It is best not to try and use products outside the standard products used by hardwood flooring professionals. Not because they will always not work, but because the products designed for this industry are optimized to deal with the challenges of coloring and protecting hardwood floors based on decades to centuries of experience. For example large planks get large gaps in between, not because they expand or contract more, but the that expansion/contraction is distributed over fewer gaps, so the gaps in the winter of a 9" board will be 3 times the size of the gaps in a 3" board, possibly over 1/8" this is why 1.5"-3.25" are the typical widths installed. Even old growth, quartersawn boards will have similar problems only 10-20% less, still unsightly. Finish-wise there are considerations that are unique to the floor coating industry. Firstly floors take tons more abuse than furniture or cabinets so need more protection, as a result floor finishes are more durable than other finishes not intended for floor applications. Secondly stains designed for floors are designed to be taken evenly because you have one large continuous area that make any uneven-ness very noticeable. My recommendations are to use straight-grain yellow pine 3.25" inches wide, maybe 4" or 5" but that is really pushing it and coat with duraseal products. However if you really want a specialty finish look for Pallmann Magic Oil, it is a hybrid wax/catalyzed oil finish.

Oh dear. You are all so wonderful with your input, but really, I am now more confused than ever! The general consensus seems to be: The ceiling should probably not be painted, and if painted, then just the beams or whitewashed (although there are some convincing posters who argue otherwise! hello teacats!) The floor should probably stay as is, since it adds a lot of character. It is a superpractical floor, you can't see a thing on it, even after 5 kids wreak their daily havoc. BUT it's really difficult to co-ordinate anything to go with it, especially anything with pattern. It is very dominant and busy. So most of you say to keep the ceiling and the floor as is (my husband is going to love you all, as he loves the pine and the terrazzo). And a few of you think I should paint the brick to connect all these disparate elements (and perhaps the banister too). Hmm...any others want to chime in? Would painting the brick fireplace a glossy off-white solve my colour clash problems? Especially if I added a slate border like Squirrel so kindly showed? The ledge seems to be a point of contention. It's seriously constructed btw, concrete or something - not something we could take down on our own. I definitely plan on getting a very large sisal coloured rug for the living rm. I've added some blues and greens since this pic was taken (there's a bit in the pics above in the plant pot on the fireplace and the chair pillows). That's the colour direction I prefer, rather than golds and warmer tones (heaven knows the house is warm enough as is). The curtains were the past owners', and I will change to something like johnmari suggested when budget allows (I might have liked some pattern there but don't think the floor will allow that). Squirrel - I'm located probably on the other side of the world from most of you, in the hot and sticky middle east (Israel, to be precise). Unbelievably hot this month, thank goodness for a/c. Once upon a time many houses here had similar terrazzo tile, but it's long out of favor. The popular look of the past decade is very modern, and most of the terrazzo has been covered with tiles that look like limestone. Brick was never a common material here, and hardly anyone has a fireplace (not the right climate), so this house certainly is an individualist. I really appreciate all your input, even if you have made things more confusing! Not sure I can quite bring myself to 'convince' my husband to paint the ceiling or retile after so many of you loved those elements. Well, thanks for imbuing me with a new appreciation for my house! And I seriously welcome any more ideas on how to deal with the colour clash. I mean, one element will need to be changed, I guess.

Should I paint my oak trim? The ~100 year old house I am renovating is full of natural woodwork. The living room & fireplace room have a nice closed-grain wood (cherry, maple or birch, not sure) and the rest of the house has oak trim. The dining room is oak, but in a darker tone. Photo link is below. The lower & upstairs hallways are oak, but have a real super orange shellac look to them. Here's the worst part though - a misinformed contractor took a sander to some of the trim in the 2nd floor hallway!! So now some of the trim is now both orange and damaged. What a dare ask is: what if we painted the lower & upper hallway trim, doors, stair risers and banisters white, and refinished the natural wood railings and newels (leave them natural). I would never touch the living room, fireplace room, or dining room woodwork - but the hallway just seems ready for a possible makeover, and stripping/refinishing the woodwork would take forever or thousands $$...and, in the end it's still oak. I look at the big arched window, and imagine it in a nice glossy white, and imagine something really classy looking. Any votes? Of course there's two issues here: 1) painting ~100 year old natural woodwork, and 2) having different kinds of trim in different parts of the house. Here is a link that might be useful: Woodwork Photos

@Abballmom @Michelle G @pamela1154 @Megan Redlich We are choosing between carpet and CoreTec Calypso Oak in a bonus room/playroom. I do love the colors and appreciate all of your photos! A couple of questions: - For those who have it on an upper level: what is the noise like below? This would be on our second story above my husband's office so I worry a bit about this, especially compared to carpet. - Is it easy to clean? Any issues with vacuum (or a roomba) scratching it? - What about scratching in general? We have a large dog...and young kids who love to push all kinds of things around on the floor :) - Are you generally still happy with your choice? Thank you so much!