You aren't going to go from dark to light so you have to match the dark. My suggestion would be to use an aerosol spray toner to darken the lighter molding. You can order it from Mohawk Finishing Products. You can order about three different colors to see which one or combination works best. When you use this, hold the can far away and let a light mist fall on your project. You can put it on too heavy, but not too light. Pratice on a large scrap board first.

Quick question. As you know, we had our floors re-stained about 6 or 7 weeks ago, they stained and did one finish coat, and then came back once the project was done to buff out any imperfections and put the final coats on. They say to wait 30 days before you put down any area rugs...I know part of this is to protect their business, but if it was just the clear coats is that still applicable? I can't go an entire month with our dogs and no rugs, and we want to move back in!! How imperative is this, the rugs will always be in the same spots with our floorpan layout, so if it affects coloring it won't matter really....thoughts?

I haven't used the anthracite gray, yet. But, I have applied, burnt oak, old oak, stripped oak, old gray, weathered gray and castle oak, along with smoke and fume. The colors shown is with 1-1 neutral/white oil on top. The product is easy to apply, it covers like aniline dye, but cleans up easier. Which means you can blend different species with a single color. It needs to be applied perfectly the first time around. It is a reactive stain, it can be unpredictable, which is why spot fixing can be tricky. Anyone who has experience fuming and smoking can easily apply this. Water will reactivate the stain and move it around. You can apply solvent base finishes over it. Water solubles will need to get sprayed for the first coat or use a de-waxed shellac for universal binder or sealer before applying a water base finish over it.

As ksc36 points out...Loba 2K AT Invisible Protect will do the trick. It is magnificent but expensive. I'm wondering if your professional is using an oil based or an oil modified product. The type of ambering you are seeing is VERY common with oil based or oil modified polyurethane. Let us know the finish they are using and we can take it from there. And just in case your refinisher is using a water based product, you can expect to see "tannin pull". This is something white oak does - especially with water based polyurethane. The tannins (the yellow tones) in the wood leach to the surface and then sit there for all the world to see. This can cause white oak to turn a yellow tone that is DIFFERENT from ambering. To prevent tannin pull, white oak requires a "sealant" to be used BEFORE the polyurethane. There are SOME products that do NOT need the sealant and there are other products that do. All ways read and follow the label. As an aside, the finished floor in your photo is TO DIE FOR! There are SOOO many people who are killing themselves (financially) to get a wood floor to look like the "finished" floor in your photo. I would not hesitate to work with the finish in the photo in your situation. The warmth of the floors will add light and warmth to your home. It is classic. It will not have a problem with the "look" of the home. In fact it will allow your home to feel "warm" and cozy rather than cold and sterile (like a hotel lobby).