I went with white oak also because I didn't want red undertones. My flooring co said red oak will usually have red undetones regardless of what color stain is applied. Mine are stained with a mix of 75% Jacobean and 25% Coffee Black (similar to Dark Walnut from the more common stain company). I love them! Not so dark that the show every single speck of dust or cat hair. That sounds like a cleaning nightmare to me! And shout out to Nini whose floor is my inspiration. She graciously supplied her formula to me so I could try to replicate her beautiful floors!

Like jfcwood states - the FINAL colour is the true test as to whether the experiment "worked". The other problem contractors have would be the use of oil based or oil modified finishes. It is impossible to get a white floor when the top coats turn ORANGE! I once had a "professional" (15 years in the refinishing business) tell me he worked with "water based" finishes all the time. He then named every SINGLE oil based product on his shelf. It turns out he thought that anything that was liquid - like water - was water based. He couldn't name a water based finish if it jumped up and slapped him with a lawsuit! The "old guard" are having a hard time adjusting to the "new" thinking. The Low VOC stuff, the 'non ambering' stuff, the low-odour products are relatively new (to North America...they are de rigueur in Europe) and are different to use. They require training. Training is no big deal in Europe. You have to do it to keep your license. North America is still the wild-wild west. If you have a sanding machine, you can call yourself a floor refinisher (sad...but true). Add that to the fact that red oak is cheaper than white oak and the trend is white flooring, you get a powerful mixture of fashion together with lack of knowledge and a healthy dose of "cheaper is better". A whole bunch of hearts have and will continue to be broken - on both sides of the professional-client fence. My advice: If you want the look of European Oak, then you should start with European Oak. If you are lucky enough to like the reddish tones of Red Oak, then go ahead and work with Red Oak; count your blessings and the money left in your bank account.

The amount of effort and money it would take to get this to work is getting into the same amount of money as floating a laminate floor over top and trimming all your doors. White oak is yellowish. Liming removes some of the yellow (not all) and adds a pretty "silver" appearance on the surface. Red Oak turns PINK in the presence of "white" or silver. Oh dear. Not good. Salmon coloured flooring went out with the 80's. You would pay your HIGH END professional (and I mean "artisan refinisher" who has an opening sometime next spring) to BLEACH the SNOT out of your red oak. Then some conditioning would occur. Then the the stain would be purpose mixed just for you. It could take several days for him/her to get it right. Then the application would happen and you will pay the astronomical price s/he asks for/deserves. If you try to find a "flooring guy" to do this, you will pay a better rate...but the failure rate will be SUPER high...and you will probably have to hire someone else to fix the mess created by the first "flooring guy". I will say this look is *possible with your floor but not *probable. The amount of effort you have to go through to get this "right" is huge. And the chance of failure is very very high (that's where the 'not probable' comes in = statistics term).

@anap2400 i have ATLAS in the hallway; i'll have to take pics tomorrow when it's brighter. It looked good in the stairs, but the hallway the pattern was okay. the color is nice tho. If I could, I woulda went with White Oak for the whole top floor.