Actually, most of our nice furniture is in the office/study and bedrooms -- those will be upstairs in the new house. Our current sofa sectional will be in the tv room downstairs. So...we still have to pick out new dining room set, stools, and living room furniture and can plan to get what will match the rooms. What I would love...darker mission oak furniture and/or contemporary in that same darker oak (with a slight reddish cast) or expresso finish. I'll try to take and post some pics of our dresser to show the finish tonight or tomorrow. I also just LOVED the Korean chest of drawers someone posted a pic of yesterday. Our daughter is Chinese, we have some Chinese drawings andwould like to put ina couple of Asian pieces as accents. What would all this mean for the floors, especially if we have the white trim? Any thoughts? I almost want to go with a lighter stain now, after thinking about it yesterday. One company has an Autumn Maple that is just a hair darker than golden oak but a slight auburn cast. Would contrast well with darker mission oak I mentioned. But the last couple of pictures of the walnut stain (posted yesterday) are gorgeous. Thank you all so much, all the comments have been so very helpful and I really appreciate them. Amy

What are you trying to accomplish? Minwax has a broad variety of high quality products. I've used them for decades on many kinds of projects, and I find it hard to believe that they don't have something suitable for whatever home application you have in mind. If you can't find what you want on their web site, give them a call: 800-523-9299.

I hear you. We just had a fence put in, and I want to stain it. A medium dark brown, without too much red, but not gray looking... I've got 5 quarts and three sample size stains, and so far nothing is exactly right.

Hello. Yes with all the different woods none will be exact in colour by any means. But the darker the colour the closer it will be as there is more room to vary and get away with it. I guess it all depends on what colour of stain you consider to be dark in colour. I would do samples with each different type of wood you have with the selected stain. Then at least you know what it looks like. What maybe be of concern (or at least in my findings and strictly my opinion here) is that with all the varying wood types and colours they have can to me bring too many colours into play which i sometimes find they fight with each other instead of blending and flowing in a space. But rather, all the different colours can make a space have no flow, sequence, or symmetry. Size and space of coarse play a part in all this and the extend of the varying colours as well as several other factors but I am sure you get the just of it. Another option you can do is match the lighter looking stains appearance on the select wood to the darkest looking one. Yes it will require purchasing several small quantity containers of maybe 2-4 different colours (these could be stains, dyes, or colourants that are comparable with the stain). Also, you could stain all the trim one colour and then "shade" the lighter coloured pieces. For that you will need an help or a cup gun and compressor. This option would definitely be achievable if you have experience with this sort of application technique. The only downfall to "shading" in my opinion is you loose grain the more you shade but your woods you are using don't really have a lot of grain. They to me have more colour contract in the pieces rather than grain. But the best piece of advice no matter what you decide for colour and application is to do samples until you are pleased with what the wood will look like with the other types. Lastly, there is no real right or wrong. People's personal dwellings and buildings are supposed to be their own, have their own taste, likes, personality to it, and to make them feel comfortable, warm, at ease, and relaxed. And whatever colours, designs, or touches the owners add, take away, or create in their space is what makes it their own place to call home. Have fun with it. Embrace making it your own. It's all yours to enjoy and best of luck with it all.