dark grey, we don’t mind a little variance showing between the grey and red oak as he says it’s impossible to not have the red show through, but since we are also having barndoor siding done to our island that is a grey/brown mix, we don’t want that competing with the floor – so the closer we can get the floor to a true dark grey or pewter, the better. What are your suggestions? Thank you so much!

We just purchased a home and wish to stain our golden oak floors daker. We were thinking of choosing Espresso. Our trim and doors are also golden oak. I am not a fan of the golden oak color. Would the espresso floors and white trim + doors look nice? I love the dark floors…but I don’t want it so dark that it looks black. Most of our furniture are in the dark brown category. I was thinking light sitting pieces with a pop of color to keep the home nice,warm,and inviting, We have large windows therefore we get alot of natural light.
Thank You

P.S. I love your article.

Hello, great article and suggestions in comments. We are getting our White oak floors refinished and really like the look of the natural white oak, maybe slightly darker but not grey/not brown/not Orange/not yellow…

Suggestions for a stain and finish to use? I like a lighter, cool-ish vibe not warmy brown tones.

Also what color should quarter round be? Same as floors or same as white trim?

We are having our red oak floors in the whole house refinished. There are some brand new sections and sections that are 44 years old with some staining. The family room was stained dark walnut color and has the dark pegs in the nail areas of each board. We would love the house to be somewhat consistent and know we have to hide some age flaws. We were thinking 1/2 special walnut/ 1/2 chestnut. There is a lot of white and neutral gray paint colors in the whole house. What do you think is a safe bet. We like provincial too. What might be a good blend that’s not too reddish and would look good with all the dove white and neutral gray paint?

Hello Tadas,
Thank you for your valuable knowledge. Very helpful!!!
May I ask what type of wood and stain color used in the first pic and the one used as a background to show three wood samples in the 2nd picture from the bottom?
Thank you in advance

Thank you so much for your reply… what is the best stain for red oak floor to keep it light or close to the above mentioned pictures?

I’m doing white oak floors with dark (European) trim and trying to find something not too gray and not too red. Suggestions?

I love the stain shown in your photo above – the paragraph below it starts with…
“One reason for going with a dark colored stain may be to hide blemishes or imperfections”

Thank you!

We just purchased a home with oak wood floors and will be adding some new areas so that the entire floor is wood. (taking out the carpet parts) We have hired a man whom is comes highly recommended. Problem is we want to get the floors stained before we move in and I am very confused as to what color to stain them. We have a LOT of antique furniture. Mostly tiger oak and some mahogony pieces and I don’t want the floor to be “matchy”, but rather complement these pieces and our style. Can you recommend a stain (our guy likes MinWax) that would be good with lots of mostly oak antiques?

Hello! This post is super helpful- thank you! Wondering what is the stain color of the image under your text “…lighter colored modern grey shade”? Thank you so much!

Hi Tadas,
I really hope you can help us. We hired a well know local flooring company to sand and stain our red oak living room floor to match our adjacent white oak dining room floor. The stain they chose is very red and does not match our existing floor.
We are trying to get them to agree to resand and stain another color. Is there a way to send you a picture? I don’t know the name of the color of either floor but think the (prefinished) white oak floor stain may be Bruce gunstock.
Can you help?

Hello Tadas, not sure if you are still answering questions but if so…I need your advice… We have red oak floors that have turned the very orangey-yellow color you talked about …We are having them sanded and also new floors being added to the kitchen as well…I’m so confused on which color stain to pick. My kitchen cabinets are maple with a cider color…as of now…they almost match the hardware floors…what color stain would you recommend to change it all to? The kitchen floors will abut the living room and sitting room floors, so they will all be changed to the same color stain. Can you give me advice as to matching or contrasting floors to maple cider cabinets?

Hi Tadas
Working on a historic 1890’s home. The floors are mostly red oak. The trim is a mix of red oak and pine and they are stained/faded to the typical yellowy honey tones. I am not sure my budget can handle changing the wood trim, bulit-ins and stair railings/details. However I am looking to change floor color. Debating between a super dark like ebony, pure black or super light bleached look. I need to get away from all the red yellows…I also do not want to see the grain too much as it is too much for the eye, way too busy. Also, oil vs. bona (water based)????

Thank you for all the great information. We just had local (Northern Wisconsin) red pine floors installed. There are portions that are blue, called denim, throughout the wood. I would like to stain them a medium brown so you don’t see the contrast from the blue and non-blue parts of the pine floor as much. Have you ever worked or seen pine with denim coloring? Do you have any recommendations for stain colors?

Krystle

Hi – I will be white washing my wood wall paneling in my den. What type of wood floor won’t clash with the wall paneling?

HI Tadas! I cannot thank you enough for all this information. You are so kind to do this and reading this was a huge help. We have maple flooring, or at least my husband thinks so….. It is the yellowy orange color and I’ve not enjoyed it the entire 10 years we have been in the house. We are remodeling our kitchen and having all floors redone. :-) YAY!!! Our plan for the new cabinets is all uppers and lowers will be Sherwin Williams Repose Grey with Sherwin Williams Iron Ore as a glaze in the crevice/designs on the doors. The island which is huge, will be in the dark Iron Ore color. I need your advice on what color for the floors to match the new kitchen etc. We also have plans for the built in cabinets on the side of the fireplace to be repose gray with glaze again. The fireplace mantel, bar area will match the bar in the Iron Ore/charcoal color.

Please help! Two contractors told us we cannot go dark at all because the maple flooring will look bad… ??? What did they mean in your opinion? Cannot thank you enough and so looking forward to your advice!

Hi Tadas,
First of all thank you so much for replying to all people. Its so much help.
We just got a house with an older dark prefinished hardwood (oak or maple not sure, very white looking wood inside). we decided to refinish it. we would like to create light cool natural look but not too white yellowish.
Question is what would you recommend to put on it. We heard that we can just put tinted finish on it, without staining it. Please give us some ideas of what product to use and where we can find it.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Also with Bona sealer and bona finish. do we need to use them both? Or there are other products we can use. We are very beginners here)

Hello my name is Spencer I am a handyman and I have been for 6 years now but I’m running into a bit of an issue with my girlfriend’s grandmother’s wood floor!!! :/…… Okay so long story short if there’s anybody that can help me figure out if the steps I’m about to take are the exact correct steps to do when trying to repair a wood floor color due to mold from water. So currently I have already removed the sealer that was on the floor so that I could get to Bearwood and put down oxalic acid to bleach the wood back to the original color at which I then sanded back with a fine grit a 220 to be exact and I’m just about ready to start staining it back to the original color to match the whole floor BUTTTTTT I’m seriously concerned with the line of where All the spots that I have sanded are… Is it going to blend right back to the floor color because I don’t really think it will and I’m afraid that I’m going to stain the floor but you’re still going to be able to see the outline of the area that I sanded in each spot…. If anybody that can give me any helpful tips that will help me understand how to blend something like that better or a better process or steps please help me as soon as possible for I need to get this done yesterday… Lol

Thanks!!! -Spencer (Arkansas)

What about chemically stripping tannins from wood for a Swedish-type look?

Hi Tadas and team,

your blog and experience are great! I’d like to ask for your opinion regarding an issue with Rubio Monocoat. We’ve had our floors sanded down and finished with Rubio Monocoat Dark oak oil. After almost two months when I enter the apartment, I can still feel a sharp smell lingering in the air. Rubio is advertised as a low smelling product, is there reason to suspect that the product was not applied properly? Do you have any ideas how to mitigate the smell?

Thanks so much in advance!

Hello,
Your article was very informative. Thank you for posting!
We are looking to redo our floors throughout our house. We have natural hickory cabinets and are thinking of doing a provincial stain or antique brown in the bona stain. Do you have any pictures of work you’ve done with those type of cabinets? What are your thoughts on those two stains?

Thank you for the informative post. We have white oak floors and looking to resand and finish them in a light modern grey. We also want to prevent them front yellowing over time. What product/products are recommended to help minimize this issue with white oak?
Thanks, Tina

One of your pictures says Early American or Colonial Maple. Which one is shown in the picture?

Hi Tadas- Great site! I have original red oak floors in the original part of my house (now very orange’y) and am installing new red oak floors in a kitchen & tv room reno. I want to then finish all of them the same stain. My new kitchen cabinets are natural rift sawn white oak. Should I try to bring in a warm brown? What might be a good fit with the cabinets? I’ve heard one with a green tone lessens the red. Thoughts?

Wonderful post. Wish I bumped into it lot sooner. Even more, wish we could reach out to you for our flooring. As it is, we are having our new home built and the builder handles all the sub contracts. Most of the choices are fixed but we still could choose hardwood stain and the wall colors. And hence started our stressful search.
We went with White kitchen cabinets for the perimeter with Rye (dark grey) island. Lafata cabinets with simple shaker style doors. Both perimeter and island will have calacatta Laza countertops. I was very inspired by the lighter wood floors from the beginning and the counter and cabinet choice was in line with that inspiration.
Fast forward to present situation only to know that the Hardwood floor is of red oak and any lighter stain will bring out the red/pink tones. Weathered Oak was something I had in mind but after knowing and seeing a small area on the floor, dropped the idea of weathered oak. That’s a bummer cause I had this vision of lighter, breezy look.
The home has an open floor plan, we have good natural light and a dark floor might look stunning with the white walls that we have in mind but, dark floors are high maintenance. I want the home to look beautiful and functional. We have friends with pets and they are always welcome in our home – the dark floor in our friends’ home shows lotsa scratches and hence we dropped the idea of choosing dark colors.
The second bummer is again to know from our builder that no mixing of stains is allowed. I was hoping to still get lighter shades while keeping the reds/oranges/pinks under and not turning into blues and purples but with the no-no of mixing stains, this seems like an almost impossible task to achieve.
With your experience, can you please suggest a few things? We are very desperate as we need to choose a color, time is running out and we are no where close to finalizing the stain. our builder already warned us of delays added because of the time taken in decision and this adds to the stress. Appreciate your response.
Thank you!

Hello!

We have hickory floors. Is that wood more similar to red or white oak? Looking at dura seal products and they reference red/white oak. Nowhere do I see anyone talking about hickory tho.

We(my wife) selected rustic beige. Any experience with that particular color? Will my floors look pink?

We have the ugly golden oak cabinets from 1997 and all the trim is the same
Our red oak hardwood is the natural color which since has turned yellow. I want to refinish the floor with a color that looks well with the trim/ cabinets. Can you give a few suggestions?

Hello! We have red oak floor and put samples down of Minwax Dark Walnut, Ebony, Jacobean and all mixed 50/50 with classic gray. We do not have a lot of natural light and the Dark Walnut looks really dark but I like the color. The 50/50 classic gray made all of the colors look almost muddy. Do you suggest doing 50 dark walnut and 50 provincial or is there a color that is just slightly lighter than Dark walnut for homes that do not have much natural light?
Thank you!

Your insight is amazing and so valuable! Thank for the kind assistance. I love the floors in your picture of the kitchen with I think a bluish color island. I tried to figure out the color and hoped someone asked it within the thread. Hope you can provide insight.

Hi, What stain are you using in the Light Colored Stained Floor image that shows a grey undertone with variation? It is the first image after the heading: Should I Go For a Light or Dark Stain or Something In Between?

HI Tadas! Have you used Bona Red Out and if so how did it work for you? We are leaning towards trying to get our red oak as light as possible to look like White Oak floors. I was reading bleach is bad for floors but then I read other people use it just fine. Any suggestions or experience on getting red oak as light as possible?
Thank you in advance for any help!

Hi there,

I too like many others am embarking on a large staining project. We have mostly red oak with one room that has white oak. I know it won’t look the same, but I’m hoping to get the best stain color that will transition. Since only one room is white oak I’m mostly focusing on the red oak. Originally I wanted a Scandinavian style white-ish/neutral stain, but the pinks pull way too much.

I really love the stain used in the picture you have above directly under the picture with the hot pink island (it’s the picture with white cabinets at the far end if you zoom in). Can you please let me know if that is red oak and what stain and finish process was used? I love that natural look showing and it seems like the perfect compromise.

Thanks!

After scoring many blogs your’s is the absolute best so we all thank you.

we have to refinish all the wood floors in our home due to some water damage we had (we have continuous wood flooring, so all has to be refinished). We currently have red oak that is stained a darker hue and we are considering sanding and staining lighter…ive read that bona nordic is great, but any tips to help take out red hues? red oak typically turns pink, so trying to glean as much info as possible to stain similar to white oak, without the pink undertones.

Hi thanks for the blog. Can you please tell me the stain color used in the light color red oak floor that has seems to have gray in the grain? It is the picture below the one with the red island. I think the 10th picture?
Thank you!

Hello Tadas,
We are looking for a Duraseal floor stain color that will compliment all of our older mahogany and cherry furniture. Our house is a small ranch, NOT open floor plan with newly laid red oak flooring in the kitchen and possibly white oak and or red oak throughout. (could even be a mix of both). We are putting in white cabinets in the kitchen with a southern exposure, so pretty much anything will work.
Our problem is choosing a stain that will work throughout the rest of the house, most of which has a northern exposure. We actually LIKE the warmth of English Chestnut, but when we had a sample put down (water popped) it came out much darker than expected. Provincial was way too dark and Special Walnut, while okay, read as a bit too neutral and not enough warmth.
What are your thoughts about plain Duraseal Chestnut? I am drawn to the floor stain in your off-white kitchen photo. Any guidance will be appreciated.
Thanks, Pattie

Hi, we have sanded and stained our floors to dark walnut but I don’t like it, I think we made the wrong decision and brighter colors were better options. I am trying to get used to the color but still after 8 months I don’t like it

Do you carry Dura Seal Stain: 133 English Chestnut.

Thank you

In the photo with the kitchen, and the beach house sign on the wall – the one you mention is natural. What stain is that? We have white oak floors to refinish and I absolutely love the color in that photo.

WOW!!!!!! So helpful!! We are having our hickory floors redone since they had the oil based coating that was yellowed on. I am having the hardest time finding a stain when our installer has brought some. We a neutral color- looking at the samples you shared natural, oyster or Rubio look nice, bona natural or maybe a lighter provincial. He did a white wash and clear and then jacobean (too dark) and I believe Pallmans gray which was a medium to slightly dark brown. I really want to mute the noise of the hickory but can’t justify ripping it out. I do like light and airy, but I think 2000 SQ ft of all natural clear may be to much. Is there a nice neutral stain or combo recipe you can recommend? Again, amazing post!

Hi Tadas – amazing article! I’m moving into a house that has American Cherry flooring, and they have a very orange look to them right now. I’m looking to stain them a light to medium brown with minimal reds/pinks coming through. What do you recommend?

Hello Tadas! I’m glad I found your blog but sad that you’re not in my area! My dilemma is my 2005 home has dark trim and kitchen cabinets, saddle color with underlying red tone, red oak floor with the honey oak tone that has pulled more yellow orange over time. There is not a lot of natural light, and I want to update my cabinets to a lighter color, probably Sahara maple, and I can’t find a floor stain that will work with existing trim. I don’t like painted cabinets or trim, but finding a stain color that will work is daunting! Any suggestions?