I have been living for 6 months in my newly-renovated apartment and decided to do an update. I wanted a light floor to make the apartment more open and bright; also so I could use dark colored furniture. I wanted a less grainy floor but made of hard enough a wood. My initial choice was maple, but maple is not as hard as oak. I chose red oak quartersawn and rift since it was light and relatively less grainy for an oak floor. I did not stain it, and used natural finish. I love the way my floors have turned out! I am truly thankful for this forum because I first saw a picture with that floor here and knew I found it! After sifting through flooring choices, that was the one.