I'm going to disagree with you on the purple tones. I'd like to see you instead try number two down on the first picture...but I have a feeling that this is only one layer of the stain???? Can we try doing two coats and see if you can deepen the color at all???

I found that over time, the purple toned stains will grey in a not so flattering color so I am disinclined to like that one frankly, but also, think in terms of basic color...if you see orange and purple do you think elegance...or a high school football team???

LOL. Very amusing. I didn't know about the going gray. But yeah - that paragraph should have ended: "So as much as I like it as a color, it has already been ruled out."

This is with two coats of stain and one coat of sealer / top finish, although I suspect Hubby didn't leave them on as long as he could / should. That's what happened with the cabinet color.

Oh gosh, I'm going through the same thing.

I think you should go lighter than the cabinets for a good contrast. The third one on your sample board looks like the best choice to me. The purple tones are pretty, but a bit too wild for those cabinets!

We have ordered medium brownish ("toast") stained cherry cabinets. They resemble the Thomasville coffee stain on cherry. We are rying to pick an oak floor stain that won't be too similar in tone, and that will be a good contrast to the darker color.

I've asked for pictures of floors on the Home Decorating and Flooring forums; maybe someone there will show you some examples that will help you.

Thanks,
PennyLaney

I've been following your thread over on HD, PennyLaney.

Seen in context of the rest of the kitchen (violet walls, purple/gray/blue granite with lots of movement) the purplish stain looks really good. But since it doesn't take well (and I really don't want a gray floor) it's out.

Besides, I love strong, rich, vibrant colors.

What about going way darker...say a Jacobean Walnut tone?

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go darker. Unfortunately Hubby has a strong aversion to dark. Slight exaggeration but anything above a tan is "too dark" to him. It's why our cabinets wound up being so washed out and why I'm not thrilled with them.

I actually tried really hard to get him to agree to a Jacobean walnut. He wouldn't even try it.

*sigh*

Have you tried resorting to tears? :oP LOL

I wish it was that simple.

Do you have the actual lighting in? Have you shown hubby what it looks like under the lighting. When I picked my floor color I picked one of the darkest ones out of the set I was considering and fretted about it being too dark (especially with my dining cabs being almost black) but now that its in place with the recessed lighting shining down on it it doesn't look dark at all - its all about the lighting (ignore the bright spot near the camera.. that is the light from the flash) - see it looks pretty dark in the corner on the right where there is no direct overhead light but elsewhere is looks medium.

{{!gwi}}

I think if it looks good hubby will come around - just let him think on it for a while and see it under the actual lighting (if possible). My DW was initially resistant on a lot of things until peices started to come together and she saw how good it was turning out. You can always resort to this tactic - worked for me everytime with my DW - let him invite some of his friends over and ask THEM about the floor without allowing him to say anything to influence their decision. Though I admit this tactic might not work as well on a man LOL.

I think perhaps this picture illustrates better... compare the floor in the kitchen under the lighting to the right by the stool base which has mostly natural light (but still some from the recessed). The color looks completly different.

{{gwi:1595261}}

Oh, I've shown him some gorgeous kitchens with dark floors - including yours. Then there's one of my absolute fave kitchens (alku I believe) - the one with dark wood floors, deep cherry cabinets and white marble counters. He always dismisses them as too dark.

His family/friends are even worse with the "too dark" comments. No way I'd show them anything until it's a done deal. They've already complicated / hindered several of our decisions.

Maddening, as I think the pale cabinets really wash out our granite.

We're going with the Minwax Red Mahogany (the second one down in the first picture). It's reasonably dark and looks good with the cabinets. Hopefully Hubby will actually let the stain do its job this time around.

Second one down in first picture is great! It really pulls out the grain in the other wood drawing more attention to the grain and therefore less to the orange tones you don't like. Its similar to what I aimed for on my floor color - to match the darker brown grain in the cabs. If the pictures are true (hard to know.. somethings look diff in the pictures) I think both you and hubby will be happy with it.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It's the one igloochic picked out too. I think it's a pretty good compromise between our two vastly different tastes. Picking out the graining (which I absolutely love) was indeed one of the goals. While it's hard to tell from a small sample, it does seem to mellow things down at least somewhat. The pictures are pretty true (at least comparably speaking).

I'm just hoping we get it in before anyone interferes. (That's happened a few times already.)