Thanks for the reply. I think the issue may have been that I didn't save deep enough with my palm sander for these test boards. SJ I believe water popping can only be done with water. Mineral spirits is used to clean/tack the floor and it won't pop the grain. I also did a test board of water popped red oak vs non water popped, with water popping the dura seal stain came out insanely dark.

I suggest going a few steps darker than the cabinets. Your dark(er) counter top will be your inspiration. The grain in the wood is quite strong which can be used to your ADVANTAGE! If you water pop your wood, the grain will take on the stain a snick more...thereby giving you the DEPTH of colour you crave WITHOUT going so dark that you remove the light from the room (or the floors). I suggest a mid-tone stain with water popping. I would work a little into the 'green' range as your counter top 'reads' cool tones more than orange tones. Let the GRAIN take a strong stain (water popping) so that you can get all the contrast you desire WITHOUT having to go too dark. Make sure your refinisher offers some colour samples on your floor (must include a coat of finish to show the true depth of the colour...and if you water pop make sure the water popping is done with all the colour samples). Once your samples are down, you can take the time to figure out which stain works BEST in your lighting situation as well as with your counter top.

If you like your current colour then go ahead and put down a new version of it. If you want something different then I would go lighter. I love the look of red oak in the 'buff'. It is a pretty wheat/sand coloured wood. So long as you work with a high-end water based polyurethane that does NOT yellow, you will have a very pretty 'pale wood' floor without much effort. Your existing finish appears to be oil based (or oil modified) which makes the floor yellow. The strong gold tones in your wood right now = the finish. Did your refinisher apply a coat of FINISH over your colour samples? If they did NOT....then you are picking BLIND. And I mean screaming and crying and tearing your hair because your beautiful gray floors turned to a muddy orange mess. Not good. Do you see the pale colour of the raw wood? You can keep that colour (very close to it) with 3 coats of water based polyurethane like Bona Traffic HD. Keep the gloss level a snick on the low side (satin is a nice low-gloss option) and you keep that pretty 'swedish blonde' look.

Karen, I love it. You have helped me decide on the stain for our red oak. We have white oak upstairs and red oak downstairs. After seeing your floors and Chris Loves Julia’s white oak in Duraseal’s “weathered gray”, I’m sold. Like you, I thought I wanted the on trend natural white oak look but, in reality, it lacks the warmth that I want in my home. Yours is both light and warm!