@jjam Your floors look beautiful. @Angela Wacker I hope your floors turn out beautiful. @mdln these are such a good ideas/solutions next time I am doing a renovation I will make sure to get this kit. I went by the house in the morning and took a closeup photo (prior to getting confirmation from the contractor and subcontractor) It does look like white oak. @SJ McCarthy thank you for all the information, it gave me ideas on what to ask the contractor and how to have a conversation about the floors. I even came up with a few more stains to try in case the original choices did not work out. The contractor e-mailed me early this afternoon agreeing to test a few more colors. We asked him, again, regarding the type of floors we have and the new ones they installed, initially he said the floors were red oak, but then he texted us an hour later letting us know that the sub had informed him that it was white oak!?! What!! @Beth Thank you!!!! @SashaDog Thank you!!!! @G & S Floor Service @Timothy Winzell it appears you guys were right - it is white oak -probably. Quality/grade? who knows! I cant believe the contractor did not know this! It appears my worries about the floors looking red after a light stain were unnecessary. We stopped by the home to see the samples on our "white oak" and the white stain looked nice with the top coat on it, not pink. The birch was nice, but we decided to go with the white as it looks more like the natural color of the wood we love. I am still anxious about the overall outcome, but crossing fingers that it turns out nice. I am going by the house tomorrow and working from my car so I can take a look and stop the workers in their tracks if it looks bad lol. I am just kidding...but maybe I am not :) Here are the two samples we tried Bona Birch and Duraseal White with bona HD on our "white oak" floors (this is not 100% for sure lol). Leaving the picture here in case someone is looking for a picture of these two stains. You are all such a wonderful group of people! Thank you for helping me through my anxiety. This morning I felt so stupid to have been worrying about a floor stain when so much more important things are going on in the world. Anyways, thank you and much love to you all. Stay healthy!! -Mari

About to refinish our red oak floors and im having such a hard time deciding! ive been leaning towards aged barrel. it is beautiful in the above pics, but I’m hopinh it isnt too dark. my stair treads are black, and i want a good contrast. the wood is also in the kitchen and kitchen will be all white. opinions, please please!

"considering medium brown/weathered oak chesnut/weathered oak" Isn't that what is in your second photo? You say "my flooring guy is pretty useless coming up with combos on his own", but it looks like your second photo shows he is providing what you are asking for. Your top photo is not "medium brown/weathered oak/chestnut". I think the flooring guy is giving you what you asked for, but what you asked for is not what you actually want. Show him your top photo that you posted here. Here are photos of chestnut stain on white oak and weathered oak stain on white oak (a much more gray finish than it sounds like you want). So you need to give your flooring guy the correct instruction of what you want, and not blame him when you do not.

I think it looks awesome! It might not be exactly what you thought, but I think it may be a happy mistake. I gives a little contrast to the floor and a nice back drop for the island. I do agree with Anna - change that trim around the base of the island. That light color will look a mess in a very short time. Assuming you are trying to cover a gap, see if you can get a scribe molding or shoe molding. This looks like a quarter round. . Enjoy!