I would go with oak in a natural or light stain. It's been timeless for years with a relatively narrow plank. My designer also seconded that choice since I am going for a somewhat Craftsman feel although not a literal recreation and the flooring will go with other design choices I am making. I opted for red oak versus brown oak because I will have a lot of brown oak cabinets in my open floor plan and I wanted something light and less brown to contrast with them. I I am replacing my old red oak natural floors with the same as I liked them for many years and they were innocuous so they weren't much of a design consideration i.e. I never had to factor them into anything colors or other furniture I brought in. I also found them easy to maintain as they hid a multitude of sins - they don't show dust as much and they don't show scratches or other wear and tear. I had considered Mohawk but ultimately decided on Mirage engineered floors. They were somewhat more expensive - especially since I opted for the Select and Better - but I wanted the best finish possible. If it is in your budget, check out Mirage as it is Canadian made and a green product. I believe Mirage is made in China. I am not anti-China per se as some are on this forum but less expensive engineered wood floors imported from China are more likely to have formaldehyde and other potentially noxious substances. I was also impressed by the durability of the finish since I am most concerned with that aspect of the flooring. As for refinishing on site, my original floors were finished on site and I could never imagine going through that again so I personally don't care if my wood floors are going to last for 70 years - if I am still living in my condo when the floors are at the end of their life, I will replace them just as all of my neighbors do :-). Aside from the mess, every piece of furniture has to be moved out of all the rooms as opposed to installing flooring that is factory finished where the installers can just keep moving furniture around. :-)

I'm going through the stain choosing process right now and also am experiencing anxiety over choosing the right one! I just saw one in Early American, but now I am liking Nutmeg as well! Looks gorgeous!!

As everyone here suggests, you will have to find a complimentary stain that will camouflage the end stain rather than match the stain. There are ways to do this. You can work with a stain in the same colour range....just a mid-tone version of it. But be prepared for the results. You will not get perfection. You will get "good enough". I highly recommend you ask your floor refinisher to offer MULTIPLE stain samples for you to view. Then "live" with the patches for a few days (yes...that probably means sending away the flooring guy and waiting for a while). You can then choose the stain that does the MOST WORK at hiding the end staining. And I recommend your flooring professional write up a caveat that s/he is not responsible should this "fix" go sideways (not to your satisfaction). A full removal/replacement is probably the only way to achieve "excellent".

We are about to do a kitchen remodel and our red wood hard floors that are in the main living room, hallway and bedrooms will be carried through in the new kitchen. I don't like the red, orange or pink hue in red oak, but I need to make the best of it. I'm looking at all the pictures posted from 2 years ago and wondering how everyone is liking their floors. We are wanting to go light, to give a white oak look, but everything we see is too pick. We may just pick a medium brown, but not sure what color is best. Any thoughts or recommendations on either? We need to make decisions soon. Any tips would be appreciated!