You know that when they sand off those stain samples and then sand the rest of the floor that the "patina" on the old boards will also go. So it really doesn't matter much.

Just lost internet and my message - Grrr I really struggled with this as well. I didn't want to replace the floor, so sanded and coated- no stain. It is oak but not solid oak(I think it would bring called an oak laminate- probably has 8-18 years of life left) Everything looked like we were trying to match but failed. The floor has a lot of variation in it. If I started from scratch- I would have more contrast similar to badgergal.

@Lin Mardon thanks for all of the info! Wish we had white oak, too, but since we have your situation, we are also going to do DuraSeal provincial . Any lighter and I felt the floors looked a little pink, and While the darker stains took out the red they just seemed too dark for what we wanted. Glad your floors still look great!

tried to grab some in different lighting and with fiff wall paint. i swear its even less orange in real life- or even in my camera reel before it posts here