I found this stain on the Crown Point site - it's quarter sawn white oak like my cabinets and I think the stain is not too dark; not too brown; not too golden; not too red :-) and seems to work well with the neutral light oak floors.

I like that color! Oak will always tend toward either red or gold - it's just part of the wood. This seems a nice compromise and I like it with the lighter wood floors.

I had really breezed through the rest of the design decisions with minimal angst but for whatever reason this decision in terms of cabinets/flooring is the most difficult I've encountered.

I am throwing cherry in the mix - sapele because of its lovely not too busy grain and quarter sawn white oak because it is more "period" - but I don't want the end result to be authentic Arts & Crafts anyway :-( - I just took it as an inspiration along with Art Nouveau and Art Deco as styles that I have liked over many years.

I love your ideas and creativity and especially the choice to use quarter sawn oak in the kitchen.

Which of the 3 kitchen pics that you posted is the one you love the most? The 2nd photo seems to read more red because of the red accents and perhaps the lighting by the photographer. But the last photo is what I think of when I see quarter sawn oak. That warm soft caramel brown color with hints of golden yellow. I love it!

What kind of lighting is in the kitchen? North facing window or east? I ask because sometimes lighting can change the color a bit making it warmer or more red or more yellow.

Helen so nicely found exactly what I picture when I think of QSOak. And with your copper and teal it is going to be amazing.

Picking the stain color for my quartersawn white oak cabinets was one we struggled with more than most decisions. Didn’t want too red, orange or yellow tones. We ended up viewing all the stain samples in our house, which looked very different from the kitchen shop fluorescent lighting. Ended up with Candlelight Cabinets stain called Burnished with liquorice glaze- the glaze seemed to minimize the reddish tone of their plain Burnished stain. Also chose a Shaker door with a beveled edge and glad I did. Beveled stays cleaner looking longer than a straight edge Shaker like I have on some dining room furniture. (Straight edge seems to constantly have a dust layer on it compared to bevel)

OneRidgeOff - That's a lovely color - Some of the stains I saw specifically named when I was looking at the Crown Point Galley did have a glaze on them and I was drawn to them although I had never contemplated glazing as I had associated it with those obnoxious Tuscan kitchens from the Real Housewives shows. I'm having the cabinets done custom so I can do anything I want - subject of course to the actual wood and also whether glazing would drive the costs up stratospherically :-)

My dilemma is that I actually love them all.

I don't hate the red (the first is the Sapele which is naturally red but has a quiet grain) but when I went to look at flooring yesterday, my friend and designer said red tones are limiting potential because they make a statement. The rest of the living area will have some green or teal green - I am keeping a 1920's dark green Chinese Chest; have two Chinese Art Deco area rugs I am keeping and am going with a teal blue upholstery or elements that go with that color.

And I actually like REAL golden oak. I had to part with a gorgeous buffet from the turn of the century and I don't mind the color or look at all. But I hate the modern "golden" oak kitchen cabinets that were ubiquitous a while ago - they look completely different to me for some reason.

Posting pictures of the Golden Oak Curio Buffet cabinet (which I had to part with) and the Chinese Chest (which I am keeping.

I like the dark stain on an abstract level when I see it but I think that it works better when you are really restoring a period home or going full out Mission/Stickley :-). I am also having the den/office area done with built ins that would match the kitchen/dining area hutch and that would be a LOT of dark heavy wood.

And then I think - maybe cherry with a light natural stain instead of Quarter Sawn White Oak - EEK - the brain is really disintegrating with this decision. It's ironic as yesterday went to the stone yard - and immediately fell in love with a particular slab of Calacutta and no second thoughts - no buyer's remorse but this wood stain is a new brain worm :-)

Golden Oak Antique Curio which I had to rehome as there is no room at the inn for it :-)

This is the Chinese Chest I am keeping - it's green but a very drab - not Christmas green.

The stained glass window in the background is being repurposed as the mirror in my guest bath with mirror substituting for what had been clear glass. Ironically all these years so many of my female friends instinctively went to it when they needed a mirror :-)

I don't mind the color of the wood floors which are being replaced. They are innocuous oak floors which were finished on site but not stained as I recall - just finished with the finishing agent so they were light but not bleached or white - just floors not making any kind of statement :-)

In terms of flooring, I am bucking the trend for wide planks as I want rather narrow ones - 2 1/4" or 3" at the most. They are difficult to find - especially when coupled with getting a stain I like so I might have to just go with raw wood finished on site to get the width and color - assuming I decide on colors before my brain explodes and they find me in a quivering heap in the crash pad I am renting while the remodel takes place :-)

I understand so many of your likes and remember that feeling of 'loving too much'. Although I love my natural cherry antiques, nothing makes my heart sing like the grains and flecks and uniqueness and wow-ness of quarter sawn oak! Maybe since your curio cabinet had to go, quarter sawn should be your choice for cabinets to bring it back into your life. Here was a helpful article I came across when trying to pinpoint my stain - you have a unique opportunity with a custom cabinet maker to get the look just right. Notice the mentions of glaze from the forum technical advisor - it certainly isn't all about the contrived "Tuscan" look http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Enhancing_Oak_Grain.html

OneRidgeOff - I know that glazing is much more than the Tuscan look now :-). I had previously only been familiar with it in terms of it being over cream cabinets and hadn't realized that it could add a subtle touch to a darker wood stain so that it looked more "lived in" - if that is the correct term.

Good tip on the beveled edging. I noticed the amount of dust that had accumulated on every horizontal edge on my furniture.

I love that Crown Point cabinet color. And that kitchen. It's my dream kitchen. It's perfect. But then again, I also like the first three you showed too.

You can't go wrong with whatever you choose because stained quarter sawn oak is gorgeous.

I personally went less traditional although I had considered a color similar to what you are thinking of. However my floors are more of that reddish white oak color so I needed something with more contrast.