The floors I installed on a project darkened significantly. They were prefinished but had no additional stain.

There were areas that floor protection was left in place and when it was removed you could see a distinct lighter patch. This did "catch up" over time. They still appear to have a reddish tone to me.

Yes, cherry does darken over time and does have the reddish tint. We chose Brazilian teak (cumaru) for our new hardwoods because it gave us the beautiful variations but in brown tones instead of red - check it out!

our cumaru isn't stained, just natural with satin poly

Ours darkened a lot in the 8 years we had them and I loved them, both when they were new and as they darkened! It's one of the hardest woods you can select. The floors held up really well in the 8 years we had them, but we only had them in the LR & DR so our dog wasn't allowed in there and we didn't go in there all day everyday. Like Palimpsest said you can see a color difference in areas where things cover the floor. I had a china cabinet and buffet in our DR that went down all the way to the floor and you could see a perfect outline of where they were when we moved. Under the couch and oversized arm chair wasn't as bad because it's both sunlight and airflow that causes the oxidation of the wood to darken it. The new owners put their furniture in totally different spots then we had ours and just about 6 or 8 months later you couldn't see where our stuff had been, it does catch up over time. Ours had a matte finish.

Here is a not so great picture from just before we moved. The big arm chair had an ottoman in front of it the whole time we lived there and you can't really see where it was.

Good luck!

Kat :)

I've only had mine 11 months, here are first day pics and some more recent - don't know if you can really see any darkening (but I keep the shades drawn so I don't get a lot of change). I originally had special order stuff from Home Depot, but it checked within 2 weeks of putting it down (even with acclimation), they said it was bad batch, so was 2nd batch they ordered me so we got our $ back (wood only) from them and bought Bellawood from Lumber Liquidators.

First day

Same area in front of stairs now (ignore the really red boards sitting on top, those were from Home Depot, I think they were stained but my current floor was much more brown when installed - still is)

{{!gwi}}

Tried to capture pic of change a few months ago for lynn2006 - maybe you can see the line from the carpet though it's hard to capture with the flash

I'm seeing some salmon and reddish coming out now and not all brown - I don't really know how the color is going to continue to change.

I have the Brazilian Cherry boards here but not installed yet and they are appearing brown to me. I wish they were more red.

If they are not stained, they will be more brown in the beginning and them get a lot more red.

Have you considered Brazillian Walnut? It is very much like the Cherry but it's rich dark color doesn't have the red that the Cherry has. It's a very dense wood (strong) and is BEAUTIFUL! Cost is comparable to the Cherry.

This is where we got ours which doesn't have as much variation in color. We've been extremely happy with it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brazillian Walnut from Lumber Liquidators

Chinchette, thank you for your input. I sure hope my floors become more red. I really was in love with the Mirage samples but their price was more than the BR-111 so I went with the company that I though was good but more in my budget. I am trying to choose a painter and then I will install the floors and take pictures.

ajsmama, your installation is spectacular! Love love love it!!!!!

Mine started out orangy, but darkened quite nicely. They do show EVERY footprint and crumb, though. Pretty when clean, a pain when not.

Annettacm, I love your floors so much with the reddish tones on my monitor. I sure hope my brownish Brazilian Cherry turns more red like your floors. Your kitchen is beautiful. What finish is on your walls that looks so nice? I am trying to decide between BM Regal Pearl finish or BM Aura's Eggshell or Satin finish.

We have Brazilian Cherry. I have read that the floor darken due to UV light, and they will darken the most in the first three months after installation -- so if it's possible, you should wait three months until you put down your rugs.

Of course, I found this out a year after we installed the floors, lol...

Yes, definitely wait to put down rugs. Lynn, the paint on the walls is Sherwin Williams Cardboard. I can't remember if that was before or after the new paint color deck came out, but if you ask a SW person, they should be able to look up "Cardboard" for you.

annettacm, is the sheen eggshell/satin?

Hmmm... I think it's a flat, of a brand of SW that they don't make anymore called Ever Clean. Which was NEVER clean! Which is why they don't make that anymore as it was crappy paint. I do believe it was a flat, though. Not sure I'd do that again in a kitchen.

Here's an old link I kept:

Here is a link that might be useful: Cherry Flooring

mpwdmom, Thank you for the link. I saved it to my new PC since I love looking at the Cherry floors and the Maple floor pictures. Both are my favorite woods and I almost went with a maple floor.