Thanks for the links and pictures! The contrast level in cotelehe's quartersawn oak kitchen is probably what we're looking at; love the name of the burnt sugar stain! The other kitchens are all gorgeous, but we don't particularly like our yellowy red oak floors, and since they're throughout the house and not going anywhere, we'd like to contrast them and not be too close in tone. rjr, those birch cabinets are stunning! I love your top cabs with the glass doors, and the shaker-y doors really highlight the wood choice. Swimmer, I'm glad that my desperation can help you too!

I agree with Johnson, another coat will not help darken the stain. It will only cause more headaches. What has happened here, is that the final sanding burnished the wood too much in some areas, closing up the pores. You can see the blotchiness. Water popping prevents issues like this, but it would make your color very dark. Try a 5:1 mix of natural and dark walnut. If, it is too yellow add a little gray. The best way to darken and even out the color is to redo the job . If, this is not an option. You can tint the poly with a little stain 20:1 poly/stain ratio, no less. Your finisher, will need to apply the finish as even as possible to avoid marks. Otherwise, it turns to crap and a redo will be necessary. This will be mainly dependent on the skill level of your finisher.

What I find FASCINATING is many refinishers CONTINUE to spout the 'oil based is tougher' bit! A 'regular grade' oil based finish (as in $60/gallon) is tougher than a low-grade water based poly in the SAME PRICE POINT ($60-$80/gallon). This is true. Which tells me the professional RARELY steps out of the 'low end' price range in to the SUPER TOUGH/EXPENSIVE tough range. And THAT'S where the truth lies. A HIGH-END, 2 part, water based polyurethane such as Bona Traffic HD or Loba 2K Supra AT are significantly tougher than the $60/gallon oil based poly. So why do these guys continue to push the 'oil is tougher' routine? Because it MAKES THEM MONEY! They do NOT want to double or TRIPLE their product costs (Bona HD = $160/gallon; Loba AT = $200/gallon). See how that works? They don't realize they can charge MORE for the SUPER TOUGH water based finishes; OR they have discovered their client base (ahem homeowners) do NOT want to PAY for the extra cost = they lose jobs by quoting the HIGHER PRICED (yet higher performing) water based products. And the other thing I've noticed: wood workers LOVE the look of the amber tones of the finishes. Soooooo many feel the gold/orange tones created a 'depth' to the colour of the wood. It sparkles and dances like gem stones (I have to admit I like the depth the ambering creates...but not the colour). For MANY wood workers this is DESIRABLE. So they don't 'see' the gold/amber as a DRAW BACK. Last point: the vast majority of workers in the building industry are men. It is a medical 'truth' that as many as 30% of men have some form of COLOUR BLINDNESS! Yep. Some of these guys are speaking their 'truth' when they say the colour won't change much. Because it is entirely possible the worker HIMSELF cannot see the tones the ambering produces.. Whew! Humans are fun aren't they?

I completely thought about Jacobean, but not sure in the end if I tried it alone. Mine are Dark Walnut on the red oak. Dark Walnut doesn't have red, that's the wood. They say that Jacobean that has "green" counteracts the red. Dark Walnut is likely a warmer color than the Jacobean. I would likely have been very happy with the Jacobean as well.