We are overwhelmed and touched by your responses. Thank you all for your time and thoughts! I'm amazed that so many of you have gone with quartersawn oak --I see so few in the magazines and on the gallery here, but of course someone's buying it or there wouldn't be so many cabinet companies offering it. Cotahele and sombriuel mongrel, your kitchens are GORGEOUS -- and very period appropriate. Cotahele, I love the giant windows. The cabinetry blends with them perfectly, and the overall effect is definitely sunny and warm (great gold wall color!). Sombriuel mongrel, I really love the shellac. I 'rejuvenated' all the oak trim on our old house, so I appreciate the work involved and the rich glow that results. It looks 'like it was always there' (only better). Boxerpups, I don't know how you come up with a slew of pictures for every situation. I also loved looking at the Kennebec and Crown Point kitchens sumitted by others -- I looked at them years ago, but only saw the white... Thank you all!

Juddgirl2 - Thanks for the link! I really like the Believable Buff you used. And I will check out Camelback and Whole Wheat as well. I'm still torn between a yellow (White Raisin) and a neutral for the common areas of the house. Time to get some samples and paint some large swatches! Elaine - The pictures of your house in another post is what made me want to go with White Raisin throughout! It's beautiful, I just love that color. Its warm without being too bright of a yellow. Although I love the colors in your house I think the Bamboo Shoot is a little to green for me, I'd prefer something a little more muted for my master. BM Olive Branch was my first choice but I was trying to find a similar color in Sherwin Williams since that's what the painter uses and saw Svelte Sage... not quite the same but a nice muted sage green. And the Connected Gray was one step deeper on the same strip so I thought that would go nicely in the bathroom. Lukkiirish - Thanks for the information on Restore-a-Finish. I see they have it on amazon.com so it will be easy to find.

These places have a range of sources for European oak, including Monarch. . Engineered | Wholesale Woodfloor Warehouse (floorswww.com) . and . HARDWOOD FLOORING DEPOT, ORANGE COUNTY PREMIER HARDWOOD FLOORING OUTLET , IRVINE, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA , IRVINE, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA (oflooring.com) Eastern European oak is a different species and may use a Siberian Quercus mongolia more available to Chinese manufacturers. Besides the hardwood top layer thickness and the finish, check the core composition. A thin hardwood veneer and a softwood ply core can be prone to denting.

Anything with the green undertone is going to bring out the reds in your floors and make them pop…to a certain extent that would be true with blue as well because there are some orange tones in there. Any complementary colour on the colour wheel is going to make your floors pop. I agree with a previous suggestion to paint some posterboard samples or foam core board and see what it does to the floor. Any reputable paint store like Benjamin Moore should be able to tell you what the undertones are in a colour sample and give you the colour analysis.