Miniwax English chestnut. Nice medium/dark brown. Not too dark where it will show every smudge & spec of dust.

Also try Minwax "Special Walnut" my favorite. Medium brown with no red or yellow undertones.

You have red oak and want to stay way from orange/red/gold tones. That means you have to have a stain that carries some GREEN it it. Green counter acts the red in red oak. Because you have paint that already carries green in it, this is another indication that a green based stain would be the way to go.

Please do NOT use Minwax. Please work with a HIGH END water based polyurethane (anything oil based turns ORANGE...even over a stain) and make sure the person working the floor is FULLY TRAINED in water based polyurethane (and water based stain) applications. They are VASTLY DIFFERENT from oil based and need particular training.

If your flooring professional says, "Sure. I'll give it a try." I suggest you RUN to the next guy and see what s/he says. I sound alarmist...but we've just had 3 Houzzers posting about what happened when their "water based" finishes turned out to be oil based and the VOC content was so high they couldn't enter their house for over a month!!!! And the floors turned orange - exactly what they wanted to AVOID.

Good luck. Work with high-end everything and you should be fine.

Minwax = LOW end DIY level product. Sigh. Smells to HIGH HEAVEN and it takes a LONG TIME to off-gass (this is the "low end" takes 31 days to cure and several months to get rid of the smell type of product that EVERYONE complains about).

High-end $150 - $250 per GALLON = Loba, Glitza, Bona, Rigo, Saaman. Water based means LOW VOC (less than 200 g/L). Water based = CLEAR COAT. Two-part = TOUGH to handle = needs special training.

High-end means SPECIAL TRAINING. High end means "not every one can use it because not everyone has the training". Minwax = low-end DIY level product (very cheap stuff) that anyone who can read can use (hence the DIY level product).

Minwax does NOT make water based (they make oil modified = turns orange and still stinks). Minwax is for someone who will only charge you $2.50/sf to sand and finish a floor.

And people who are used to Minwax are normally NOT trained on the high-end 2 part, European Grade water based finishes with VOC content somewhere around your shoe laces (Loba 2K Supra AT = VOC of 130g/L).

Minwax (the oil based stuff) is the stuff that requires the "buddy system"...just in case someone passes out due to the fumes. That's Minwax. I wouldn't pay anyone to put this down. This is CHEAP stuff. It is less than HALF of what the HIGH ENDS stuff costs...and they might just charge you the same price. The GC's "floor guy" is not a flooring professional. He's a guy who charges for doing floors. Ask if he's NWFA certified...if the GC looks at you like you have two heads, you know the answer before he goes and asks.

Be careful. Floor guys ruin things at an alarming rate! Get it in WRITING (especially the part about water based finishes and the "floor guy's" training matches the product you choose). And STICK to your guns.

Ok. Rant over. Do carry on (can you tell I HATE Minwax? With a PASSION!).

Here are some "before" pics.

Wall that the microwave is on is coming out. Replacing with 2 structural posts and a low built in bookshelf (height of a sofa table) - to open up the kitchen and den. Stained glass light is gone. That picture window is changing to french doors. Casement windows have been replaced with new ones that are larger (4 large ones instead of 3 double ones). We will be resurfacing basically the entire house eventually.

These are current - mid renovation.

One more of kitchen and the adjoining den

A "low ball" sand and refinish tops out at $4/sf (some even as low as $3/sf). A higher level professional using the higher level product (the expensive stuff) should start around $5/sf. Of course these are highly dependent on local labor costs but around N. America these are the going rates.

I've heard people paying $2.50/sf, getting Minwax Oil based product and then COMPLAINING that their house smelled for 5 months. Anything below $4/sf is a give away that SOMETHING is not up to snuff.

Ask your GC what his rate is for the sand/refinish part of the job. For Minwax (the oil based that his "floor guy" wants to use) you should be looking at $3/sf. Anything more for Minwax is a rip off IMHO.

Ask yourself: if these floors smell (headaches, nose bleeds, vomiting, etc) for 60 days, can I afford to stay elsewhere? Do I want my child exposed?

If you answered "No" to either question, ask the GC to use someone else who works with water based product and not DIY level Minwax.

We are planning to not move in for a couple weeks after but that's probably the max unless we move twice. If we want a more "natural" light finish, could we get that with a matte clear water based poly?

A "natural" finish is what clear coat water based polyurethane is ALL ABOUT. It is the OIL based (read: Minwax) that turns floors ORANGE (honestly...put a glob of minwax on a piece of white paper...it dries ORANGE). Water based polyurethane is clear and colourless and will dry clear and colourless.

If you want matte, work with matte. Be careful with matte. It can look 'hazy' in certain lighting. A satin is as low as most people can "handle". Only the SUPER CHIC clients can handle the low luster of matte. Some people like their matte, the REST HATE matte. I mean HATE it.

Go and purchase a quart of Varathane Nano Defense in Satin ($40) and take a piece of wood (any piece lying around the job site) and coat the wood with the Varathane. Do this 3 times and then see what it looks like/smells like.

Do the same with a pint of Minwax oil based...on the same type of wood. See the difference? Smell the difference?

For $70 worth of product you can prove to yourself what the difference is. And PLEASE ask your GC what his costs are for a low-end Minwax finish. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the GC is CLUELESS as to what professional, high-end flooring professionals use....because he doesn't use high-end flooring professionals. he uses "floor guys".

Good luck. Do the experiment. Choose the product that is the least likely to disrupt your life. It is cheaper to have all the floors done PROPERLY with water based poly than it is to have to stay in a hotel for another month.

And if you want low gloss natural then Rubio Monocoat will do it...but a "floor guy" who works in Minwax will muck it up - guaranteed. And Rubio Monocoat has a VERY fast cure time (like a few days) with little or no odour. But you need a PROFESSIONAL trained to work with Rubio. Your GC doesn't have one of those.

Cancork- where are you located? I would love to have you finish my floors...

@cancork floor inc Well said about the Minwax! I tend to suggest clients go with some of the even greener/eco/zero VOC oil finishes that are becoming more popular from Europe like Rubio Mono Coat and WOCA. For one it is a pleasure to use no respirator and no passing out from fumes. It is also very easy to maintain and repair. All depends on the clients desires to some extent. Good luck @hkeirsey