hi i am also building a new home and need to decide on a flooring color for the entire house. we are doing cherry cabinets but LOVE dark walnut floors. we are afraid with cherry it will be too dark in the kitchen. we also have 2 large dogs and have heard that dark stains are terrible with pets because they show the scratches big time. we are wondering if we should go for the dark color we love, go lighter with a medium stain like special walnut or provincial, or just leave them natural to avoid the scratching. i really don't like the natural color at all though.

Do you have a close up of the backsplash? Is the kitchen open to the family room? Are there any colors you like or want to avoid? I would think a midtone neutral for the kitchen since the backsplash is busy, but I’m no expert. Most of my rooms are SW nomadic desert or kilim beige. Something similar may work. Or SW Accessible beige. I’ve seen that look good in low light and HD has the formulas in the computer.

OK...just remember oil based polys turn a strong orangey-yellow. And as they age they get stronger and stronger in tone. With Red Oak, that gets to be very strong colouring very very quickly. To tone down the red you need to work with a green-based colour range. Jacobean is the most common colour used to tone down red oak. It can be used on its own or in a special mix. You will want to get the refinisher to offer sample patches for you. A well versed and well paid flooring professional will have no problem doing this for you. All you have to do is show a photo of the look you would like to achieve and then ask for several colour swatches (all with a coat of finish over top) so that you can choose your floor colour. The good one's will make special mixes for you to view. I always like to see colour swatches created on a Friday so that you can take the weekend to view the colours in all 5 lighting situations. Again, the oil based polys turn orange all by themselves. It will take very little stain to get your floors to look like the Rubio Black in your

Vinmarks. Yes you can use minwax stain with the marine varnish. Actually I used minwax exclusively when I was running my custom woodworking shop. Because it is made using both dyes and pigments it will go on really nicely and not give you a blotchy finish. As a stain alone it is not waterproof. If I didn't spray the stain on I typically used a foam brush and paper towels to wipe off the excess stain. A lot of folks will use a cotton shirt or similar but I found that the cloth would leave fibers stuck in the woodgrain. I'm refinishing the oak kitchen cabinets in our daughter's home for a Christmas present for her. Very easy. Wash with warm soapy water and dry good. Then use minwax stain mixed into Deft brand laquer. I will probably use a foam brush to apply the laquer. But will probably use a paper towel on some parts like drawer sides. Hopefully this will help some