We had a discussion about this not long ago. I'll see if I can find it, but the consensus was no, the counters and floors do not have to match, in fact may be better if they don't. It sounds very similar to what I'm doing. Our floors are being refinished next Tues.-Thurs. They are red oak, and will be simply sanded and coated with no stain (PU), so they will be a little lighter than what they are now (which is a little lighter than what you have now). My walnut butcher block top for my 2nd island should be shipped today. The main island and perimeter are dark gray granite. I have some stools that are labeled as "walnut" but I think it's descriptive of the approximate color, not the wood. I think it mixes well so far. (BTW, that's a lot of green!)

Hi John, do you have any photos of the space you could post? That might be helpful. In general, it's trickier to make wood floors work with wood stained cabinets, but I've done it. Since you don't want reddish floors, I'd aim for a cooler brown - more towards a walnut. I would NOT do ebony floors; those super-dark floors are impossible to keep looking clean. They show dust, lint, grass, etc. Also, what stain product is your contractor using? Most come in pre-mixed colors. That may determine the palette you have to choose from. Other stains can be tinted or adjusted if needed. Adding green to a stain color, for example, will help cut the red of the oak floors. You have to go easy though, you don't want to end up with a noticeable green tone. You're welcome to email me directly if you want more info - I don't check messages on here very often. Thanks Info@PaintColorHelp.com

Neutral isn't going to be easy. You need to start with a wood that doesn't contain red-brown tones. That's the best way. Your photo = gray/black in colour. It is the GRAY that is reading 'neutral'. Now that you have red oak, you will need to get going on painting out the walls BEFORE you push forward with this. The inspiration photo would NOT be enough information for someone offering a stain option. In many people's eyes, the refinisher ACHIEVED a lighter version of your photo. And just so you know, upto 30% of MALES have issues with COLOUR BLINDNESS! Yep. That means 1 in 3 men in the trades have a mild to severe version of colour blindness. Some have very minor amounts of colour missing (ie. cannot see orange as a crisp colour nor green in it's thousands of variations.....oh dear). Please, before you ask your refinished to offer anything else (other than a coat of finish on your samples) PLEASE PRIME THE WALLS WHITE!

You have white oak. You can use any color, justt water pop before applying the stain.