Gorgeous floors! As for mixing, I have no advice but am interested in seeing what the experts here recommend.

What gorgeous floors. I'm super jealous. We saw the Carlisle walnut floors in their showroom and fell in love. Unfortunately they weren't in our budget. We went with pine in a dark stain.

As far as upstairs, you should do what you want. I think any of the options could work. The 2 floors are not going to be next to each other so they don't have to be an exact match. If you want lighter floors upstairs, I think that's okay. But I wouldn't get lighter floors just to lighten a space. I have several dark halls and the dark floors look great. So If you prefer dark floors, I would try to match the floors on the lower level. You can Stain the oak, or do the cheaper walnut.

Those are some beautiful floors! I'm no expert by any means, but think you should stick with the same species, or at least the same tone for your floors. I'm afraid that a lighter oak upstairs will look like the walnut was an "update" and you haven't yet updated the oak floors. (all my floors are oak and i love them, don't think the look dated, but your walnut is definitely a more current look). I think carpet on the stairs is a good choice, too, but think 3 materials for floors will look disjointed.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I appreciate your comments and I hadn't thought about the style of the walnut and the qs oak clashing, but it's a valid point. I'm a little sad because I like them both so much, but I know you can't throw everything into one house. That said, would using the other walnut in 3" boards look like we "ran out of money" to really match the one downstairs? Also, I'm not really going for an ultra modern, updated in 2011 look. More of a cozy, comfortable and above all, CLEAN feel. This is what we started withâ¦

Here is a link that might be useful: Downstairs progress

pps7: I love Carlisle's pine floors too! But my dogs would tear them apart or I would have considered them more. Not that theyâÂÂre very kind to the walnut either..

In old houses it is very common to see different kinds of wood floor on the main level and the upper level. I would not dwell on this too much. As said you could stain the oak to be similiar to the walnut if this really is an issue for you, otherwise, I would just put in the oak or 3" walnut floors as you want.
Diane

I've seen the different floors on different levels look in century old houses (maple downstairs, QS fir upstairs at the inlaws'). But mine is from the 70s, and the two floors are not very similar, so it might be a different scenario.

I guess what I need to know is, based on the overall look I'm going for and the existing floor I have.. if I donâÂÂt stain, can I tie these two together? Or will it always seem like they belong in different houses?

If I do stain, to avoid the color clash, would it just have been better to go with the narrower strip walnut? The oak also has the advantage of (so I hear), holding up better to my inconsiderate dogs, which would be a huge plus. And I could get the wider planks (also a plus) for less $ than the wide plank walnut.

I know ultimately my house, my money, I do what I wantâ¦but I want more personal opinions. Thanks again!

Litttle late to the party, hope you are still around. Wondering what you chose for he upstairs and how it looks. We also have a 70s house and are looking at walnut looring in a wider width. Did you diy the installation of the carlisle floors?

I'm around, I thought this thread had died. We are going with wide plank white oak also from Carlisle. It will have a veiled white stain and clear satin finish.

In fact, we just placed the order today..so I can't say how it looks but we got a great deal on it that we couldn't pass up. We will be doing the stair in the white oak as well, and I'm really happy with this plan.

We considered so many different options and I got to where I was paralized and unable to make a decision. I feel that starting the new color at the stairs makes the color/species change look more intentional, if that makes sense. And going with carpet would just be too many different floors and colors in one area.

This was a diy job, and it was very labor intensive, but not too challenging. Applying the tung oil on site was particularly inconvenient, luckily the white oak we are getting will come prefinished from Carlisle (it was a very customized order that a client placed and didn't purchase).

I will post pics when we finish the install. Can't wait to cover up the painted plywood subfloor!

kiki did you end up getting the walnut?

Was loving this thread and wondering if lotsatrees or kiki have any updates for us?

We have pulled up the old carpet, taken down the 70s cedar siding from the walls, repaired the ceiling, replaced the electric outlets, and have decided we need to face the brick wall and hearth around our woodstove with slate or something before we put the new flooring down. I am totally stuck trying to decide whether to splurge on the walnut or not, but everytime i see this thread it tips me back toward walnut. I hope she checks back in.

Wi, are you gearing up for a flooring project?