It's not the end of the world to have different flooring in public and private areas of the house.

If the hallway door is going to be closed during times when you have people over, I would be inclined to leave the hallway stained dark. If the door is going to be open, I might think about re-doing it the lighter color.

Of course, I would first be deciding if I really liked the lighter color that much better to have to make the decision! Obviously, you liked the darker color (warm brown is classic), so it would not be wrong to use that again either.

thanks Kempek01!! I want our house to be classic, but I could be getting caught up in the gray wood floor trend. :)

Please don't get caught in the gray wood trend. Gray is not classic.

The Houzz floor police will arrest you for choosing a gray floor.

@kempek01 Right?! Not doing the gray stain. :)

After thinking more about this, I realized my main concern is that I think the bedroom floors are too red/orange and want the common areas to be more medium brown. Our flooring guy used a warm pecan stain with an amberizer in the bedrooms. I think the amberizer is what makes the floors orange. It came out nice and I was happy with it but I'm concerned it's a lot of orange in the common areas. Would it look strange to use the same stain but without the amberizer in the common areas where the same wood runs into the bedrooms? Not sure what he would use instead to seal, open to suggestions.

Thank you!

if you chose the same color but w/o the amber undertone, I think it will barely even be noticeable to most people, but you will be happier with the color. water based sealers don't turn yellow, and are easier on your health (re: offgassing).

you could ask the guy to do a sample area and then sand it down if you don't like it. be sure the sample abuts the bedroom threshold, so you can really see if the transition is noticeable or not.

do the boards run horizontally between the door frame? because that will act as a natural transition between two subtle colors, if that makes any sense. also, how visible are the bedrooms from the common areas? are they in a hall or are they somewhere you will be looking at them all the time? that may guide whether or not you do this.

here's a better illustration of what I'm thinking. since real wood floors have a natural variation from board to board, I think transitioning it right at the jamb to a slightly different undertone would blend in. it might feel kind of like this:

I also found a photo of two completely different colors. I'm not a fan, personally.

@User Thank you!! So helpful. see answers to your questions below:

do the boards run horizontally between the door frame? also, how visible are the bedrooms from the common areas? are they in a hall or are they somewhere you will be looking at them all the time?

Only one room is visible from the common area. This room has a natural transition with the way the wood runs so will look like the first photo you posted. I keep this door closed though.

The other two bedrooms are in a hallway off the common area, and the hallway can be separated completely with a pocket door (which is usually kept open). The transition from the hallway to the common areas will be a natural transition with the way the wood runs. BUT the transitions from the hallway to the bedrooms run vertically, so I guess our guy will need to create a transition.

He did the amberizer on the hallway when he refinished the bedrooms last year. It's a small area, and does not get a lot of light. I could have him re-do the hallway to match the common areas, but if the transition is not that noticeable from the common areas maybe keep as is? Thoughts?

I will ask him to do a sample!

based on the setup you described, changing the undertone slightly may work out well! I do think you should consider having the hallway redone. it's such a small area.

you'll definitely get a better idea when a sample goes in!