Deeper stains are classic and timeless, lighter are more consistent with mid-century and modern homes. Think about the context and the upkeep on the floors.

Dark shows lots of dust and lint. I prefer medium tone but have been loving the newest light European oak floors!

I think the hand scraping will date the floors more than the color will. As far as color is concerned, it depends on the species of wood and the formality of the space.

it depends where you live too and where the house is. mid range usually works in any style house. very blond wood is hard to imagine in Spanish style, and espresso doesn't spell beach home

nothing natural is really dated..too dark a stain or too bleached might become dated. otherwise, wood is wood. a rose is a rose(c))

i also have hand-scraped engineered wood..i was careful not to go into too rustic-y look, it's hand scraped just enough to make me calmer about all the scratches and imperfections (it's walnut..very soft). and i don't like sleek look either-it's just not me and not my home

bottom line-as long as you don't go too drastic and very far away from your home distinct style(if it has it..some homes can lean many ways)-you're good. just figure out the mood, the feel you're going for. more contrast, less contrast? more earthy, more light, more chic, more ethereal, more grounded? take all your space into the account, and yourself too. we all are different species..like wood))

I had dark wood floors in my condo. Never again. It showed every footprint and piece of dust.

I had very light maple floors in a rental in NY. Never again. It showed all the dirt.

In my new build, I'm putting in medium toned oak floors which is what I had in my last house. Heaven. Never showed anything until the dust bunnies got too big. ;) (I'm not a slob. It's just that in my last house dust seemed to collect every other day.)

In my first house I had medium stained maple floors. No problem there either.

Ditto on the hand scraped. Sammy is right, just get normal floors.

(i don't know maybe what you all mean by "hand scraped"..since mine look very normal lol. nothing abnormal about them)

My mother has dark wood floors. As already mentioned, they show every speck. You have toast for breakfast, and one tiny toast crumb drops on the floor, it will look glaring on the dark wood. What a pain.

I am not sure what the OP means by "light wood" (bleached? natural? Swedish-style maple?). I have natural oak floors in my kitchen, and white cabinets. The natural oak shows very little, and is classic and not going to be dated.

I have darker floors in my kitchen now and they drive me crazy because, as other stated, they show absolutely everything.

This is what I have picked out now - white cabinets, white/gray counters, white marble backsplash, accent stone. I really love the floors. I love how they have some texture and the way the light hits them. The ones I feel are dated are the thinner planks that are like a golden wood from the 90s and early 2000s.

While nice to look at, dark floors are a pain to keep clean. As others have said, they show every speck of dust, every speck of everything. But if you want to dust your floors constantly, go for it.

The combination of dark stain with high gloss finish is deadly. You can't keep them clean or shiny. Unfortunately, that's the current style. Give it five years and people will be ripping them out for the next flooring style du jour.

I prefer mid-tone stains with a medium gloss polyurethane finish. It doesn't show dust or dirt to the degree a dark floor with a high gloss finish. They will withstand a lot more punishment, too.

Jenny, That's a lovely combination that you have posted. Just acknowledge that we warned you in advance as to the high upkeep factor involved with the choice.

Those floors with that finish will show every footprint, and every mark. What do I mean by every footprint? If you walk barefoot, or even in socks, it will leave marks. If you have pets, it's even worse. That's the same finish I had in my condo and it never looked clean. And that's not something that you can vacuum up. It needs to be wiped clean. Dust, pieces of dirt all showed too but the footprints from myself, DH and the dog were the worst. And it had nothing to do with dirty feet.

Get it if you want, but get it knowing you've been warned.

Dark shiny floors are actually not the trend right now. At least not in my area. Everyone is stuck on grey (yuck). What about a matte finish natural European Oak? Would look gorgeous with your stone but not sure about the marble bs

Try to find something in the brown tone from the second row of your stone sample.

i don't know

when i was a kid we had this classic parquet -probably oak. not a lot seen on it, but my Grandma still either swept it every day or made me do that..constantly..and had me polish it too once in a while..put special wax on it or how it was called..in short it was a very forgiving floor yet still every day somebody( and very frequently that was yours truly) had to dance around it make sure it's all good

then we moved. i spent many years in Jerusalem and nearby(and yes that's where I consider my home to be. mysterious, magical, cruel place. it doesn't give a damn about you yet you never stop giving a damn)..ok off with the lyrics and onto the flooring lol..people mostly have limestone since that's what's there, or porcelain look alike. light tiles, right? some more speckled some less. anyway. approximately fifty days a year you have this wind coming from the desert-even if your windows are tightly shut-there's sand everywhere, dust everywhere. it's a good floor for the climate since it's a mostly hot climate..but you need to really really wash it. all the time. or it will be disgusting.

now we're here. okay. another floor. well you need to take care of it-but didn't you do the same all your life? lol. whether it is mid range oak or tile or whatever it was-you spend some time slaving over these floors.

maybe it's just my traumatic childhood i don't know..but i'm kinda used to this idea.

mine is less dark i must say.

I have unstained red oak that are mid-toned. They show nothing until dust bunnies colonize.

Those dark floors show lint right after cleaning. I had them in a short term rental house and right after the floors were cleaned you could see white fibers /lint from the cleaning rag. Then you walk on them with socks and more lint. It was horrible. They never looked clean and we are a shoe free home inside with no pets.

I have no idea about your overall look or lifestyle but let me chime in in favor of dark.

Hubby and I had always loved various really dark wood floors that we had seen and always wanted them. Finally, in our current home, we went for it and got them.

Our Very Dark Floors

They are not glossy at all and do show crumbs, etc. But honestly? We LOVE them so much that I don't mind the clean up. I really really really love them.

We have white cabinets and love the look.

And just for reference, our household is just hubby and me and our two cats.

I wouldn't do light or dark, but find a medium stain you love. Also have to agree about the hand scraped finish looking dated soon.

Do keep in mind that when the time comes to refinish these floors, you'll not only lose the hand-scraped texture but you'll be losing a lot of that top layer in order to get down to bare wood. Just something to think about.

The contrasting colors you're looking at is a GREAT place to start! Pairing the stone backsplash to tie all the other colors together is perfect. However... The floor you're choosing (because of the finish) will be a bit more upkeep. If you're looking for a dark floor with some character, why not go with Reclaimed Hardwood? They're really gorgeous, and they have so much character. You can get them in virtually any width, and you'll be helping out the environment while you're at it. The best part of wood flooring with texture is the fact that you wont go crazy about the scuffs, scratches, etc... With the reclaimed floors, there's really not much to worry about... Great for pet-owners and homes with small children too. (Oh, and they are on our 2017 "Trendy Flooring" list this year)

2017 Flooring Trends

Hope this helps! But you've got a great idea on the decor. Yes, the flooring trends in Europe are super-light, and Matte finishes, and really neutral colors, but your idea of pairing the stone and the textured hardwood flooring was spot on!

The Flooring Blog

1-855-914-TCFC

what Sammy says is very true. check that top layer while at that. they are of different thickness thus quality

but some homes just don't lend themselves well to real hardwood. here we have mostly slab foundations..they really, really recommend an engineered wood rather than hardwood that can be refinished endlessly.

so much depends at where you're at. geographically, etc, etc.

also. i personally have a hard time with smooth flooring. the smoother it is-the more it's an accident prone to happen. so there..everybody should consider his own trade offs so to say. as beautiful as lots of floors are-i can't install them. the flooring became a big issue for us, during this remodel. especially the bathroom as a potentially wet area. the time we put into finding the right material was abnormally long because of that. but to me it was worth it, in the end.

you know yourself..and how much this factor or that factor will pose a problem for you personally, and what works more in the context of general idea of your home..beautiful for you, safe for you, etc. etc.

i also find that to me the grain is very important. so i have this soft walnut instead of harder oak. it's less the question of color though. you can find stains that will please you in many wood species. but i don't like the oak grain. i find it too prominent. i always come back to that walnut after looking at hundred floor samples. so be it. i'll get over scratches etc. it's a trade off that i considered and decided i'm ready for.

What are the rest of your floors? Hardwood floors should be a consistent color throughout the house, and medium tone is best.

Dark floors are pretty, but I'd never have them. They show everything and I would be cleaning constantly trying to keep them spotless.

@sarah_socal: Now those wire-brushed floors are something I can get behind, much more so than the all-over undulating hand-scraped pattern which just looks so contrived (to me, anyway).

My sister had dark wood floors in her kitchen. Drove everyone nuts because every crumb, sugar crystal, flour grain and dog hair showed.

You could sweep the thing 3 times a day and not get it looking good.

I have had the hand scraped ones before and must admit that we like our wire-brushed oil finished ones we have now MUCH better. I also love the really wide planks (7.5").

We have lived with them for 2 years now and I was just commenting to my hubby this weekend how happy I am with how they have worn.

Yes, they show crumbs but they are SO beautiful! I think just about any finish will show some kind of dirt. For us, with 2 black cats and my long dark hair, light wood would probably be worse with all the hair bunnies!

As with my white cabinets, I would rather the dirt show (to some extent) so that I clean it up instead of the place being dirty with me just ignoring it because it isn't staring me in the face!

Right, aprilneverends?! A thread yesterday prompted me to educate myself on the properties of clay tile!