I agree - those are beautiful @annettacm! Thank you so much for sharing. I am really struggling with this decision as we have hardwoods throughout the entire house except tile floors in (2) bathrooms on the second floor and the mudroom / laundry room area. However, we are only refinishing the hardwoods on the first floor right now. So we want something that will look okay with the stairs and second floor being different. Ultimately it's more important that I love it for the first floor and with the new kitchen cabinets. Here is a picture of our samples on the kitchen floor near the bar area (sorry for the mess). In the background to the right, you can see a hallway that has the current color which will remain on the stairs and 2nd level. Thoughts?

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.)

G & S Floor Service - Will Nutmeg come out orangey on Red Oak? My husband would like to go lighter and doesn't mind a golden or reddish tone as he likes the look of a cherry woodd color but I really want more of a brown. Would Medium Brown work well? I would go for Jacobean but my husband is averse to how dark it is. He would probably be happy with chestnut or provincial and a cinnamon colored floor. :-) I would truly appreciate hearing from you as I have to give my floor guy 4 choices of stains to try out today!

This is a great post and info, I am glad I came across it! I have Timborana hardwood floors that I've hated for years now. I love the wood grain, but I can't stand the color anymore... yes it's red, and it shows absolutely everything (foot prints, paw prints, hair, etc). I came across this post as I have been looking for a green undertone stain color. I am trying to figure out what to do. Those pieces are the back side of this flooring so it shows the natural color. On the right is the sample done by the flooring guy. This is the color that I really like, not too dark, not too light. This is a sample piece that my flooring guy sanded down and tried 4 different alternatives. I was shocked on how light it turned out. Not sure what the top color is, but I don't like it (too yellow). The second one I think is just the natural finishing coat. The third one has more white mixed with the finishing coat and the bottom one just a little white. I am really debating if I should go with one of those 3 options, there is such a difference in color between boards, I am not sure what it will look like. I am wondering if I should ask him for something a little darker, not sure if something like the picture above could be achieve in any way. Of course Timborana has a lot more wood grain. Any suggestions? and then I have to choose tiles to go beside the wood floor 🙄