Bleaching will lighten the wood. If, it is yellow. It will make it less or eliminate it. Having white oak means that you can skip the bleaching process. Nordicseal is a good product for white washing. Since, it is also a sealer, it will block any tannins from bleeding through prevent the yellow. Also, if, you use a water base poly, the water base poly will prevent the yellowing. If, you use an oil base, then expect yellowing to occur. You can also use a stain mixture for white washing. But, you will need to apply a sealer to prevent tannins from bleeding through.

First off I don't see anything wrong but it is your house? The quality of the wood will dictate the finished look. You have a very skinny plank with many shades mixed in which usually means a lower end floor. Think about it, the more time the mfg has to pick and match wood tones the more uniform the floor will look and of course cost. I am not even sure that is white oak? It can be a stretch of the word as theater are planks that are not white oak and most do not look like white oak. When you stain wood it will LOOK EXACTLY as it does before the stain but with a different tone. The only way around this is a very dark gel type stain to even out sap wood. You have a lot of sap wood mixed in which again goes back to the quality of the wood. I am in no way saying you have a cheap floor but when you see pics of a perfect grain matched one tone floor it took a lot of money and labor to get to it. You have a nice floor get the 80's thing out of your head and enjoy.

First off, ask the contractor to sand it to smooth. I would chose the country white since you want it to appear lighter and brighter. It would help if you could show us some photos and we could get a better idea of the layout.

It's not just that the color is different with Red Oak, but the grain is busier too. With such a narrow plank, the effect with a very light Red Oak floor might appear choppy. I think the sample to the left of the island column is very even and complements the island finish well. Don't get hung up on trying to create a White Oak look from Red Oak. Look at what works best with the rest of your finishes, even if it is not what you had envisioned from the start. The two samples on the right look very pink and lavender to me. The one on the left looks busy.