Something between the two? White oak tends toward a yellow hue. Might want to add a touch of a red hue to the stain to warm it up?

Your guy can mix stains, do you have a picture of a color you like to show him?

I think just a shade or two lighter than the dark would be pretty, but looking at just a sample is tough.

You can't make a selection from a photo. You will have to put the samples into the space, in both direct and indirect light settings in order to evaluate the options. Keep in mind that if your interiors do not get a lot of natural light everything will look darker and cooler than it really is.

These very dark brown colors are very "in" right now so I'm not surprised that he is using a lot of that color. I'm afraid they are trendy.

We just sold our house and the new owner had the floors redone in a very dark color from the Early American that we had used.

there has to be a happy medium. Not so golden but not so dark.

first, find out what brand he uses so you know what choices you should choose from. If it's Duraseal (or Minwax), then pick four or five colors you like and have him apply those colors as samples in your home.

then you can make a rational choice.

Are your baseboards/trim painted or stained? What about your cabinets?

Baseboards and trims are painted. They will get repainted after the floors are stained. Cabinets are off white. Flooring guy made me a sample of 4 parts dark walnut and 1 part ebony and it didn't seem as dark as coffee brown. I will need to go back to the house during the day time and see it in natural light.

We just had our home built and I agonized over stain color!!! We had white oak site finished installed. I wanted a medium neutral brown- for a few reasons. My daughter has dark stain - shows EVERYTHING. I love the way it looks - but you see every speck of dust. It drives her crazy. I felt medium brown would be safe - upkeep and not trendy. Call me boring! We ended up using Bona "Medium Brown" - couldn't be happier. Good luck.

Thanks all! We decided on provincial which supposedly is a mid tone. However it looks awfully dark!