I"ve never heard of using marine varnish on indoor floors. Wouldn't the fumes be horrendous? My parent's home had pine flooring and it showed every ding and bump, even from high heeled shoes. On the other hand, my home was built in 1962 and I just had the white oak floor refinished in polyurethane. It's gorgeous. And quarter sawn oak would be even more so. But any wood will ding or scratch under the right cercumstances. It really comes down to what you like--you're the one who'll see it every day.

Shellac's solvent is denatured alcohol (or, um, real alcohol if that's handier.) If that doesn't work try mineral spirits or turp - it might just be old-fashioned varnish. Or you can have both, in serial layers. Oh, the joys of old houses! Either way, you'll know pretty quickly because the paper towel you rub the solvent on with will get sticky when you have a match between the product and the solvent. Do the tests in an out-of-the-way spot, naturally. It would be fab if it's shellac as it's much easier to lift than paint. The issue with paint is that it gets deep in the grain and between the boards and trying to sand down below it for total removal can result in sanding too deep. Believe it or not some of us actually still use shellac on floors. It has many adavantages: it's natural (it's made from insect secretions, which may or may not cheer you up!); it's almost completely reversible (as you will find if that's shellac on your floors, you'll bless who ever put it down); and it's touch-up-able as new coats actually dissolve the coat below. It is uncommon now and many (trades)people never having worked with it consider it too tricky to apply so there is much recommendation against it. It is not as durable as poly, though, and it is particularly vulnerable to water. (Though you can wax it - with well-buffed paste wax - to increase its resistance to water. It's very old-fashioned. I don't think it's as fouly stinky as poly. I like the softer, less plastic-y look to it, especially when waxed. It probably takes longer to apply (more coats) than slapping on some poly, which may be partly why it fell out of favor. Casey usually chimes with good advice about buying it dry and recommends not buying it at big box stores because their stuff is not fresh. One buys the shellac flakes in various tints and mixes with alcohol in situ. I think it is harder to apply when it is very hot and humid. At least I have more problems with uneven drying which can lead to a cloudiness. (Not fatal, but requiring another coat.) Try Googling about this. If you get beyond the anti-shellac propaganda, you'll find info and Youtubes of people who have done it. HTH L.

Everyone is so kind . You guys are the best ! Mary lu I just love your house. Did you ever figure out the colors for outside ? I was following the thread with interest. And then there are your roses and bricks...sigh...so beautiful. mpmg: YOu are so sweet. Everytime someone saves something old I feel rewarded. I have a friend that has said I can have the whole old house on their property to salvage all the beaded board and wood floors...I will take pics as it happens and you will see the whole process. I have to get my floor guy to salvage it and then trim and pay it and ...months...and months.. eandhl: ooohhh you have to post pics asap...I can hardly wait to enjoy vicariously. Patricia: you are so sweet. You can sit and have a glass of ice tea when you come to visit and enjoy the table and bench :) Caroline

I really like the red tone to the darker wood cabinet and I think it would go well in contrast to your floors. We have 96 year old heart pine flooring the color you picture in the main rooms of our home, the original pine wood trim and doors are stained kind of dark and I have lots of mahogany and cherry furniture. I like the contrast. We did tile floors in our kitchen, since the heart pine was not there when we removed the old vinyl. But we kept the wood trim & doors darker stained pine in the kitchen and did the cabinets in a honey spice stained birch to try and tie the color in with the heart pine floors in the main rooms. It worked pretty well (although honey spiced pine cabinets would probably have worked even better, but they would have been softer, too many knots and more expensive to boot). It is hard to know what to do. But all that said, I like your reddish wood shaker cabinet doors.