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matching/complementing douglas fir

14 years ago

Can anyone suggest some hardwood colors or finishes that would complement douglas fir? We have the original douglas fir floors throughout our 1922 house. It's quite orange-y in tone, and I'm looking for something a little more muted for our kitchen, planning a remodel.

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alexia10
14 years ago
My previous home (1930's) had oak floors (the old kind, yellowish orange) through out (including bathrooms) apart from the kitchen that had douglas fur. We thought the flow from oak to pine was fine.
My new home, also wood trough out has 4 different kids of wood.
Kitchen is yellow hard wood pine, pantries are douglas fur, dinning room and all the rest of first floor is oak. Upstairs hallway is oak, half bedrooms are birch and half bedrooms are douglas fur. The only one that I am not thrilled with is the the birch which I think it looks weird. Anyway, my point is that although so many different woods are used somehow everything looks nice. People always comment on the richness of my floors. I think nothing can go wrong with using 2 different kids of wood as long as the color hue is not completely off. I would not get something too white or something that looks too exotic unless of course you want to create a complete different feel.

The only thing I would worry is the contrast between the old and the new. One of my closets of my new home was completely rotten (from roof leaking...) and we put there a brand new floor. While we matched the wood and color still anytime I look in there it looks so new that is an eyesore. Thankfully it is just a closet. I think our mistake was to buy the kind that wad the poly already applied so it is not the same poly that the rest of the room has. If I had to do it over I would get the unfinished wood. And ask my kids to distress it a lit bit...:)
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Thanks, folks! I would love to do reclaimed floors. Unfortunately, they have been impossible to find here in the right size, and having them brought in from elsewhere would completely blow the budget at this point. We tried very hard to save the kitchen flooring so we could at least use part of it, but it was in horrible shape. I am going to keep my eyes open and see if I find anything for reclaimed wood. The floors were not stained when we refinished them, and they have never been waxed. (Except if kittens sliding across it on dropcloths count! When we were doing some plaster repair, Oliver and his brother, Toby, would jump from the stairs and slide across the room.) So I guess it could be either Douglas or Southern yellow pine. Does the fact the house is in Massachusetts make a difference? We got samples of Mercier pre-finished hardwood flooring, and the closest matches were in their honey finish: white ash, then white oak, then maybe red oak, then hard maple (for color, not at all a match for graining.) So unless something comes up for reclaimed flooring in the next two weeks, we will be using the white ash. Thanks again, Emmie
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Hi, I would use gel stains for this. I'd start with a "new pine" color, very light but pigmented. Then layer on the color of your choice until it was dark enough. The first stain will seal the grain so every subsequent coat colors the entire piece the same without the softer wood taking in the majority of the color. Instead of the new pine color, you could use clear "sealcoat" (de-waxed) shellac. That would likely give a clearer grain effect even under a few coats of gel stain, but not do as good a job stopping the natural orange tone of fir. BTW, oil gel stain, not acrylic latex. If your drying conditions are less than ideal, you can intersperse more coats of shellac; rub out with synthetic steel wool before the next layer of color. Topcoat could be whatever you wish, but the clear satin gel varnish looks great if you can keep up with it. It dries very fast in warm weather. Casey
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I can't help with the woodworking, but wondering why you think they need to match? Since framing that has traditionally most often has used a different wood than floors, they seldom matched. Perhaps a stain that would coordinate with the flooring could work for you? You didn't mention what color you're staining the oak floors. You can use other wood pieces in the room to bring the 2 colors together.
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