sc Kathyc - We originally were leaning toward going dark with the floors until they were installed. They are just so beautiful unfinished aren't they? When we went with darker stains we lost the color variations and gained more grain activity. We had a lot of different stain colors and combos, but ended up going with 2 parts natural and 1 part chestnut stain (I think). You can still tell it's hickory, yet the color variations aren't too demanding in the room. One of the toughest decisions on our build, but I'm very happy with how they turned out.

I hope it is not too late in responding to you. We replaced our "cheap" engineered floors 4 years ago with a 5/8" engineered redoak over 9 layer base. It comes prefinished, but we chose the unfinished wood in order to finish on site. Some leveling had to be done, as some areas had been carpet. Then it was glued down. We had it hand scraped with the grain, then stained and finished. I had two colors mixed, as I did not want red, but wanted dark brown (the red oak and scraped areas will take the stain darker and lighter in areas)but not black. I really wanted the wider planks but just could not go the extra money with all the other out of pocket expenses we had. I went with 3 inch and really worried how it would look and if I would be happy. There is some sanding once installed and before staining. While nothing is 100% dustless, it was not bad. I was expecting worse. We have a son with severe allergies to air born allergens/dust mites, etc and he was fine. He as asthma as well (not allergy onset) and was never bothered. However, we did not live in the house during installation. I am happy to report that I still LOVE my floors every time I look at them. I had area rugs under the piano and coffee table, but they did not last long. Covered up too much of my beautiful floor. Recently, we had a hot water heater flood a hallway that was under water for about an hour. After all was said and done, not one millimeter of finish was damaged and not one board warped, cupped, popped, etc. Exellent installation is a key when installing any product. Good Luck Here are a couple of photos. Depending on the time of day, which lamps are on, and how much natural light is coming in, the floors can take on different hues of brown. Here is a link that might be useful: Shamrock Flooring

eastbaymom- your cabs and floors look great, i think you are right, we could go darker but we would lose the contrast, so it just depends on the kind of look we are really going for river spots- we did look at 3 different maple grades at the flooring showroom. we definitely ruled out the grade 3 maple, but liked some of the contrast that the second grade offered. I can see however that the cleanest grade of maple might be considered the most contemporary. another possibility that i kind of like is white quarter sawn (or rift and quartered) oak. That would also fit in with some of the arts and crafts details we have in our home. and that leaves the option to leave it unstained for now and if we ever do remodel the cabinetry to have it refinished and stained darker in the future. I had never before heard of maple being country styled either but no fewer than 3 individuals in 3 different conversations told me that it was. i'd appreciate any other opinions as well as to what other woods/colors would look good with our cabinets. I originally had the flooring quote done in walnut, which i also love, but i'm afraid with my kids being the way they are that the scratches will look awful in a short time frame.

It looks like the floors have been stained/finished to match the cabinets. If you must refinish them (and I would ONLY do this if they ABSOLUTELY need it) I would work with a water based polyurethane. Just as dcarendt has done, going NATURAL with a water based finish will offer a degree of separation which would be JUST ENOUGH to offer some visual interest. Personally I think the COUNTER TOPS need changing more than the floors. My first choice would be a CRISP white (no gray) or a soap stone/slate counter top would be EXTREMELY handsome. You need some CONTRAST in the kitchen. Right now you have mid-tone sitting on mid-tone sitting on mid-tone. You have the lightest version of "brown blahs" I have yet encountered. Changing the counter tops would be faster and probably cheaper than changing the finish of the wood.