Kitchen cabinets and hardwood floor finish

16 years ago

We have ordered our cabinets - cherry wood with an American Walnut finish. We were going to use a natural stain on our oak wood floors however we feel the darker stains are so much richer looking. The flooring runs through the living room, dining room, kitchen, halls and on the railing and up the stairs to the upper hallway. As you walk into the house you see the stairs and center hall. My question - because our cabinets are dark would we be making a mistake using a dark floor in the kitchen (still lighter than the cabinets but not a big contrast)? The kitchen does get natural light all day.

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Comments (8)

pbrisjar
16 years ago
Go with what you love. Personally, I'm a big fan of the mid-range to darker stains. Hubby convinced me to go lighter on our cabinets and I really regret it.

If you're concerned, go to your local HD or lumber yard, get a decent-sized piece of oak, stain it the color you want (or a close approximation) and put it on the floor near your cabinets.
msrose
16 years ago
Even though I love the darker floors, everyone keeps saying that the dust shows up more on them. I also like to see some contract between the cabinets and floors, so I think I would go with a medium color for the floor.

Laurie
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Kim,,,it's very solid. just make sure the glue is spread to completely cover the plank. I have a few spots (like under the kitchen sink) where they missed the corner and it squeaks. They've held up great. I don't have dogs, but I have cats and have heard their nails burning rubber across the floor they go off on their tangents. I've spilled water, cleaned up their barf, spilled food, whatever, it all cleans up very well. as for dents, only if you drop something very heavy. but any wood floor will dent. I vacuum w/a Dyson, and then I use Bona wood floor cleaner on a mop. in the kitchen, i'll often take the scrubby brush and watered down Dawn to clean up spills or oil stains. no problem. no, I don't baby them. I don't wear shoes in my house though. I love my floors. just make sure on install they clean up all the glue residue. my guys were messy and lazy. had to call them back w/special glue remover and rag and go over the entire floor.
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brunosonio
16 years ago
We went with unstained cherry cabs and unstained maple floors, and let each darken naturally. Nice contrast, and you cannot see a speck of dust on the floors, LOL. Even my Jack Russell's white hairs on the floor disappear until you look at the floor at a sharp angle or vacuum and see how much you picked up.

Also, scratches and dings don't show up as well on lighter floors.

But the nicest thing is the contrast in the wood colors. I would be careful that both the floor and the cabs don't end up in the same hue or tone, it can look like those wood paneled rooms from the 50's.

Get some oak samples, as large as you can find or buy, and have them stained and finished. Put them down on the floor and see what they look like in the various light conditions. And also see how they look against your base cabinets. It's worth the hassle and time, otherwise you might be stuck with a very expensive mistake.
User
16 years ago
I'd like to see some contrast. I have natural cherry cabinets and did a fruitwood stain on the red oak floors. The two woods are too close in color. If I were doing it again I would leave the oak natural.
igloochic
16 years ago
I had red oak and went with natural cherry in the kitchen. The two colors were too close in tone and would have really felt like that 1970's paneled room (great description). I went with a dark stain on the floor instead.

I'd make sure you have a decent amount of contrast between floor and cabinets. It's just too much to have them all the same in tone (as Judeny states). It's kind of like matching your bedding to the carpet...one huge thing on another huge thing reads as a REALLY BIG THING!!! And probably too much of it!
kathy50
Original Author
16 years ago
I would like to thank everyone for your help. We have a piece of the flooring and will stain it with our possible choices and then lay the piece near the cabinets once they are installed.
alku05
16 years ago
We have dark floors and dark cabinets. Our kitchen gets a lot of natural light, and we chose light colored counters for contrast:
kathy50
Original Author
16 years ago
Alku05,
Love your kitchen. What color are your cabinets and floor? What woods are you working with for the cabinets and floors? If I could get the look of your woods, I would be thrilled!

Kitchen cabinets and hardwood floor finish

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Kitchen cabinets and hardwood floor finish

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pbrisjar

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