This picture shows our floor color pretty accurately, but I think mine might be darker than what you want. Ours is a finish called "nutmeg."
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Prior to our remodel the cabinets were white and the floor was lighter, but yellowed. I was really happy with how the floors turned out after they were refinished.

After you get your floors redone, and when you have your first party - check people's shoes! We had a party with about 70 people 3 weeks after our remodel was done. A few days later I noticed pock marks all over my kitchen floor! It looks like a golf ball! (This picture is after the marks happened, but you can't really see them.) Someone had high heels with the nails poking out. grrrr. I was really sad, but now we have a puppy so I'm resigned to my floors being roughed up a bit. (But it would have been nice to have them look great for more than 3 weeks!)

OoOOOoo....nice kitchen, chicagoans! Actually, I LOVE your floor color! I want to go lighter but not "natural"...that would be too light. The nutmeg is nice.
Ugh, thats too bad about the "heels". Is yours polyurethened or waterloxed?

Thank you cawfeegirl - I'm glad you like the color. I'm pretty sure it's polyurethened but not positive. I don't know if the floors are more vulnerable to dents right after being redone, but it's worth asking. (Too late for me but not you!)

If you are worried about marks on your floor, the exotic hardwoods are much harder than your standard oak, cherry and maple. We ordered Brazilian cherry and it will be installed in a few weeks. I didn't have any idea what I wanted either, but after looking around, I knew I like the exotic woods best. You should check out Amendoim, it is a nice lighter wood, but not too light. I really liked it but DH wanted something darker. Brazilian Teak is nice too.

Here is a link that might be useful: BR111 Amendoim

Here's mine. They are QS White Oak site finished. My floor guy called it nutmeg.

Those floors are great marybeth! I really like the grain - I'm guessing the grain is different because they're quarter sawn? My floors are more grainy than I'd like. (I really wanted bamboo for the looks and durability, but we had no need to tear out the floors so we just refinished them.)

I like your backsplash too.

We did a hickory floor because we wanted them to be very durable (have two not-small dogs that they have to stand up to). It's doing very well I have to say (it was installed in Dec 2008). We stayed away from the exotic hardwoods because of concerns about them coming from Amazon forests, etc.

This is a "natural" stain, so I'm sure you could go darker:

Oh actually Im just having regular boring white oak installed since thats what the rest of the house is and it has to be feathered into the kitchen. I was more curious as to which color stain everyone has so I could decide....

chicagoans: What is your granite??

marybeth1 and chicagoans: The colorchart that my floor guy gave me DOES have a color called "Nutmeg" on it. Im wondering if you all had the same stain. The name on top of the color chart says "DuraSeal". Do you know if that's what you had?

olga d: Your floors are beautiful! Is that granite Verde Peacock???

I put brazilian cherry throughout our house when I built 15 years ago.

It's drop-dead gorgeous, just stunning. But dark floors can show every speck, smear, crumb, every anything.

Now that can be a good thing if you're a neat freak and want to know where the dirt is. Or that can be a constant source of irritation.

We have a handy central vac so cleaning is a breeze.

I do love the floors though. Still going strong.

Hmmm...I don't have a photo that shows the flooring in the kitchen, but here it is in the bathroom...just squint and pretend the toilet is a refrigerator...

olga d: Your floors are beautiful! Is that granite Verde Peacock???
Thanks! And yup, you're right about the granite. I love it! :D

We have natural stained birch floors in our master. This is an old photo so excuse the mess.

When we were picking the stain the floor guy put the colors right on the floor next to each other. He put down natural and a stain he called nutmeg. I then had him tone the nutmeg color down twice, he said any lighter I might as well go with natural. I don't know if it was Dura Seal though.

redroze: do you think a natural birch floor will look different from a natural oak floor?

marybeth1: yeah my guy is going to do stain samples, too. Im going to have him do natural and nutmeg and a couple of others. Your kitchen is really nice, though...I love the "warmth" of it. What color are your cabinets?

Here are mine. They're oak, but I don't know the finish. Had them refinished a few years ago.

jeanteach: thanks, they are beautiful! By the way, where did you get your chairs? Im looking for the same ones except in black!

olga d: we're getting Verde Peacock too! Are your cabinets "natural"? We are getting the same cabs, too, but they will be Toffee which I think is a bit darker.

Cawfeegirl: They are from Pier 1, but are several years old. Good luck!

cawfeegirl: you asked about our granite. I THINK it's Giallo Vincente, but, well, kind of a story about that...

My original choice was Giallo Vincente. I carried around a sample for ages and matched stuff to it. Then our builders advised that it was over our allowance, but that another supplier had the same kind for slightly less. So, we went there and picked out the slabs but didn't bother to get a sample since we had one from the other place. After the counters were installed (we had moved out during the work), I walked in and was kind of shocked -- I swear it was different granite! Much darker and more "active." They swore it was what we picked. So I just decided that I love it and I will fill my kitchen with people I love and not worry about it!

Sorry for the long story, but the short version is that I THINK it's Giallo Vincente but I'm not positive! (And for an anal person like me who kept records of model #s etc., that's kind of weird.)

And regarding the finish on the floor, I don't know the brand. Sorry about that. I had narrowed it down to 2 choices and the finisher was able to put patches of both stains down for me so I could make a choice.

You have probably seen mine recently but here's another shot. I've had hardwood in my kitchen for 17 years and love it!

They're beautiful, neumamom!! What color stain are they? Natural?

Anderson Lincoln Planks, oak, color, sand. The new floor starts right at the island legs and extends into the kitchen. The old floor extends from there through the dining room.

We are having our hardwood floors installed tomorrow. We decided on brazilian tigerwood which is light in color. I will upload a photo tomorrow or Tuesday after it is done.

jeantech I love how your floor planks are laid on a diagonal.

Redroze, LOL! Your bedroom photo didn't quite match the image I have of you through your kitchen! (Glad you clarified it is an old photo.) Is that a person asleep on the bed?

This is the best picture I could get of the color of the floors IRL. Most of the pics I get show them more red than they are. They are plain oak, installed 15 years ago, not stained, just PU. The color is from patina and remodel dust, although looking at the areas that were finished but under molding, it hasn't changed that much.

The lighter rectangle is the original that was unfinished under the old island. The strip extending from it is the new stuff they put down Thursday to replace boards damaged from a fridge leak.

I thought I'd like to go darker when we have them refinished, but the point is well-taken about dark floors showing every speck. That is one thing I have loved about these floors, the way they hide dirt!