lyfia, thanks, and we agree. The glass company said building codes only require us to use safety (tempered) glass for the two end panels; the center three could be annealed, if the glass started 18" off the floor. How crazy is that? We'd never want to take that risk, either. Yikes. Fortunately the bid for tempered glass was only about 15% higher than annealed glass (which really surprised me.) So we'd only consider tempered 1/4" if we use glass. Laminated glass (with the plastic skin in the middle) would be the safest, but it's super pricey. I think safety glass would be OK. Another option is 1/4" plexiglass, which I think would work as a substrate for the glass mosaic, as long as I didn't go too big with the panels. (I think big plexi panels might flex, which isn't good for a grouted mosaic...?) At some point I need to go ask the folks in the stained glass/mosaic forum here. So far the pricing for thick plexiglass seems comparable to tempered glass. There would still be small grouted glass pieces on one side of the divider (we could put it on the low traffic side) but I don't think the surface would be risky for kids, since all the sharp edges would be embedded in grout. And it would be pretty hard to break. We considered colored plexiglass panes too, but it just seems so "mod" for the informal, earthy textures in the house. Colored tempered glass and frosted tempered glass are way too expensive (pushing $1000 just for the frosted glass idea, for five 5' panels.) I considered frosted films and frosted spray paint, but I think those ideas have a limited life span (especially if the house has active kids) since the spray frostings can scratch off. And DH keeps wishing for color, and he's got me agreeing. It has to be somewhat transparent or it blocks too much light. So, now considering a fairly open wooden framework, with smallish glass mosaic panels scattered. Still playing with ideas...!

If you don't like the color, don't buy it. Without knowing exactly what "oil" they used and how it was applied you have no way to know how to remove it and restain it.

We did provincial and and thrilled with how it came out!!!!! It wasn't too dark but some of the wood stained just perfectly to tie in the beams. Working on painting the window trim white so that there is less of a wood look in the room. Overall so happy with the richness. Comments from above were so helpful and all considered. Once we saw each option on the floor the flooring guy really made the final choice.

I think the beams would have to come down in order to apply the oxalic (as it needs to soak into the wood not drip off onto the floor LOL) but maybe thats not such a big deal. As others have suggested - try experimenting with white stains either store bought or made DIY with paint. These range from thin to heavy -bodied gel stains and simply tone down whatever color the wood is, leaving leaving a certain amt of grain and texture showing through. Can be tinted to be more of a raw wood color. Are there any pieces left over that you or someone you hire could use to try a few different options? I would do this NOW though, to help in your decision process and hopefully feel better about accepting and moving on. FWIW, it looks pretty good, like weathered wood, but Id be mad too!