@kstewartau87 Yes, the sample boards, no matter the time of day, never looked to me like all the pictures look. I get screen colors vary, time of day, amount of natural light, kind of light bulb...yeah all of that. I was so disappointed when I brought the large samples home and they did not look good at all. I actually chose another color of provenza. Changed my mind at last minute due to a pit in my stomach feeling. Once installed, I was sooooooo happy I went for it despite those samples!! It's beautiful. For me: it does not show footprints bad, does not creek, feels quality under bare foot (but not like real hardwood), does not shot per hair bad. Prior to provenza I had a really dark rich laminate. It showed EVERYTHING and just the dog hair alone i was sweeping multiple times a day. Footprints anywhere light shines in and the water dribbles from my English Mastiff after drinking water were just embarrassing!! So happy I went with my gut!! Seriously. please find my pictures posted 2 years ago in this thread. There are several of my floor in different areas and one of the image that finally made me go back to my gut and install finally mine. Best wishes!

@katiejeane i am glad i came across your post of red oak flooring. i have been trying for months to get the color right and love your home and floor. I have some questions and hope you dont mind me asking. do you get a lot of natural light? What sun exposure do you have? id love to see the floor up close to see the background color and grain. would you mind posting a picture? what poly did you apply and what finish: extra matte or satin? hoping you did not water pop or pretreat the floor to get the red out since we are not doing those things. you still love it and have no regrets? i have tried every combination that i have resorted to non-mixed colors of special walnut, and provincial, and mixed of medium brown/rustic, chestnut/rustic and going to try your mix of medium brown/weathered. what were your runner ups. So afraid to pick wrong again (first pick i selected weathered oak and what a distaster - way to pink on red oak). yoir guidance and insight are welcome. looking to put this part of the project behind me.

I don't like the idea of LVP because of the environmental impact. I have been hoping that with technology there might be a super water resistant coating for hardwood floors. I have looked at Vermont Natural Coatings Super Whey 3500 which is used in commercial buildings, hotels, & restaurants. Vermont Natural Coating Whey water-based poly coating has been used on many sports/ basketball floors which do get lots of wear but not much water/ liquid spills that sit for at least 8 hours. I would never put wood in a bathroom. I have a semi-open concept home. The kitchen is open to the family/ great room so matching flooring makes the room look bigger and more elegant. The entryway flows into the back great room area so I prefer the main floor being the same flooring. I have seen how the water-based poly coatings on solid hardwood wears quite terribly over the years especially in front of the sinks, stoves, and refrigerators. Every design show makes the main floor all wood now unless it's in Florida where they use tile or LVP. The exception is the mudroom/ primary entrance from the garage being tile IF the main floor is hardwood/ engineered wood flooring. I have been looking at the new waterproof engineered flooring but many reviews show many brands have poor scratch resistance. See: https://www.flooringstores.com/blog/waterproof-hardwood-flooring/

Peggy, as you can see from the above picture at ease and soft whisper look nothing alike. They are very gray. I was wanting a more natural color so because of that I’m unhappy. I also feel like the pattern repeats itself way too much and the flooring guy my builder used did not pay attention to that. Unfortunately I was not made aware of the day they were laying the flooring so I didn’t see it until they were done. 😩 its a much longer story but best to leave there