We have white oak kitchen cabinets with a very light stain. Our house was originally built with white oak floors, which we thought were red oak. We had to replace quite a few boards and we used red oak so now we have a red and white oak floor (definitely by accident). I'm with you on the white oak being nicer. Despite the efforts of our floor refinisher, the red oak still has a pinkish cast to it. In order to make the white and red oaks really blend, we would have had to go with darker stain on the floor, which we didn't want. Have you checked local cabinet makers for prices for white oak cabinets. We found that some could only get red oak and others could only get white oak. The guy who could only get white oak wasn't any more expensive than the guy who could only get red oak.

I second the thought of using a stain 3 steps lighter than the island. Because you have an orange/brown wood already in the space (the island) you already have your floor colour dictated to you. Just as an aside, White Oak rarely has 'pink' in it. When it is raw it has more of a greenish tinge to it. Red Oak is more commonly associated with pink tones (and lilac...and peach and salmon). Many people find out LATER that their purchase simply says "Oak" which allows the retailer to use Red Oak...because it has 'oak' in the title. Please check your purchase receipt to ensure it says White Oak. The type of oak you have on your floor will dictate the stain colour as well as the FINISH. Remember: an oil based finish will naturally turn orange. Which will be a nice match to the orange/brown island.

OK...start with European Oak and add NordicSeal. The gray can be achieved...not a problem with white oak. But it helps to start with a wood that already exhibits these colour ranges. You will need a Bona Stain...not a sealer. Bona stains are used to seal white oak. It's my understanding that a gray/white stain will offer you want you want. Your flooring pro - who has been trained by Bona to work with their stains...RIGHT? - can offer you samples on the floor for you to view. They will offer those samples on 2ftx2ft patches. You will need to have a single coat of finish ADDED to the coat of colour they put down. You will observe the samples over 24 - 48 hours (have the patches done on Friday...with work to start Monday) so you can view the samples through all 5 lighting situations.

I ended up going with special walnut. One coat with a satin water based poly (not shiny). We love it. After the floor stainer put samples down of the lighter colors it really did look pink. I feared having my whole house “being ruined” so I went with the “safer” color and I couldn’t be happier. Someone gave me the advice that most of your hardwood floors will be eventually covered by area rugs anyways so no need to stress! The picture was taken at night with overhead lighting on. Not the best time to take a photo but you get the idea! Good luck!!!