I agree with gregmills. I have encountered this also. A professional custom floor finisher can get them close, but just that. You cannot change the basic color of the materials, nor disguise the difference in grain appearance. Darker may help cover the mistake, but you have to decide if that is acceptable. If you decide to try that...then ask that a side by side sampling be done to get an idea of what the two species might look like after staining...before you agree to that.

Thx, frenchtarragon. This would totally be me. I've been trying to tell myself white will be ok for almost a week. I'm putting it to bed. Really, can't thank you guys enough. Hope the red isn't too red, as I've read issues even with matching red to red. Ugh. (Claire, these are very old oak floors. They haven't tested this section of the floor (original) but they are definitely oak. The family room neighboring the kitchen is confirmed red by a cross-section. The cabs are bleached walnut. Not a great pair with oak -- had planned them when the kitchen was a maple floor.)

I purchased a new home and got these new gray oak floors installed but now the paint that was in the home prior( Dolphin Fin by Behr) looks too blue and dark. Need a lighter or less blue color that will go with the floors, white cabinets, white Calacatta quartz, white subway backsplash, and brushed gold hardware. My painter only uses Sherwin Williams. Thinking Snowbound, Origami white, Zurich white, Aesthetic White, or even agreeable gray( although I tested it and it doesn't look too far off from the Dolphin Fin). All with High Reflective white trim. Please share thoughts.

We've seen homeowners out of the house for close to 3 weeks or longer when the odour of the oil based products is 'locked' inside the home. For those of us who are sensitive to odours (migraine sufferers, asthmatics, COPD sufferers, etc) we are unable to sleep in the same house as a 10 day old oil poly floor. For us, the stink is like breathing in ammonia. It constricts our lungs, it causes massive headaches (I lose vision in my left eye), vomiting (often goes with migraine) and a sense of feeling unwell for the entire time the floor takes to cure. These are all KNOWN reactions to HIGH VOC content. Since the OP is in California, the VOC content in the finish *should be lower (than Minwax 550...which means VOC 550g/L) it still means the VOC content is still allowed to be HIGH if the containers of the product are small enough (don't get me going on that little nugget). The top water based products (not the off the shelf stuff nor the 1 part products) are tougher than oil based. Yes the cost is higher but then again the cost of living in a hotel for another 3 weeks is also pricey. Loba 2K Supra AT, for example, is infused with ceramic nanobeads. They are equal in performance to Aluminum Oxide factory finishes. The myth that water based products are inferior only goes as far as the Home Depot parking lot. So long as the professional works with PROFESSIONAL GRADE materials (not Varathane, not Rustoleum, not DuraSeal) then the 2 PART water based products are superior to oil baed. But the caveat of "...so long as the professional works with professional grade materials..." is the ONE AREA where we see concerns. Many "pro's" do not have the education (ie. paid for the Bona or Loba training themselves) to work these high-end products.